FAIRHOPE — His disarming smile gives no hint that Dr. John L. Stump is an embattled warrior in a struggle with his own body.

In 1999, he was a healthy, happy, successful man. He was a popular lecturer, teacher and practitioner of Oriental Medicine. He traveled the world honing his skills, sharing his knowledge in the science of nutrition, chiropractics, acupuncture and sports medicine. Then one evening, his life changed forever when he suffered a massive stroke.

Prior to the stroke, Stump spoke three foreign languages and was learning a fourth. A string of letters behind his name indicated several doctoral degrees.

“The first thing I had to do,” Stump said, “was to relearn my ABCs. I had to relearn English.”

He was no stranger to adversity. In college he’d suffered a broken neck that ended his football career. Later, while working as a coach, he was driving a school bus when he was forced off the road by a semi-trailer truck. In that accident he suffered a herniated lumbar disk. The injury prompted his initial interest in chiropractics.

No matter what happened to him, it was Stump’s nature to work harder to overcome the problem. But this problem robbed him of everything he’d spent a lifetime learning.

“I couldn’t understand anything,” he said. “I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t write. I felt completely cut off from society.”

Stump’s wife, Dianne, and his speech therapist urged him to begin a journal.

“It was like in the second grade when you start forming letters and they’re all over the place,” Stump recalls. “Little by little, it got better. My cognitive ability began to come back. The journal became a daily analysis of what was happening.”

Encouraged, Stump thought, “Well, maybe I’ll do an article on my stroke.” The article turned into a book, Stroke of Midnight.

He writes vividly of the first realization that something was very wrong, and the heartbreaking truth of what that something was when he awoke three weeks later.

When asked who he hopes will read his book, Stump said, “People don’t realize that heart disease and stroke go together. They are cardiovascular. Today heart disease is the number one killer in America.”

Stump is convinced that 80 percent of cardiovascular cases could be prevented. “Those are the people I want to reach.”

Stump says that young people need to learn that good nutrition will prevent disease and help them recover if the worst happens.

“I had the stroke, but I had to recuperate. They didn’t think I’d ever walk again. Talk again. Certainly never work again.” Stump flashes an infectious smile. “But I’m back in action. My book lets people know there’s always a chance that they can get better.”

Dr. Stump, a member of the Fairhope Rotary Club, will donate all profits from the sale of his book to the Alabama Chapter of American Stroke Association. Fairhope Rotary Club will distribute the money. Stump has agreed to speak about stroke prevention to any Rotary Club within driving distance of Fairhope if he is invited.

Saturday, Oct. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m., Dr. Stump will sign his book, Stroke of Midnight, at Page & Palette in Fairhope.

A series of lectures by Dr. Stump will begin the first Monday of Oct., from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Fairhope Public Library. He will continue the series each first Monday of November and December.

For more information, call 990-8188, or stop by Dr. Stump’s new office location at 315 Magnolia Ave. for his Open House during the First Friday ArtWalk, Oct. 5.