New father suffers stroke, but wife’s rehabilitation changes everything (Exclusive)

Logan Barber, a competitive powerlifter and hard-working communications contractor, was known for his physical strength and relentless drive, allowing him to deadlift over 700 pounds. While at work, I regularly walked more than 20,000 steps a day.

But one night in September 2024, he suffered a massive hemorrhage and fell into a coma, robbing him of the power and independence that had long defined him.

“He was 37 years old and in great health,” his wife Stacey Barber exclusively tells PEOPLE. “We’ve always been going to the gym, working out, taking care of our bodies, and eating healthy.”

Stacey, a certified physical therapist, was “shocked” when doctors told her husband had little chance of survival, and even if he did, he would never walk again or lead a highly functional life.

At the time of Logan’s stroke, the couple had a 10-month-old baby and Stacey was balancing the demands of new motherhood with running her own business, Physio Fix.

Faced with a devastating prognosis, Stacey refused to accept that this was the end of her husband’s story.

She knew the journey ahead would be long and hard, but she also knew that giving up was not an option for her, for Logan, and of course for her daughter.

“I knew he would fight as hard as he could to come back to us and to keep fighting to recover as much as possible,” Stacey says.

“He has an incredible work ethic and was never going to let anyone else put limits on his potential, his recovery, or our future.”

With unwavering determination, she decided to take matters into her own hands and do everything in her power to restore her husband’s strength, both physically and mentally.

Logan spent a total of seven and a half weeks in the hospital, including four weeks in the ICU on a ventilator.

During critical weeks, Stacey waited for therapy staff to come and move her, hoping to conserve her strength while she was in a coma, but none came.

Refusing to let her husband’s health deteriorate any further, Stacey turned to her expertise in hopes of speeding up the recovery process.

“I knew I couldn’t wait that long. Moving and moving early is key to reducing blood clots and re-establishing the mind-body connection,” she explains.

“So, about the third day in the hospital, I brought some of my own physical therapy supplies and started doing whatever I could with him every day.”

Stacey used every tool she could to stimulate Logan’s body and mind: massage, tapping, vibration, music therapy, stretching, and even her daughter’s toys.

“At first, he wasn’t moving or responding because he was in a coma,” she said. “But as he started to recover, I started noticing small reactions. Eventually, he started responding to push and pull cues and I realized he had more movement and strength than the doctors believed.”

As he became more alert and mobile, she progressed to resistance bands, blood flow restriction training, mobility work, bodyweight training, and added hip and back mobility to ease his discomfort.

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Logan made steady progress while Stacey continued his in-house rehabilitation with three to five hours of treatment each day, but when he returned home, a whole new set of challenges arose.

To make the home wheelchair accessible, the barber had to remove doors and add safety aids.

“It took a while for him to get into a wheelchair and learn how to live at home, but he gradually got used to it,” Stacey said. “He soon realized that rehab became a full-time job, and the more he rehabbed at home, the faster he improved and the faster he progressed.”

Initially, Logan received speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy three times a week for six months, as well as vision therapy once or twice a week.

The most difficult physical challenge was Logan’s limited hand and arm abilities. At first, Logan was unable to pick up, dress or feed her daughter, which Stacey said was heartbreaking to watch.

Also, his limited ability to walk required a lot of mental and physical energy, which took a huge toll on Logan’s self-confidence. Despite this, Stacey did not give up on her husband.

By leveraging her unique perspective on neurorehabilitation, she filled certain gaps in traditional treatments and helped him regain strength and function.

“If I didn’t know what I know, I wouldn’t have been able to advocate for my husband the way I have. I wouldn’t have been able to get him transferred to a better hospital and get him better care,” she told PEOPLE. “I might have believed the doctors at their word and accepted the limits they placed on him as his fate.”

Now, the 38-year-old goes to physical therapy twice a week and strength training four times a week. This is a routine I started three months after my stroke.

One year after his medical emergency, Logan is now out of his wheelchair and back to squatting 200 pounds, deadlifting more than 250 pounds, benching more than 100 pounds, and does most of his activities independently.

Although he still has some weakness in his left leg, the Bioness L300 Go device helps him walk and he continues to do daily exercises to improve hand function.

He is able to hold and play with his daughter, has fully accepted his position as a father, and to most, there are no visible signs of the massive stroke he survived.

Five months after the incident, Logan was able to return to work and has been working full-time for several months. He is now able to drive again, even though doctors initially said he might not be able to get behind the wheel due to vision problems caused by the stroke.

“His progress has been amazing and has exceeded all doctors’ expectations,” Stacey said.

Through a difficult year-long journey, Stacey watched her husband change and discovered the incredible mental and physical strength she had always possessed.

Most importantly, one mother learned the importance of advocating passionately for herself and her loved ones, and the profound power of hope.

“We need more people to think differently. To stand up, advocate, and demand better care. The kind of care I gave my husband should be available and the standard of health care, not rare,” Stacey tells PEOPLE.

“I learned that it takes just one determined person to change the trajectory of someone’s life. As healthcare professionals, we all have that power.”