A walk upon the sands: How Wayne King came back from a debilitating stroke to win the biggest fight of his life
- Chuck Thompson
- 7 hours ago
- 10 min read
By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent
FEATURE — Sand squished underneath his shoes. The sound of the crunch with each step was heard as he took one step and then another until he found himself standing next to his wife, Nikki, on the sand of Kure Beach.
A simple act that many of us never think twice about, but for Wayne King it was a victory more important than the Republican primary win for County Commissioner.
360 days earlier, Wayne King suffered a massive stroke. Walking on the jagged uneven sand was only a dream. Five days before the one-year anniversary since his stroke, he walked across the sand with his wife.
That was his real win. That was his victory. It was this moment – almost one year since that fateful day in Aspen, Colorado, King did the impossible, one step at a time.
But we have to go back to Aug. 14, 2025… the day everything changed. The day he almost met his maker. The day he took his first painful step in rehab. The first walk without a cane. The climb up the steps from the back of the former Board of Elections building to file for the county commissioner race. Walking across the sands of the North Carolina shore.
We have to go back before all of that to fully understand the pain, the hope, the recovery and the victory King achieved in life – forget the politics; that’s nothing without life.
The greatest victory King ever experienced happened every day for the past year, since that fateful day one year ago. And none of it came without pain, grit and a lot of positive determination.
Say what you will… it’s something most of us have never experienced and never will, but if it does, may it serve as inspiration to you.
“We flew to Aspen on August 13th,” King said as I could see his eyes fixed as he went back in his mind to that fateful trip, one year ago. You could almost see it in his eyes as he thought about it.
He was scheduled to have dinner with The Speaker of The House, Mike Johnson. That morning of August 14, everything was fine. He and his wife Nikki did some shopping in downtown Aspen.
Wayne walked outside while Nikki was still shopping. He stood on the street corner as he waited for Nikki. When she walked outside, she could tell he was having a stroke.
“She asked me what was wrong with me, and I didn’t know anything was wrong, but she could tell. She knew something was happening and most likely it was a stroke.
“So, he drove himself to the hospital,” Nikki added sternly, with almost a raised eyebrow as if she was still not happy with him driving, looking back at the memory.
King smiled nervously and shrugged. “I drove myself!”
Nikki shook her head as she listened.
King explained that at the hospital the attending physician at the ER originally classified the stroke as “mild” but due to the elevation of Aspen, at 7,908 feet, it exacerbated the health problem that contributed to the severity of the stroke.
King has small veins in his neck, something he was not aware of until the stroke. While he wasn’t doing great, he wasn’t immobilized.
Day two: The Reckoning
King woke up that morning and couldn’t use his right hand – the doctors thought he had another stroke, but he didn’t – it was the symptoms and the elevation that were making it worse, due to the thin air and lower pressure at 8,000 feet.
Eventually, doctors in Aspen cleared him to fly home because the cabins in an airplane are pressurized between 6,000 to 8,000 feet. Since they were already in Aspen he was cleared to fly due to the height above sea level where the stroke occurred.
King went to his personal physician the very next day.
By the time King had left Aspen he couldn’t walk. He was confined to a wheelchair.
“When he (the doctor) saw me, he said I needed to be in in-patient rehab,” to which King agreed. What choice did he have? He and Nikki were worried. He couldn’t walk and seemed to be getting worse and he wasn’t accustomed to being in a wheelchair and trying to climb in and out of bed, getting back into the wheelchair.
“It was a scary time, without question. I couldn’t walk, I had to travel back in a wheelchair, and at home for five days in a wheelchair, not knowing what would happen to me,” recalled King as he shifted on the couch, thinking back to those scary days.
It was a frighting and uncertain time for King and his family. However, at least he was always aware of his surroundings.
“The whole time I never had any cognitive problems,” King explained. “I was aware and able to make decisions the whole time.”
King and Nikki returned home from his appointment that evening and the doctor called.
His doctor said he was having problems getting King into an inpatient rehab due to his stroke happening in Colorado, and now he was in North Carolina, which made it much more difficult due to different hospitals and plans and state laws.
He called another physician that served in government who was able to help him get into a rehab facility.
The next morning, he received a call from Dr. Raj, regarding the physical rehab facilities in the Atrium network.
When the call came, they drove directly to his office. Keep in mind that King is in a wheelchair – unable to walk, with limited use of one of his arms and hands.
“Dr. Raj said to me, ‘You’re too young to be here, you need to be in physical rehab,’” King recalled.
Dr. Raj examined the stroke-stricken King, who then called Shall, a doctor in Mt. Holly, to tell him about a 45-year-old male who had a stroke, with problems on the right side, can’t walk.
“Nikki and I were only hearing one side of the call, and then he asked us to go to rehab straight from his office.”
Nikki drove him directly to Carolinas Rehab in Mt. Holly and they checked in. King was there, day and night, for 26 days.
Although the facility was amazing, and King could not say enough about the staff and the rehab program, for him personally, it was extremely difficult.
“Probably 26 days of the worst part of my life,” he said somberly. “It was challenging both physically and mentally. Being away from home, away from the people I love... But, I did work,” he chuckled. “I did some business work; I couldn’t put that on hold. And I had a lot of visitors – maybe too many. They said I needed more rest.”
Nikki stayed by his side constantly, running back and forth checking the mail and taking care of things at home and running all the errands.
One day, at Carolinas Rehab in Mt. Holly, he was having lunch with about five noticeable visitors and his doctors asked jokingly if he was having a ‘cabinet meeting,’ “I said yes,” he laughed.
“But it truly was a remarkable experience,” nodded King. “I wouldn’t be walking if it wasn’t for the excellent staff at Carolinas Rehab in Mt. Holly.”
He said Physical Therapist Craig Ryan worked endlessly with King, working “diligently several hours a day” including speech rehab for the entire 26 days.
King said at the 20th day mark he was still in a wheelchair and could only walk a little bit with assistance at that point.
“Sir, what are your goals when you leave here?” they asked him.
“To walk,” King replied without hesitation. “I want to walk out of here! I’m 45 and I need to do this not just for me, but for my family…” King’s voice trailed off as he stopped to control his emotions as he thought back to that conversation.
The doctors asked him to stay another extra seven days, where King celebrated his 45th birthday.
“I got to know these nice people so well,” King recalled. “They had a birthday party for me while I was there, and I was able to walk out of there on a walker! I was able to ditch the wheelchair, which was phenomenal.”
King paused for a moment…
“Being confined to a wheelchair gave me a new perspective... It changed me,” he added.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, and take this story one step at a time, like King did as a live-in patient at rehab.
He said he’s lucky he didn’t have another stroke while in therapy when Niki brought him the mail one day.
(Stroke continued below...)
“I’m in rehab when I got my tax bills,” explained King, mentioning that’s when the stroke should have happened. “Niki brings the bill to me and hands it to me, and it was quite eye-opening to say the least.”
A close friend, who is skilled in real estate, went on King’s behalf and contested the revaluation for King while he spent time recovering.
“It was just shocking,” he said. “Because I knew in my heart, so many people would not be able to pay these egregious amounts.”
“What are they getting more out of their tax dollars that they weren’t getting the years before?” King questioned of the massive rise in property values. “They went up so dramatically but there was nothing beneficial from that.”
But, for now, he had to focus on physical rehabilitation and getting out of his wheelchair and back home before he could worry about his massive increase in property taxes.
He finally was able to go home on Sept. 16, 2025, the day after his 45th birthday.
The next day he started out-patient rehab, using a walker for about 10 days. Then he progressed to a walking stick for about a month for balance and precaution. Slowly, but steadily he made progress, and by Thanksgiving he was giving thanks for walking without any assistance thanks to a brace he received.
“That was a game changer,” added Nikki. “It made an amazing difference.”
By Dec. 4, 2025, he was at the old Board of Elections building, climbing those steps, filing for his candidacy for Cleveland County Commissioner.
“It was never on my bucket list to be a county commissioner; I do believe in public service and I know it is a sacrifice to serve,” King said. “My friend, Mike Philbeck has said to me ‘you’re in your prime earning years, are you crazy to serve in public office right now,’” King laughed.
But King feels now is the time; that he has been given another chance and that he has the ability and knowledge from past experiences to help make Cleveland County a better place.
A businessman and a strong person of faith, a community member, and resident of Kings Mountain, living close to where he grew up, he has always loved Kings Mountain and Cleveland County. He served as a volunteer firefighter, a PTO board member at his son’s school. Wayne King is both a hometown Cleveland County son, but also has experienced the ways of politics and government on the national stage.
He served as chief of staff of a prominent member of congress. “I have truly lived the American dream,” he said. “I am the American dream, and I would like others to experience that American dream, too.
“My parents probably struggled most of the time, raising me, and I didn’t realize that until I was grown and paying my own bills,” he stated. “This was in the late 70’s, the 80’s and 90’s when the sheriff's department didn’t receive the pay they deserved.”
King has been able to see things from a different perspective and able to travel across the country to many municipalities and other counties similar to Cleveland County, to see what they’re doing right and wrong.
When he decided to run for county commissioner, he wanted to make sure he could do so. Doctors said he could run as long as he got proper rest.
“I discussed it with my family, and Nikki and my son Noah said they gave their blessing.”
King added, “And I can’t say enough about the staff at Carolinas Rehab in Mt. Holly. Everyone was so good to me there, from the doctors to the physical therapists, to the custodians; everyone was so amazing.”
King eventually ended up being in a commercial for the rehab facility with his testimony, praising their excellence.
“I’ve really worked hard since day one,” he said. “And physical therapy has been a priority since day one. It has helped me tremendously in my health journey. It’s not been easy, there’s been tough times, really ‘down’ days. It’s not been easy.”
King still attends physical therapy every week, and wanted to make sure to give a big thanks to Hunter and Emily Gaffney of Kings Mountain Physical Therapy.
Doctors had told him it would probably take at least a year to get back to normal.
During that time, King was able to walk again, he began his campaign for county commissioner, winning the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.
“Some have said to me, ‘You can’t choose your circumstance; you can only choose how you respond to your circumstances’” he said, looking back. “I have embraced that and worked hard to overcome those challenges. When I decided to file (for county commissioner), I felt like Cleveland County deserved a person that understood budgets, living within their means - not spend money like it was unlimited, being born and raised here and a life-long Republican; and I checked all those boxes. I was encouraged to run by a supportive group of people; Tony Berry and Tim Moore being just two of them.
U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Tim Moore spoke fondly of King, proud of his determination to regain his mobility and his fight through recovery.
"He's my cousin," said Moore, "I've known him his whole life. Wayne has fought hard, worked hard, in physical therapy and made a recovery – that’s no small thing. I’m really proud to see how’s he battled that and recovered.
“He’s showed a lot of resilience and determination and then going on to winning a primary and I have no doubt that he and Doug will win in the fall, serving on the county commission.”
“For the people of Cleveland County to put their faith in me is a statement to elected leaders," said King. "We all need to put the citizens first, not last – and I think that’s very important to remember as we consider every vote and every conversation; that we leave Cleveland County better than we found it. I believe with the right people we can truly achieve that goal.”
A lot has happened since that fateful day in Aspen, Colorado.
On Aug. 14, 2025, Wayne King suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair.
On Aug. 9, 2026, he walked across the uneven sands of the Carolina Coast.
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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent.
The Shelby Independent.
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