Kean Corkery: Stroke Survivor

Corkery regains his life and runs a marathon to fundraise for stroke research.

By: Valerie Engler | From the issue: March 2009

Photo: Marshall Franklin Long

Corkery's determination led him to a new local fitness endeavor.

Six and a half year go, Kean Corkery was tending to his yard underneath the warm August sun. With a new home and a brand-new baby, Corkery decided to take advantage of the summer weather and fix up his barren front lawn. The last thing Corkery expected was that within 24 hours, he would be undergoing brain surgery to remove a bleeding mass of vessels from his brain.

At 9 a.m. that day, Corkery's forearm began to go numb. About an hour later, he lost feeling in the tip of his tongue. Thinking that he pinched a nerve, the longtime landscaper tried to shake it off. But when he began to feel dizzy, he knew something wasn't right.

After driving to Westhealth outpatient healthcare in Plymouth, Corkery noticed that his legs weren't working right. Unsure what was wrong, Westhealth doctors advised him to go to Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Concerned about his health, Corkery attempted to hop off the doctors table to drive to Abbott Northwestern but he lost all movement on his right side. At just 37 years old, Corkery was suffering a stroke.

Today, though Corkery still has mobility issues with his right arm and leg, he's a survivor. Determined to help others live healthy lifestyles, Corkery is the owner of a new Maple Grove gym, Athletic Nation. Located off East Fish Lake Road, the small, one-employee (Corkery himself) facility offers one-on-one personal training opportunities. And though the gym is only a few months old, Corkery's passion for fitness really heated up that fateful summer day.

Road to Recovery

Growing up in Iowa, Corkery always was involved in sports management from the University of Iowa and moved to Minnesota, where he worked at Flagship Athletic Club in Eden Prairie. "I worked there for eight years and then moved to a smaller gym in Stillwater," he says. "At that point, I was looking for a switch and had some interested in starting my own landscaping company." Four years after founding his lawn care business, Corkery Companies, he suffered his stroke.

"After they performed surgery, I was in ICU for a few days, and then the doctors told me that I could go home. The only problem was that I didn't have any feeling in my right side," Corkery said. "[The doctors] gave me the option to go to the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, so that's what I did."

For three weeks, Corkery lived in the lower level of Abbott Northwestern, where he spent hours teaching himself how to do daily tasks. "At the time I wore contacts," Corkery says."So I had to learn how to put those in again. I was right-handed, and it was my right side that wasn't working, so i had to learn how to write and brush my teeth with my left hand."

With support from his family, including his wife Jane, Corkery's rehabilitation paid off. After six weeks of sitting in a wheelchair, Corkery was finally able to stand again.

Slowly he resumed his profession. Though his walking was unstable, lawn mowers and snow blowers doubled as walkers. "I was self-employed, and I needed to work to receive health insurance," Corkery says. "I think that because I needed to work, I forced myself to learn how to get back onto my feet."