John Richmond is a clinical social worker in practice in BC and Ontario. He had a long career including teaching and research, prior to having an ischemic stroke in 2021 after crashing his bike on a patch of ice. John was the beneficiary of his partner Paula Larrondo's long career in neuro-rehab and acute care social work - Paula recognized the signs of stroke immediately and got John to a stroke treatment centre. John further benefited from AI and a world class stroke rehab team who together identified the cause of the stroke in less than 30 min and proposed an immediate surgical procedure known as EVT thrombectomy. John underwent the surgical procedure, saving much of his brain from further damage. A social worker in the surgical unit helped John to access an inpatient rehab program where he made rapid progress thanks to the early intervention post-stroke. Discharged after 4 weeks, John continued his rehabilitation at home through a daily virtual treatment program with OTs, PTs, Social Workers and Speech Language Therapy. Once stable, John returned to his family home in BC and registered for BC Brainwellness - another virtual program he did for more than a year while returning to work as a social worker. Realizing the inequities of his own experience and those of other stroke survivors he met along the way, John joined with some new friends to help found Stroke Survivors Advocacy Group of Canada. John is the branch representative for the BC Association of Social Workers in the Vancouver, North Shore, Sea to Sky and Sunshine coast region. He has a private practice in BC and Ontario and can be reached at coastcareconsulting@gmail.com. His main area of interest is rehabilitation, elder care, disability rights and AI and disability. John has a BSW from UBC, MSW from University of Toronto and a BA in Philosophy from UBC.