Tranicia Hankins served in the U.S. Army for nearly two decades, rising through the ranks with a clear vision of her future. Initially enlisting to pursue a college education, she went on to serve in Ohio and Indiana’s National Guard, with deployments that took her from Fort Bragg to Kuwait and Qatar. But in 2016, while on a family vacation, her life changed in an instant. At just 35 years old, she suffered a hemorrhagic stroke caused by an arteriovenous malformation (AVM)—a cluster of abnormal blood vessels in her brain.

 “I was very healthy. I exercised all the time. For her to say I was having a stroke didn’t seem possible,” she recalled.

After emergency care and neurosurgery, Tranicia began the long and uncertain process of rehabilitation. She initially received inpatient therapy and underwent further surgery, but her recovery was slower than anticipated. “I thought I would go back to duty. That this would all pass,” she said. When the military officially began her retirement process, it marked a profound turning point. “Everything I had worked for—I felt like it was all taken away from me. I had planned for the next ten years. I didn’t have a plan for this.” Despite the emotional toll, Tranicia channeled her energy into redefining her purpose, eventually going back to school for social work and engaging with veterans, brain injury survivors, and mental health support groups.

Her transformation accelerated after first joining NeuroHope in Indianapolis, soon joining with Conquer Paralysis Now to become the new DRIVEN NeuroRecovery Center in Indianapolis. Referred by a fellow survivor, Tranicia was seeking more intensive, specialized therapy. “Outpatient therapy felt basic. I needed more,” she said. After a long waitlist, she finally entered the program and has now been with NeuroHope and DRIVEN for five years. Through circuit training, adaptive fitness classes like Zumba and NeuroFit, and strength-building equipment tailored to her limitations, she has steadily regained physical capacity. 

“I started out in a wheelchair. Then it was a cane. Now I’m stronger and know how to adapt.” 

DRIVEN’s team also helped modify tools for daily tasks, such as reinforcing the leash she uses with her service dog, making independence achievable in practical, personal ways.

Tranicia credits DRIVEN not only with her physical gains but with restoring her sense of identity. “Here, we do therapy together—it feels like a community. It’s not just physical, it’s emotional and social too,” she said. Today, she actively volunteers with organizations that support brain injury survivors and female veterans, advocating so others don’t face the same isolation. Her goal now is clear: to get the most function out of what she has, and to help others do the same. “If you have a goal, no matter how small, they will help you get there,” she says of DRIVEN. 

“Celebration, for me, is appreciating life and continuing to be my best.”