(Daily Advertiser)- Helen Turner slides her paintbrush across a canvas with a large crawfish drawn in thick, black lines. She uses white and gold paint to surround the Louisiana crustacean, following instructions from local artist Deondra Martin.

Martin stands at the front of a room in Lafayette General’s Orthopedic Hospital Tuesday afternoon. About 15 people sit across from her, each with an almost blank crawfish canvas and a tray of paint.

Most of them are stroke survivors. Some brought family members. A few Stroke Unit employees in their scrubs round out the group.

This is the sixth year Lafayette General Medical Center’s Acadiana Stroke Support Group has teamed up with Painting with a Twist to celebrate members’ recovery. The event serves as a fun way to release stress while exercising fine motor skills that often are affected by strokes.

“This is more therapy,” says Turner, who had a stroke about 12 years ago. “(The stroke) left me pretty not able to use my right side.”

Because it’s been more than a decade since her stroke, she’s not in regular physical therapy, so she was all for this free opportunity to exercise those muscles on her right side.

She comes to the support group every month and has been inviting her neighbor, June Pennington, since she had a stroke about a year ago.

Read more this article and how painting and this local support group for stroke surviors is helping make them stronger at the Daily Advertiser.

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