St Kitts PM Drew confirms stroke, says recovery going well

FLORIDA, United States (CMC)—St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew on Sunday confirmed that he had suffered a stroke late last month, but that he is recovering well and has since been discharged from hospital in the United States. Drew, 49, was flown to Florida for further medical evaluation on September 2, after initially being hospitalised in the neighbouring French island of Martinique. He was first treated for symptoms including nausea, dizziness, and balance issues, and was admitted to the Joseph N France General Hospital in Basseterre on August 30.

“I want to thank you for your prayers and well wishes. First of all I want to thank God Almighty for having me here. And again, to thank all of the medical practitioners...,” Prime Minister Drew said in an eight-minute broadcast to the twin-island Federation.

“After all of the analysis, I suffered a stroke. This stroke was a dissection of one of the arteries in the back of my brain called the vertebral artery, and even though I suffered that stroke, the limitations on my mind and body, those limitations have been well controlled and well managed,” said Drew, himself a medical practitioner. “I can move all my limbs, speak well.

My mentation, my coordination, my intelligence have been well, and I am now at the stage where I have left the hospital here in Florida, and I’m now doing rehab, both occupational therapy and OT as well.” He said his rehabilitation exercises “are going extremely well,” adding, “so at this point in time, I can say, both mentally and psychologically and also physically, I’m doing much better than my ailment would suggest. “And I thank God over and over for His many, many blessings and praise from all those who have been praying for me,” he said. Drew, who has been leading the government since August 6, 2022, said his administration is a mature and serious one with “multiple contingency plans in place from the worst-case scenario to a minor disruption.

“In this case, I suffered an acute illness and had to leave the country in short order to seek medical care,” he said, noting that whilst he was in hospital in Basseterre he met with the entire Cabinet. “I was able to basically explain the plan to them and delegate responsibilities to the whole of Cabinet. Everything has been left in place and all of my responsibili…

Everything has been left in place and all of my responsibil…