Meet Connor Hicks. On May 4, 2007 the Hicks family’s world changed. Their beautiful son Conner, a happy, active almost 5 year old had his first stroke. In the 5 months that followed, Conner would have 8 more strokes, a total of 9 strokes within a six month period… something that no parent would ever imagine happening to their child.

Conner’s case has been quite complicated and has multiple groups from around the country giving opinions regarding his care. Conner is primarily treated at Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, NY, but has also been seen at Sick Kids, in Toronto, Canada. He has also spent a few weeks at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2008. Toronto and Philadelphia both are recognized for their amazing Pediatric Stroke Programs. The family has also had consultations with specialists from John’s Hopkins, Holy Cross, Children’s Hospital at Boston and more, regarding Conner’s condition.

Throughout his hospitalizations, Conner has endured multiple MRI’s, CT scans, MRA’s, conventional angiograms, a brain biopsy, a muscle biopsy, and various other tests to determine the cause of these strokes. Based on these studies, it has been clear that Conner had numerous strokes in the back of his brain and a few tiny strokes in his frontal lobe. Along with these strokes, it has been noticed that he has had progressive loss of blood flow in one of his arteries named the basilar artery. The problem has been identifying the cause of the strokes. A stroke is caused by the lack of blood flow to part of the brain, usually caused by a blood clot that forms in an artery. One of the abnormalities that was identified on Conner’s studies is a small dissection in the vertebral artery. A dissection is a small tear in an artery where a blood clot can form. The blood clot can then break off and travel along in the blood stream, clog-up another artery and causes a stroke. The vertebral artery becomes the basilar artery when it reaches the brain stem. Thus, the theory is that a clot breaks off in the vertebral at the site of the dissection and then travels to the basilar artery resulting in a stroke. Yet, in most cases, treatment with a blood thinning medicine, like Coumadin, Heparin, or Lovenox, prevents further strokes. However, in Conner’s case, he does not appear to be responding to the treatment.

The cause for Conner’s lack of response is unknown. While it is possible that he exhibits a problem with his blood clotting too easily tests have shown him to be clear of most known clotting disorders. There also remains the possibility that there is yet another reason for the strokes other than the dissection.

Conner was discharged from the hospital at the end of October 2007 on an IV heparin drip that is received through a PICC line 24 hours/ 7 days a week. This was Connor’s only option; the family was desperate. He had suffered strokes on all of the other regiments of anticoagulants that he had been given up until that point. Unfortunately, as a result of that medicine Connor has developed severe osteoporosis that resulted in severe pain for the next several months. It was awful!

Now, over a year has passed and Michelle (Connor’s mom) is happy to say Conner continues to make progress each and every day. She states she thinks back to last September when Connor’s last stroke left him with the inability to eat, talk, and use his entire right side. Due to his determination and through months and months of therapy he is now thriving. He eats everything that is put in front of him, his speech is slurred, but he is talking, and he is able to walk on his own. He is their hero!

Despite the uncertainty of what tomorrow may bring, one thing is for sure... Connor’s family feel they are truly blessed to have him in their lives. He has made an everlasting impact on so many people and has touched the lives of many.

Because of all this, Connor Hicks is our 2009 Hero of the Month!

To learn more about Nick please visit his Caring Bridge site at:

Conner's Caring Bridge Site

To learn more about spinal conditions, including spinal stroke please visit:

Golisano's Children's Hospital Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center

Sick Kids

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Pediatric Stroke Program