Community rallies around former Lake Worth Beach city commissioner after stroke
Andy Amoroso, paralyzed on the floor for 12 hours, urges others to invest in wearable medical tech as a GoFundMe raises thousands for his recovery
FOR 12 AGONIZING hours, former Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Andy Amoroso lay paralyzed on his bathroom floor, unable to reach his phone after suffering a devastating stroke.
Now, the 61-year-old civic leader is using his survival story to issue an urgent plea to the public: Invest in wearable medical technology before it is too late.
“Get an Apple watch, so you’re not lying on the floor,’’ he said July 21 in a brief interview from his hospital bed at JFK Medical Center.
His stroke, suffered July 16, caused paralysis on the left side of his face and his left arm and hand. He is able to speak slowly and hopes to one day regain the use of his arm and hand through physical therapy.
Meanwhile, the episode has sparked a wave of community support, with a GoFundMe account raising nearly $7,000 a day after it was created to help him with medical and personal bills.
“The community is very much rallying to help him,’’ said his sister, Dawn Amoroso. “They love him.’’
Amoroso served on the city commission from 2011 to 2020. He ran for mayor in 2024 but lost in a runoff to incumbent Betty Resch.
He said he had never been hospitalized until last week and always considered himself healthy, taking walks around town and across the Lake Worth Bridge four nights a week for exercise.
But some time after 10 p.m. on July 16, alone in his Golfview Road apartment near Bryant Park, he collapsed in the bathroom. Despite multiple efforts, he said, he was unable to get up. And he could not immediately find his phone.
He said spent 12 hours on the floor before he was able to muster up the strength to crawl across the floor, find his phone in his bedroom and call his sister for help.
He said his “brain was not working” properly so he never thought to call 911; Dawn, who lives in Jupiter, did that for him. To unlock the front door for the EMS crew, he said he tried to shove couch pillows under his body and drag himself across the living room floor.
Because he was unable to call for help for so long, Amoroso missed the critical “golden hour“ for medical attention, which has left him with some paralysis, Dawn said.
He is already trying to regain strength in his hand by squeezing sponge objects shaped like sticks of butter.
Amoroso’s sense of humor was not affected by the stroke.
Last week, he said, he’d complained to city commissioners Mimi May and Anthony Segrich about the potholes on the streets near his apartment.
“When I was in the back of the ambulance, the medics said, ‘Is there anything we can do for you? I said, ‘Yeah, you can call the city and tell them to fix the potholes,’’’ he said.
Amoroso, whose husband was in Turkey for business and is trying to return to Florida, owns and operates The Tacky Tourist gift shop on Lake Avenue. Friends are trying to keep the store open.
“If his store isn’t open, he isn’t earning income to cover his rent, mortgage, and bills,’’ said his sister-in-law Tracie O’Connor. “This makes his recovery even more difficult, as he needs support to manage his living expenses while focusing on healing.’’
The GoFundMe will also help with his medical bills, Dawn said.
“He has such a large group of friends and family he has helped through his years in Lake Worth Beach,’’ Dawn said. “So many people were texting me and calling, ‘How can we help?’’’
Amoroso was brought to tears when talking about the many visitors to his hospital room over the past few days. Among them: May, former mayor Pam Triolo, former Lake Worth Beach City Manager Mike Bornstein, assistant Palm Springs village manager Kim Glas-Castro, a sheriff’s captain, a staff member at the Farmworker Coordinating Council, of which Amoroso is a board member.
Amoroso said he considers it his public service to urge everyone his age to invest in a medical alert device.
“We all make fun of ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,’’’ he said, referring to the popular 1980s commercial for medical alert devices, “but until it happens to you… People need to know it can happen in a minute, even if you are healthy.’’
We need to make our city more accessible to wheelchairs and walkers in support of Andy!
Glad you are okay!!!