[Vision2020] Coretta Scott King is mostly paralyzed

[TIM RIGSBY]

Friday, August 19, 2005 · Last updated 7:05 p.m. PT

Coretta Scott King is mostly paralyzed

By KRISTEN WYATT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


  Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King 
Jr., speaks during an interview at the King Center for Nonviolent Social 
Change in this Jan. 13, 2004 file photo. King suffered a heart attack and a 
major stroke that has impaired her ability to speak and affected her right 
side, a doctor said Thursday. (AP Photo/John Bazmore, File)
ATLANTA -- Coretta Scott King is mostly paralyzed on the right side of her 
body and faces a long, difficult recovery from a stroke, but she managed to 
say a few words Friday, her doctor said.

Dr. Maggie Mermin, King's personal physician, said that the 78-year-old 
widow of Martin Luther King Jr. is unable to walk and has been mostly unable 
to speak since the stroke Tuesday in the left side of her brain, which 
controls speech functions.

"She said a few words today. We're very encouraged by that," the doctor 
said.

Mermin said King would be in Piedmont Hospital for at least another week and 
said, "I'm not certain she'll have full recovery. ... We certainly hope for 
that."

King, who was listed in fair condition Friday, has recognized all her 
visitors and was working with speech therapists to communicate using 
pictures, Mermin said.

"Physically, she's doing beautifully, and emotionally, I think she's doing 
well given the circumstances," she said.

The doctor said King suffered small strokes in April and on Aug. 2. After 
the second stroke, King was unable to speak for several hours and doctors 
put her on a blood thinner in hopes of preventing clots.

But Mermin said the medicine could not dissolve clots that were already 
there, and one of those caused Tuesday's stroke.

Late Thursday, King's four children, Martin Luther III, Yolanda, Dexter, and 
Bernice, spoke to reporters for the first time about their mother's 
condition and said they expect her to fully recover.

"We are completely assured she will come to a complete recovery," said 
Yolanda King, the oldest child. "We believe this is a cleverly disguised 
opportunity to grow."

Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent 
Social Change in Atlanta after her husband's assassination in 1968 and has 
traveled widely to help foster his dreams. The couple married in 1953.


Revolution is not a word but an application; it is not war but peace; it 
does not weaken, but strengthens. Revolution does not cause separation; it 
generates togetherness.
-John Africa, Strategic Revolution

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