Resilience and Returning to Work
Alexander Borges reflects on his return to work after sustaining a traumatic brain injury.
You may remember our story about structural engineer Alexander Borges. On October 26, 2020, Alexander visited Miami to inspect the roof of a client’s building. After about an hour of walking the area with his colleagues, a portion of the roof collapsed, and he fell more than 30 feet. In addition to fractures throughout his body, what concerned his family most was his traumatic brain injury.
After a lot of hard work, determination, and faith, Alexander made impressive progress in Shepherd Center’s Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program and was eventually cleared to return to work as an engineer back home in Orlando, Florida. In addition to returning to work as a full-time structural engineer, his road to recovery was marked by three significant surgeries and many hours of physical and neuropsychological therapy sessions.
“Returning to work has been a significant milestone, signaling not only my physical recovery but also my ability to overcome challenges. Each day working is a testament to my resilience, reminding me of how far I've come since being a patient at Shepherd,” Alex reflects.
This year, at the Paradigm Catastrophic Clinical Summit in Chicago and the 2024 National Comp Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Alex used his voice to raise awareness about the importance of an integrated support network to help patients navigate catastrophic injury and the path to returning to work.
“I am no longer defined by my injuries but by the courage with which I faced them with the help of healthcare professionals, friends, and family. My experience has taught me the true meaning of resilience, the power of unwavering determination, and the importance of embracing every challenge as an opportunity for growth,” he explains.
Gloria Fagan, RN, BSN, director of workers’ compensation at Shepherd Center, says collaboration is essential to achieving extraordinary outcomes.
“Shepherd Center’s partnership with Paradigm allows us to work closely to create a comprehensive support system for patients as they navigate their rehabilitation journey. Together, we ensure they receive the care and resources they need, from the initial stages of recovery all the way through their successful return to work.”
You can read more of Alex’s story here.
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.