6-year-old who suffered stroke in utero throws out first pitch at Twins game

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - If the Twins need a new pitcher 15 years from now, they may want to look at now 6-year-old Dorian Nelson, who showed Thursday he has a great arm and a knack for overcoming adversity.

“He was born in a regular pregnancy and then about 20 hours after birth, he had seizures and they found out he had a stroke in utero,” said his mother, Marta Nelson.

 The stroke damaged his brain and every step since then has been part of a larger journey, a journey that led him to the pitcher's mound at Target Field Thursday where he threw out the first pitch. 

“He’s done great,” she said. “He’s fully recovered physically, but he had a hard time using his right side. He struggles now more in impulse control and self-regulation.”

A stroke is more common than you think. It’s easy to look at someone like Dory and say, “That’s just simply too young.” But, the reality is, a stroke can happen at any age and the scorecard keeps adding up.

As of 2016, the Department of Health says Minnesotans had 11,000 hospitalizations for acute strokes.

Currently, about 2.5 percent of Minnesotans have suffered a stroke, which amounts to about 100,000 people.

Dorian is representing all of them on the mount for the Minnesota Stroke Association.

The Minnesota Stroke Association has its Strides for Stroke walk coming up Saturday, May 18 at Long Lake Regional Park in New Brighton.

You can register for the walk at strokemn.org. FOX 9’s Cody Matz will be there to help kick off the event.