A Cross-Country Journey

Three years ago, Clara McCoy was at home in Sacramento, California, when she got the call that her daughter, 44-year-old Erina Tandy, had had a stroke. 

The next day, Clara traveled cross-country to Shepherd Center and stayed throughout Erina’s inpatient rehabilitation and time at Shepherd Pathways. Throughout it all, Clara — along with her friend, Jan Beach, and Erina’s sister, Allison Kozel — lived in one of Shepherd Center’s family residences. 

“I don’t know what we would have done otherwise,” Clara says. “We couldn’t go back and forth to California, and we didn’t have family in Atlanta. We were very thankful for those accommodations.” 

The proximity allowed Clara to come over most mornings before Erina’s therapy began — to braid her daughter’s hair and get her ready for the day. COVID restrictions were still firmly in place in 2021, so the family spent lots of time outside enjoying the Anna and Hays Mershon Secret Garden. Clara and Jan both play the ukulele, and the two soon had a small group of players together for informal garden sessions — with other patients and families enjoying the music. 

Care-wise, Clara credits Erina’s team with helping the family learn how to best assist Erina before she re-learned to walk. But Clara also notes that what they learned went far beyond wheelchairs and transfers. 

“They were always thinking ahead about what would be helpful for her in the future,” Clara says. “Giving us tricks for compression garments, showing us how to use new equipment. Helping us navigate the insurance and social security side of things, too. They just helped us through the maze of it all. And there was a sweetness and a caring in everything. We felt it from everyone.” 

Erina was 44 when she had her stroke. A mother with two young children, the California native had been a longtime reporter and anchor on different TV stations. She settled in Savannah, where she began working at the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). The year before her stroke, she had been named SCAD’s new executive director of inclusion. 

Now 48, Erina’s speech is still returning, but she’s already living a vibrant, independent life once again. She’s involved in her children’s lives, has taken up golf, loves Savannah Bananas baseball games, and attends the Savannah Film Festival. Erina has also participated in a pair of Adventure Skills Workshops through Shepherd Center, picking up a love of watersports. And she’s driving again with adaptive technology — including roundtrips between Savannah and Atlanta when she has follow-up appointments at Shepherd Center. 

As Clara puts it with a laugh: “Her determination is crazy — her tenacity. I would have been whining every day through rehab. But she was just relentless.” 

Last year, Clara and other family members celebrated Erina’s progress with a trip to Ireland, Clara’s homeland. They visited with family members in County Cork, took a ferry to France, and even visited the Louvre. 

“It’s amazing to see where she is now,” Clara says of her daughter. “When we first took Erina back to Savannah, I was always worried about her falling. She would tell me: ‘So what if I do? I’ll just get back up.’ That’s Erina. She’s going to make it work no matter what.” 

By Phillip Jordan