Arizona powerlifter defies odds after suffering massive stroke

Valley man survives stroke with help of his wife

After a massive stroke left a young local man unable to walk, doctors initially doubted he'd recover. One person never had a doubt, the man's wife, and today, against all odds, they're proving anything is possible. FOX 10's Danielle Miller reports.

PHOENIX - "There is just so much unknown with stroke rehab, so I just said let's throw everything at it and see what's possible," said Stacie Barber.

And that's exactly what Stacie Barber did. Today, seeing what is possible is truly a miracle.

That miracle is her husband, Logan Barber. It was September 9, 2024, when his health unexpectedly took a dramatic turn.

"Stacie sent me a text, and it was early, but I figured I better get up because I had to get ready for work," Logan Barber said. "I stepped off the bed and tripped on some sheets and I fell to the floor and hit my head on the floor. I remember being able to use all of my limbs, but my head was in searing pain at that point and I decided to yell for help."

Logan was having a stroke, but his wife Stacie was thousands of miles away in Australia for a work trip.

Thankfully, Logan's mother was in town helping look after the Barbers' daughter, Oakley, who was just 10 months old at the time. She found him unconscious on the floor. She called for help and Logan was rushed to the hospital.

‘They didn’t expect him to make it through the night'

Stacie was told by phone the terrifying reality of her husband's condition.

"They found out he was having a massive hemorrhagic stroke, so a bleed was going on in his brain," Stacie said. "Once he was in the hospital, [he developed] respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, lung failure and then a pulmonary embolism. They didn't expect him to make it through the night. They told me to get on a plane right away, and I said, 'Is he going to be there when I get there?' and he said, 'I don't think so.'"

Stacie did get on the plane. Thirty-two long hours later, she was by Logan's bedside. Fear, sadness and panic set in when she saw her husband's condition, but so did her knowledge from years of training in the medical field.

Stacie, who is a doctor of physical therapy at Physio Fix in Phoenix, didn't hesitate and stepped right in, assisting in Logan's care.

Stacie Barber

"I didn't think of myself as the therapist at that point. I was just a concerned wife, and I am going to do whatever I can to help him," she said. "What I do and how I help people is through movement and exercise, so I am going to use my skillset. I've been a doctor for 10 years now. I've been practicing for so long, just in a different capacity, so I'm going to use everything I know and even things I don't know—I did research—just to give my all to him. I knew early on that I had to move him, and my husband was already stiff, so I knew without moving he would be way worse. I am just going to keep his body mobile and move his joints. I started that as soon as I got to him at the other hospital."

Logan spent eight weeks in the hospital. In those eight weeks, he regained consciousness and made major improvements with his movement and speech. From there, he was moved to inpatient care. Once there, he would do three hours of physical therapy per day, while still doing extra work on the side with Stacie.

That extra work provided by his wife early on is something he credits for his success.

"Without that initial movement, I don't know where I'd be. I gained so much confidence at a time I was so scared," Logan said. "I was terrified I wouldn't be able to do anything ever again. [The recovery] just had a snowball effect, and without it, I don't know where I'd be. I was shocked. Considering before I went unconscious that I could move my limbs and then when I woke up and came to, I couldn't move my left side, I was in complete shock of what happened. I had known about strokes, but I didn't have much experience, so I assumed I would be like that for the rest of my life, and based on what the doctor said, they weren't sure if I'd even be independent at that point."

‘It’s amazing'

And today, that work continues. Logan, a longtime powerlifter with his maximum lift being 745 pounds, today is clearing 250 pounds. He says getting back under the bar feels good, but the greatest victory is getting a second chance at life to be a husband and father.

From surviving a stroke to walking and talking again, all while preparing for a new baby to arrive, the Barber family says the message is simple: Miracles are all around.

"And for us to have another one on the way," Stacie said. "I didn't even know if Logan was going to survive, let alone be able to be functioning and have more kids. We always wanted more kids, but we didn't know what was possible. The ability to have him and be a present dad and to now have one on the way—it's amazing."