Putting in the Work
After sustaining an acquired brain injury (ABI), Jase McDowell was determined to give therapy his all.
When 15-year-old Jase McDowell arrived at Shepherd Center at the end of April, he felt more than ready to put in the work to improve. In March, Jase sustained a brain injury during a soccer game. He had a sudden headache, came off the field, and threw up. The coaches thought he had a concussion, but instead, it was a rupture of a pre-existing arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangle of blood vessels in his brain. Jase didn’t know he had an AVM, and it was likely something he was born with. After emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and reduce the pressure at Grand Strand Medical Center in his hometown of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Jase transferred to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston. Jase was an inpatient there for a month and had two more brain surgeries during his stay.
Initially, Jase couldn’t move his left arm or leg, and the left side of his face drooped slightly. “It was hard to see in my 15-year-old,” Jase’s mom, Amanda, recalls.
When Jase arrived at Shepherd, he was walking with assistance but couldn’t lift his left arm.
“Every day it was higher, higher, and now he's lifting it above his head,” Amanda says. “I remember him seeing his progress and celebrating — every single milestone that he was regaining was such a big deal.”
Jase doesn’t remember much of his recovery before coming to Shepherd, but once he arrived, he was eager to regain function and get back home to hang out with his friends. So, he gave therapy his all — and then some.
“On Saturdays and Sundays, the therapists gave me access to some of the workout machines, and I would just go in there and do that,” Jase says. “Just as long as you do the stuff that they tell you and don’t complain or throw a fit and just do it, then you'll make progress.”
“He was very driven,” Amanda recalls. “He couldn't wait till therapy started. He was like that every day, all day. He didn't want to sit around. He was 100% game on the whole time.”
At times, Jase’s therapists had to ask him to slow down and take things one at a time. But before he left the inpatient Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program, he was kicking a soccer ball in the Anna and Hays Mershon Secret Garden, shooting hoops in the Livingston Gym, and running down the halls of Shepherd with his physical therapist at his side.
“I think the combination of the expertise of Shepherd and his drive and determination was a perfect match,” Amanda says.
After a week-long visit home, including some much-needed time with friends, Jase returned to Atlanta and went to Shepherd Pathways, a comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation program for people recovering from brain injury. There, he continued to work hard and make incredible progress. He even had a little time to explore some of Atlanta’s sights. Three weeks later, he was ready for discharge.
At home, he shifted his focus to another milestone he was eager to reach — learning to drive. He aced the exam and got his driver’s license. He’s also back at practice with his travel soccer team. One thing he’s not so excited about? Starting school. But watch out, 10th grade, here comes Jase!
Written by Ruth Underwood
With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.