I am a World Champion Black Belt martial artist that has been training for 19 years. I have

grown from a shy child to confident teenager teaching classes for all ages to a passionate

 professional with a dream of changing lives through martial arts. With martial arts, I have been

actively known to performing high flying kicks and tricks and doing presentations to hundreds of

people. I have also ventured into professional Hollywood stunts working on shows such as Logan,

Daredevil, and Jungle Cruise. That all changed when I got my stroke in August 2019. 

      The stroke affected my speech, short term memory, sense of balance, and strength of the

connection of my brain to my muscles. Thankfully, I was referred to Sai Rehab. 

I started doing speech and occupational therapy with Christina, Josh, and Varsha. Christina

taught me techniques to get my short memory better and helped me practice speaking more 

normally again without stuttering or long pauses. Josh and Varsha broke me and built me back up.

Their program was probably the hardest part of my stroke recovery process. Josh helped me

connect my brain, eyes, and ears to sync up better so I was able to multi-task without dropping

into the fetal position anytime a loud sound triggered my emotional capacity. Varsha challenged

me to fight through the weakened muscles and balance issues. She made me fight and push on

through tears and nearly vomiting on her and for that I am SO incredibly thankful. She believed in and showed me that I am strong enough to overcome these challenges. Because of Christina, Josh, and Varsha, I am about 90% recovered from where I was before the stroke. I have been actively teaching, flipping, and kicking since working with Sai Rehab. I cannot thank Sai Rahab enough for believing in me and pushing me to recover from that challenging time. Thank you to Kelly and Sam for greeting me every day with a positive vibe as soon as I walk into the clinic. Thank you to Christina for patiently working with me to overcome my stutter and short term memory issues. Thank you to Josh for always setting me straight and giving me perspective. Thank you to Varsha for pushing me to be better even though I fought through tears and nausea after every session. Thank you Sai Rehab, for putting my life back on a positive track after such a scary time. Sai Rehab is amazing. 

-- Rissa Kilar --