Calling All Therapy Students – Get Inspired
With
never ending projects, papers, exams and fieldwork studies sometimes you get so
stressed you start to second guess your decision to become a therapist.
There are times when you think "Why am I putting myself through
this". Well, the next time you start to second guess your decision
remember this story, the Kenneth Ryno story. In 1979, at the age of 18, Ken
suffered a spinal cord injury after a motorcycle accident and was told he would
never again have use of his legs.
"My
neck was broken. I hit so hard that I snapped my spinal cord. My left shoulder
was fractured, left lung collapsed, and I had a burn right down to the right
calf.” The accident resulted in an incomplete C-6–7 level spinal cord
injury" (Action Online: Journal of the United Spinal Association).
Since
the day of his accident Ken has never given up hope of walking. When told
by doctor’s that that he would never regain enough function to live his life
out independently he didn’t get depressed or give up – he kept hope alive.
"Ken learned to deal with life in a wheelchair. He worked, married, and
even had a child, which he also had been told would be impossible. He equipped
his car with homemade handicap devices. And he exercised every day, willing his
muscles to move" (Rehabcare Helps Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania Man Walk Again After
24 years).
Years after the accident, in 2002, Ken began Physical Therapy at a RehabCare
facility in
Through his therapy and the help of his Physical Therapist, Tony Rehrig, he has
been able to put weight on his paralyzed legs and walk! He went from
being told he would never be able to live independently to walking! So, the
next time you start to wonder if all the hard work and schooling is worth
becoming a therapist think of Ken, and remember how many lives you can have a
positive impact on by being a therapist. Check out the links about to read more
about Ken’s amazing story.
