Last fall, two stroke patients met and discovered they shared a passion for guitar. Just last week, they played together for a stroke survivor support group.
Lewis Lott, a 54-year-old from New Castle, has been a professional guitar and bass player for much of his life, playing gigs primarily along the eastern seaboard.
Not long suffering a stroke last September, he picked up the guitar again.
“I wasn’t able to play very well but I was just determined," Lott said. "The first Sunday when I was out of church –out of the hospital – I played at church. And I still play there every week. I do the best I can. I still don’t play the guitar as well as I used to, but I’m not going to stop.”
A couple of months ago, he started playing with Don Mann – a 68-year-old from Landenberg, Pennsylvania, who he met when they both landed at Christiana’s stroke unit after suffering strokes on the same day.
They continued physical and occupational therapy at the same time, and at the suggestion of a therapist began playing music together.
The strokes impacted the two differently: for Mann, it would be months before he could wiggle his fingers again.
But for Lott, his singing capabilities - particularly pitch - were impacted more severely. Mann says Lott started playing the guitar only three weeks after suffering his stroke.
“His left hand – on the guitar, the fretting hand, working the neck of the guitar, his hand did not get as impacted as mine did," Mann said. "He could wiggle his fingers when he was there on the stroke unit when we first got there. I could not. I’m just getting to the place where I can wiggle my fingers.”
Their partnership grew into a gig last Friday when they performed a few songs for a stroke survivor support group, including a “This Little Light of Mine” sing-along.
Mann says the performance shows how far he and Lott have come.
“For both Lewis and I it was a focus for us to keep working our hands and arms. Initially I couldn’t even put my hand up onto the neck of the guitar, much less play anything," Mann said.
Mann and Lott say that while they don’t have any other gigs together planned for the near future, they’re open to opportunities that present themselves.
