Meet Christopher
Gifts to Orlando Health Foundation make life-saving care possible by supporting the compassionate care, advanced treatment and personalized support that helped Bridgette and Chris move from fear and uncertainty in the emergency room to hope, healing and a future together.
For eight months, Chris, a 41-year-old St. Petersburg local, struggled with persistent headaches. At first, he attributed the symptoms to stress, long work hours and the demands of everyday life. As the headaches worsened, he searched for answers, hoping the symptoms would improve. Instead, they became increasingly concerning.
On New Year’s Eve 2025, Chris woke up vomiting and unable to communicate normally. Realizing something was seriously wrong, Bridgette, Chris’s fiancée, rushed him to the nearest Orlando Health emergency room just minutes from their home.
By the time they arrived, Chris was barely responsive, and his eyes had begun rolling back in his head. He underwent a CT scan, and the results were shocking.
Doctors discovered a meningioma, a noncancerous brain tumor that had likely been growing undetected for more than five years. The tumor had become so large that it pushed Chris’s brain to the opposite side of his skull. He needed emergency surgery and was immediately transferred to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital.
During the ambulance ride and throughout surgery, Chris experienced several strokes. Doctors later told Bridgette that if she had waited just 30 more minutes before bringing him to the hospital, he might not have survived.
After surgeons removed the tumor, Chris spent 16 days in a medically induced coma in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Orlando Health Bayfront.
Throughout those difficult weeks, Bridgette remained by his side. She built strong relationships with his care team, learned to understand complex medical updates and became an important advocate in his recovery. Every small sign of progress mattered.
“My biggest prayer was that he would still be Chris,” Bridgette says. “I wasn’t worried about the house or work or anything else. I just wanted the person I loved to come back to me.”
When Chris was finally able to speak again, those fears began to ease. He recognized Bridgette and showed the personality that had always defined him. From there, he continued his recovery through intensive inpatient rehabilitation, working with physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists to regain strength and independence.
The strokes left Chris with significant vision loss, requiring him to relearn many daily tasks and adapt to a new reality. Still, he approached therapy with determination and a willingness to do whatever recovery required.
“He almost didn’t want to come home because they were so good to him,” Bridgette says. “He said, ‘I’m comfortable here. They’re taking such great care of me.’”
Today, Chris is back home with Bridgette and his family after completing rehabilitation and undergoing his final surgery to replace the portion of his skull that had been removed because of swelling.
Together, Chris and Bridgette are taking life one step at a time. They remain grateful for the quick actions that saved his life, the care team that supported his recovery and the chance to continue building their future together.
