'I feel blessed': Delta pilot survives stroke, returns to flying again

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Playing with their dog, Ollie, in their Peachtree City backyard, Jeff and Paula Vickers are now retired after 44 years of flying. For the first 9 years, Jeff flew with the US Air Force, and then for 33 years as a pilot for Delta Airlines. 

"I feel blessed, you know," Jeff Vickers says. "I really do." 

Three years ago, on the morning of February 20, 2021, Vickers was supposed to be waking up alone, 3,100 miles from home in a Lima, Peru hotel room, on a 48-hour layover. 

Instead, because a flight crew member had tested positive for COVID-19, the then 62-year-old was quarantined at home, staying in a guest room, when he went to get a cup of coffee with Paula. 

He felt, he says, just fine. 

"I started speaking to her, saying, 'Good morning. How are you doing?'" Vickers remembers. "And she immediately noticed that I was slurring my speech and that the side of my face was lopsided." 

He could not figure out how to work their Keurig machine, something he had done thousands of times. 

"I knew that something wasn't right," Paula Vickers says. "And I know that with a stroke, you need to get a person to the doctor, to the hospital, as quickly as possible, you know?" 

Paula Vickers called 911. 

Soon, her husband was sitting on their couch, surrounded by three paramedics and EMTs. 

"And the next thing you know, I'm in an ambulance, sped away," he remembers. 

Jeff Vickers was having a stroke. 

His carotid arteries, the major blood vessels supplying his brain, were both blocked. 

"I had 95% blockage over here, about 80% over here, in the carotid arteries," he says. "I think a piece of plaque broke off and got lodged in my brain." 

The clock was now ticking. 

Had he been alone in his hotel room, Vickers says, it's likely he would not have survived. 

"I wouldn't be here," Vickers says. "I also think that if Paula hadn't gotten me the care I needed when I needed it, I probably wouldn't be here." 

Vickers was airlifted by helicopter from Piedmont Fayette Hospital to Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. 

He remembers thinking that this might be his last flight ever. 

"I even asked the pilot if I could get some stick time on the way, and he said no," Vickers smiles. 

Within days, Piedmont endovascular surgeon Dr. Chuck Ross would perform the first of two operations to reopen both carotid arteries. 

But first, he says, the team had to get Vickers stabilized, and he seemed to be deteriorating. 

"We have a stroke scale that was rising," Dr. Ross says. "So, I thought the stroke was significant. But Jeff is amazing in his desire to recover, and it wasn't just to recover. From the very beginning, he said he was going back to the cockpit." 

"I just wanted him to do well so badly," Dr. Ross says. "I want all my patients to do well, but there was a real bond there that happened very early in his stay." 

The stroke left Vickers weak and struggling to use his left hand. 

"They set me up with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, and I took to it," he says. "I was on it like a bulldog! Paula pushed me as well." 

It took nearly 2 years of recovery; pulling together the necessary paperwork and getting medical clearances from a team of specialists. 

But in 2023, Jeff Vickers was finally cleared by the FAA to fly again. 

"I remember the night before I flew my first flight, ironing my shirt, my uniform, putting all my wings and epaulets and stuff," he says. "I turned around, and she's crying." 

Getting back in the cockpit after two years away felt like a gift. 

"It was joyous," he says. "I've done it for, you know, so long. I’ve been flying my whole life, and I just love it." 

Vickers flew for eight more months before taking mandatory retirement at 65. 

On his final flight as Captain Vickers, Paula, their son and daughter, five grandchildren, and Dr. Ross were all on board. 

"I've got to tell you, the touchdown on the final leg back to Atlanta was the smoothest," Ross says. "It was like a pillow. You know, it was unreal, and it was very emotional." 

Jeff Vickers says he is grateful he got this chance to fly again. 

His stroke, he says, inspired him to get healthier, changing his diet and exercising. 

In August, he and Paula celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. 

"It's our second story in our life now," Vickers says. "We did the one where we raised kids and we worked, and now we're just going to enjoy retirement and travel."