About the Cover Artist: Fatherhood by Bevan Choate, MD

Dr. Bevan Choate was born in 1985 to a cattle ranching family in San Angelo, Texas.

“I (was) cowboying since I could ride a horse,” Dr. Choate said.

Determined to pursue more scholarly goals, Dr. Choate embarked on a career in medicine, completing his residency in the field of urology at The University of New Mexico. By 2018, he was a full-fledged urologist doing complex surgeries and loving the intense ride.

Then, on December 3, 2020, the music stopped.

He suffered an embolic left cerebellar stroke secondary to a left vertebral artery dissection.

Dr. Choate underwent three brain surgeries, including a ventricular shunt, a craniectomy, and a left cerebellar strokectomy. He developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and had pneumonia while on a ventilator for 26 days. Despite the odds, he walked out of the hospital with an aluminum walker.

In stroke rehab, with more time on his hands than he knew what to do with, Dr. Choate began palette knife painting and writing. The art gave him agency and an outlet to process the absurdity he had experienced. The writing started as an exercise for his feral left hand.

“All of the sudden it was like painting was something that I had to do instead of something that I just could do. In some way, the creative process just got better, and I can’t really put my finger on why,” Dr. Choate said in a podcast interview.

For him, the relationship between stroke and art is awe-inspiring. It gets into the physical changes in the brain brought on by a stroke, the lifestyle changes we are forced to make, and the shift in our own priorities and worldview after a stroke.

As for his writing, a simple exercise turned into something more powerful that he thought could really help others in the brain injury community. He wrote “The Stroke Artist,” a story that speaks to all who have at one time or another faced and then overcome life’s unplanned obstacles. His book was later published and received international recognition.

Dr. Choate is currently practicing as a clinical urologist. He continues to paint, write, and advocate for those affected by brain injury. To learn more about Dr. Choate and to view his artwork, visit https://thestrokeartist.org