Twice, David Kropp Suffered a Stroke. Twice, UF Health’s Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit Saved His Life

It was a warm February day when David Kropp had his second stroke. A Mustang mechanic in Alachua County, he went out for his daily walk down Race Track Road, an isolated dirt path across the street from his house. It was quiet, with no one around but Kropp and the neighbor’s horses. He enjoyed the peace and sunshine. Stopping briefly to take off his jacket, he noticed a tingling in his left hand.

Then, he fell to his knees.

Kropp struggled to get up, stumbling and dropping repeatedly into the dirt. He knew something was very, very wrong.

It was another stroke, just shy of two years after his first in April 2024. Back then, he had fallen at home. His wife, Deborah, was with him, and his son, Benjamin, hurried home to help, calling 911 on the way and guiding the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to their property.

But this time, Kropp was alone. He never carried a cellphone. No one else regularly came down Race Track Road except for the mailwoman. Even if he could make it back out to the main road, people might not stop to help, and his wife was out grocery shopping.

His neighbor, Richard Saxe, was his only chance.

“It was looking ominous,” David said. “I was out in the middle of nowhere. If I couldn’t get to somebody soon, the stroke would have set in, and then I wouldn’t be standing here.”

He dragged himself to Richard’s gate.

Just as he got close, Richard miraculously appeared in the driveway. David waved him down. He couldn’t speak well, but he did his best to explain he was having a stroke. Richard understood and called 911, sitting with David at his gate while they waited for the UF Health Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit, or MSTU, to arrive.

A specialty-equipped ambulance with an expert crew from both UF Health and Alachua County Fire Rescue, the MSTU is designed to facilitate a stroke diagnosis and begin time-sensitive treatment on scene. It saved David’s life back in 2024. And it saved him for the second time that afternoon.

In rural Alachua County, the closest hospital was about half an hour away. But with a stroke, time equals brain. For every minute a clot blocks one of the major arteries supplying blood to the brain, almost 2 million brain cells are lost. The sooner David could be treated, the better.

When the MSTU arrived just minutes after Richard’s 911 call, the team identified David’s acute stroke symptoms in less than 60 seconds, said Tiffany Mott, RN, a registered nurse on the unit. He was awake and smiling, but he needed treatment immediately.

They loaded him into the vehicle and used the specialized equipment onboard to perform a CT scan and administer clot-busting medication, restoring blood flow to his brain in the bed of the ambulance. Then, they began the drive back to Gainesville, virtually consulting UF Health vascular neurologists on David’s treatment plan and blaring lights and sirens the whole way.

“We really try to focus on intervening within the ‘golden hour,’ or from symptom onset to treatment within 60 minutes,” said Anna Khanna, MD, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Florida College of Medicine and medical director of the UF Health Shands Comprehensive Stroke Center, as well as one of David’s providers. “The most effective way to do this is through a mobile stroke treatment unit, which brings the hospital to the patient so we can treat immediately on-site.”

David attributes his swift recovery to this exact intervention.

“Because of them and their quick medical assistance, the stroke bus and the people on it really saved my life,” he said.

In Florida, where a booming elderly population is projected to pass 6 million by 2030, stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death for residents ages 65 and up. Fast, lifesaving care is a critical need for communities all around the state. That’s why UF Health is working to expand the MSTU fleet. Two additional units launched in Jacksonville and Central Florida in 2025, serving patients as one of just 20 mobile stroke programs in the nation and the first in Florida.

In Gainesville, where the first unit debuted in 2023, impact is everything. Thirty-one percent of MSTU patients are treated within the golden window of one hour from symptom onset, versus just 1.4% nationally. And 60% of MSTU patients are back to being independent within 90 days, Dr. Khanna said.

That was the case with David. After successfully undergoing surgery for his first stroke in 2024, he stayed in the UF Health neuromedicine intensive care unit for only two days before going home with no lingering symptoms. Now, after quick and effective treatment for his second stroke, he said he’s feeling even better than before.

“I was so thankful a couple years ago, but I’m every bit more thankful now,” David said. “I mean, how often do you hear the case of not only having your life saved once, but saved twice?”

Thanks to the MSTU and his neighbor’s lucky timing, he can still take his daily walk down Race Track Road — 5 miles every morning, now with a bright orange GPS-equipped flip phone in case he needs to call for help. But most importantly, he is home with his family as the same “Papo,” or grandpa, they can always count on.

“I feel lucky every day,” David said. “Their support kept me going from the start.”

Watch this video to learn more about how the UF Health Mobile Stroke Unit saves lives.