SAN DIEGO -- Intracerrebral hemorrhaging -- brain bleeding -- is a scary type of stroke.

It makes up 15 percent of all strokes, and there are no effective treatments for it.

It's fatal for most people who have this type of stroke, but a new therapy seems to stop the bleeding in its tracks.

Clifford Golatt has worked as a brick mason for 20 years.

But he went from laying bricks to laying in a hospital bed after having a stroke five months ago.

"I just went dead all of sudden. That's when I knew I was having a stroke. I told them I was having a stroke, and they thought I was telling a fib, but I wasn't," said Golatt.

Golatt suffered an intracerrebral hemorrhage -- a type of stroke that's often fatal and has no effective treatments.

"It's about the most frustrating situation you can imagine," said Dr. Christiana Hall.

Hall is one researcher from 100 sites worldwide studying a clotting drug.

If Novoseven is given within the first few hours after a stroke, it seems to stop the hemorrhage in its tracks.

"The earlier we can get to patients with the hemorrhage, the better opportunity they will have for recovery," said Hall.

A brain scan showed a patient's hemorrhage right after the stroke and 12 hours later.

Golatt's scan showed the hemorrhage had hardly grown.

Golatt was part of the study and doesn't know yet if he actually received Novoseven or a placebo drug, but he was paralyzed on the right side of his body when he came into the hospital. Five days later, he was able to lift that side, and now he's walking.

"I don't know what the new treatment is all about, but I think I'm doing great," said Golatt.

Even though Golatt would really like to be back building houses, he said just being able to walk alongside them without his cane and with his best friend Marrilynn is enough for now.

"I think I was one of the lucky ones," said Golatt.

A small previous study showed Novoseven led to better patient outcomes and reduced the number of deaths.

If the current study also proves it's effective, it could become FDA approved for widespread use -- much like how the drug TPA has become the gold standard for ischemic stroke patients with a clot.

Novoseven is already an approved treatment for some hemophiliacs.