"A year before he had his stroke, Roy was a dental technician. He got laid off from his job. He was getting unemployment benefits, but they ran out," says Defannie.

Roy, who suffered from extremely high blood pressure, stopped taking medication as he no longer had health insurance and could not afford to buy what he needed.

"I guess because of pride, he didn't want to ask anybody to give us the money so he could get his medications. So he stopped taking them."