LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- An Arkadelphia man credits great care at UAMS and bowling for helping him recover from a massive stroke.

“My left hand went completely numb. I thought that I had slept on it wrong,” explained Timothy Raines.

Timothy Raines is one of many Arkansans who has suffered a stroke. According to UAMS in 2014, Arkansas was the number state for strokes. This year the state sits at 7th.

“I was trying to play with my phone I couldn’t read any of the letters,” said Raines as he described his symptoms.

Doctors at UAMS, like Dr. Martin Radvany, said often people ignore these small stroke signs. Raines did not which is why he has had so much success post stroke.

“He got here in a timely manner so he had a very short delay we were able to get the clot out. Therefore, he had a better chance at recovery,” explained Dr. Radvany.

Raines was sent to UAMS because of a program called SAVE which uses telemedicine to contact neurologist at UAMS. A network of 50 hospitals has access to the program.

Raines said that the program helped save his life as well as the sport of bowling. He used the past time to get his arm strength back after losing it during the stroke.