Athletics

One in a billion

Men’s lacrosse team manager Noah Goldstein ’26        

Could you Make the worst thing that’s ever happened to you into a way to help others? TU senior and men’s lacrosse team manager Noah Goldstein did.

On July 25, 2019, the then-14-year-old was having a lacrosse catch with his brother when he started to feel, as he described it, tingly. Then the sensation in the right side of his body started to fade. Goldstein stumbled into the garage to his father.

“I basically said, if he didn’t catch me, I was going to fall over,” he says. “The paramedics came very slowly and then argued with my father, saying, ‘He’s just having a panic attack. It’s fine.’ My dad was pleading with them.”

Goldstein’s father recognized the signs of a stroke and took his son to GBMC. The staff immediately rushed him to Johns Hopkins Medical Center for an emergency thrombectomy to remove a blood clot from his brain. Two and half hours into the procedure, the interventional radiologist deemed it too dangerous to proceed.

“They told my parents, ‘If we do the surgery, he may never wake up,’” Goldstein says. “I came out of the stroke reading at a second-grade level. The doctors asked me to name three animals. I got out cat and dog; the third animal escaped me. I had lost my right arm, my right leg; the ability to speak; and so much cognitive function.”

Nine months after finishing outpatient rehab, he had another stroke. Then another about a month later.

I’ve truly been fortunate and given a new lease on life. And I want to make the most of it.

Noah Goldstein

In 2023, he was healthy enough to enter TU and think about the future.

“I said to my dad, ‘I want to do something bigger than myself.’ My dad and I cofounded a charity that supports pediatric stroke awareness,” Goldstein says.

The organization works to increase pediatric stroke awareness and education levels so others know the signs and can better advocate for their children or themselves.

Last season, TU men’s lacrosse Coach Shawn Nadelen suggested featuring Strokes of Luck before a regular season game against Delaware on March 15. Goldstein—who has been a manager since he was a freshman—shared his story with the team, whom he calls a second family, and the players wore t-shirts with the charity name and logo on them during pregame.

There’s no history or predisposition in Goldstein’s family for strokes.

“The doctors call me one in a billion,” he says. “I've won the wrong lottery. It's a mystery to everyone. I've been fortunate and given a new lease on life. And I want to make the most of it.”

Good coordination 

In February, Brian Duker ’10 was named the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets. He was the pass game coordinator and secondary coach of the Miami Dolphins the past two seasons. He joins Grant Udinski ’19 (offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars), Brian Fleury ’02 (run game coordinator and tight ends coach for the San Francisco 49ers) and Jim O’Neil ’01 (defensive assistant for the Detroit Lions) on the NFL sidelines for the 2026 season. 

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