The Art of Medicine Gala at the Orlando Museum of Art.

Posted on by Thor

First Green Bank and The Art of Medicine Foundation invited health care professionals and brain injury survivors to submit artwork to be auctioned for charity. This event is educates and inspires awareness about the impact that brain injuries and other neurological disorders can have on those affected. Proceeds from the event benefited the University of Florida Trauma, Concussion, and Sports Neuromedicine Program.

The gala is in honor of Dr. Cindy LaRoe, who sustained a traumatic brain injury during a competitive biking accident. The injury paused LaRoe’s career in medicine, but also led her down a path of discovering her artistic talents. During her recovery, LaRoe found painting therapeutic, and now, six years after her injury, she continues to paint. She paints in vibrant bold colors. Cindy is standing in front of her painting of clown fish in my sketch. 

In a video presentation Cindy remembered the day of her accident at a bike race.  There were incentives with each lap which incited racers to sprint. She was in a group of racers heading up a hill.  Some of the girls started to sprint to pass and Cindy let them. They crossed the lines which is against the rules.  There was a big crash in front of Cindy.  She recalled a flash of bodies going down in front of her.  After the accident, she couldn’t see for a while, there was twitching in her right eye and blurred vision.   She couldn’t handle the over-stimulation of live music and crowds.  She always felt she was seeing movement to her right side.  Memories were gone.  She woke up and was a different person.  She doesn’t want anyone to ever have to experience that.  She likes to think that things happen for a reason.  Color was more intense and vibrant. Creating art gave her life a new meaning.  In some ways she feels she might be a better person that she was.   It doesn’t all suck.

Her recovery and her talent were the inspiration for she and her husband, Ken LaRoe, the founder of First Green Bank, to create the Art of Medicine Foundation. Ken took to the microphone.   He explained that after the accident, his wife developed a seizure disorder.  There were days where she had over 100 seizures.  She was put on a cocktail of pharmaceuticals but they had no effect.  One day one of Ken’s biggest clients said randomly that he smokes dope.  He smokes so that he can get to sleep at night and has done so since he was 15 years old.  He has a net worth of over 60 million, so clearly he isn’t just a stoner.  He invited Ken over to his Isleworth mansion to pick up a joint.   Ken reluctantly agreed and hid the joint in a baggie under his car seat.  A week later he told Cindy that she needed to try it.  She said, “No.”   He said, “Look, you are a doctor, this is a medical experiment.” He took a couple of tokes to cut the ice.  After she took her 4th toke off the joint, her seizures stopped.  They stopped all night and into the next day.  It worked day after day.  Her neurologist couldn’t explain it.  Over 6 months she got off the pharmaceuticals. In the interim, medical marijuana became legal.  Cindy finds a silver lining in every situation.  The gala is an example of that.  

Art of Medicine Gala at the Orlando Museum of Art.

Posted on by Thor

Local physician Cindy LaRoe, wife to
First GREEN Bank’s CEO, Ken LaRoe, was an avid cyclist until she crashed hard
at a race. She recalled the day in some detail in a video presented at the Art of Medicine Gala at the Orlando Museum of Art, (2416 North Mills Avenue, Orlando, FL) on October 15th.  It was getting near the end of the ride when she let a group of young cyclists pass her. They swerved and crossed each others paths in ways that aren’t allowed in a professional race. They got tangled together and went down hard right in front of Cindy. That is the last thing she remembered. Sadly, she suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her
unable to work as a physician, which prompted her to focus on her
passion for art. 

Ken recalled trying to find a good physician who could treat Cindy. The first physicians they faced were more interested in biking than in diagnosing Cindy’s symptoms. The misdiagnosis and delay lead to Cindy’s condition not getting treatment in time for a full recovery.  The accident encouraged Cindy to bring awareness to
the brain injury community in Central Florida. The

Art of Medicine Gala on October 15th benefited the
Brain Injury Association of Florida which supports thousands of people who have found relief through the organization. 

Cindy’s artwork was bright, bold and realistic with detail stripped a way. A large painting of Lance Armstrong tied in well with the theme of the evening. All of the artwork on display in the front gallery of the museum was by practicing physicians practicing physicians. It makes sense that physicians would have a taken for art.

I sketched the Jazz Fusion band performing in the museum’s lobby. I recognized the saxophone player. The tall table I worked at turned out to also be right in front of the stage where Cindy and Ken spoke. Actually Cindy had no desire to speak in front of a crowd, but her quiet presence and her art inspired many to give to the cause. When the auction kicked off, I took that time to look at the art in the then empty gallery. Her work does stand out. He large canvases inspired me to want to work larger. Funds raised at the Gala will help the Brain Injury Association of Florida raise the $250,000 goal needed by June of 2016.