“I knew that I still had a lot more to give. I still feel that.”

Maggie lives in Lawley, a small community in central Alabama. She was at home when she experienced the spinal stroke, a type of stroke that often happens because of an injury, but not in Maggie’s case.

“It just happened. Within 30 minutes, I had lost all sensation from the waist down,” she says.

After more than a week at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, Maggie transferred to Shepherd Center’s Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program in January 2025.

She says she was impressed with Shepherd from the moment she arrived.

“When I got out of the ambulance and rolled into Shepherd, [Shepherd Center co-founder] Mrs. Shepherd is there,” she recalls. “She’s at the door. And that impressed me, to know that she took to heart what was going on in the facility.”

And that wasn’t the only part of her first 24 hours at Shepherd that assured her she had come to the right place.

“Everybody was so understanding, and within, I'll say, 15 minutes of being assigned a room, it was like ants, because there were so many people in and out, evaluating me,” Maggie says.

“Not only the nurses that are getting you situated, but … all the other doctors that you were going to see. And then within the next day — you're not thinking about physical therapy — they're starting physical therapy,” she recalls. “I read a comment prior to coming — ‘you don't stay in bed.’ That's true. You don't, because the whole thing is to get you back where you need to be.”

And where Maggie felt she “needed to be” was independent, back at home, church, and back at work, at the Alabama State Department of Education, where she is the student assessment coordinator.

She was ready to put in the work to get there. She worked with her therapists to strengthen both her lower body and her upper body, which allowed her to use a manual wheelchair.

While she was participating in inpatient rehabilitation, family came back and forth from Alabama to support her. Her husband and son would come, staying in Shepherd Center’s donor-funded family housing, when time permitted. When she began the day program, she and her husband stayed together in housing.

“It was wonderful to have someone who has set up the facilities so that they weren't having to pay or find a place to stay. Because that is very stressful — trying to get across town or … into that traffic. It was very helpful for them to be just right there,” she says.

While in the SCI Day Program, Maggie worked with a vocational rehabilitation counselor to develop a return-to-work strategy. She went on a field trip to an office building so she could think through any accommodations she might need in order to return to work using her wheelchair.

“That's where they kept emphasizing, ‘You're going to have to have a conversation with your employer to find out what's going on, how you're going to be able to adapt to your environment when you go back to work,’” she says. “That really stuck with me because when I did go back to work, even before I reported in the office, I had conversations with our HR and our legal about the building and what adaptations I would need.”

Maggie travels for work, so the vocational rehabilitation team also helped her think through what travel would look like. The team encouraged her to advocate for herself and to make calls and ask questions about accommodations and processes before traveling.

After three months of rehabilitation, Maggie returned home with her husband. She has returned to work with a hybrid schedule. She drives to the office three days a week in an adapted van and works from home two days a week, which allows her to attend physical therapy close to home. She has gained more sensation in her legs and has been able to take some steps using a walker and a knee brace.

She has spent a lot of time with her family, including her two grandchildren, and she’s taken work trips by both plane and car. She is also grateful for her small church family who kept the prayers coming while she was at Shepherd. “I’m so fortunate to have so many people praying for my recovery. All those prayers were felt.”

In fact, Maggie says she started working from home just a day or two after she left Shepherd. “My staff and supervisor did an outstanding job in my absence. I am very fortunate that they were able to pick up my duties so I could concentrate on getting well.”

“I had to get back into that routine of keeping your mind abreast of things that are familiar,” she says. “And I think that has really helped, the motivation for me to continue, which my grandchildren, my family, of course, do that. But going back to work has really been fulfilling. Again, staying at home was not something I wanted to do. I feel like I still have a lot more to offer, and I feel like I've got many more years to do that, and the wheelchair's not going to negate that. It's just a way of getting around.”

Written by Ruth Underwood

. His wife, Norma Elkin, is by his side, as she has been throughout his recovery. But today isn’t any ordinary lunch. Today, Tom will work with Norma and his occupational therapist, Marie Alexander, MSOT, OTR/L, to feed himself for the first time.

The group peruses the day’s cafeteria offerings. Tom is focused on foods that could be considered “stab-able,” and Marie encourages him to choose whatever he’d like (except maybe soup!) Tom decides on baked chicken, mac and cheese, and roasted cauliflower. They pick up his food and head to a table.

Marie suggests that Tom pull up to the corner of the table — that way, he can get close to his plate without his armrest bumping into the table. Once he’s situated and the table height is set, Marie puts down a non-slip placemat and helps Tom fit a 3D-printed universal cuff over his right hand. Into that, she places a fork that she has bent at an angle to give Tom, who has limited mobility in his arms and wrists, a better angle to “stab” the food on his plate and get it to his mouth.

The mobile arm support Marie attaches to his wheelchair helps Tom lift his arm as he regains strength. “So, we fitted this early on in day program so that he could easily use it in different therapy sessions,” Marie explains. “So, he's used it in rec therapy before, for playing cards; he uses it with me for working on feeding himself. And then we've been problem-solving different fork setups. I feel like this is the one that we thought was the best, right, Tom?”

“The trick is the right position to both get the food and bring it up, and be able to eat it,” Tom says.

“It's finding the balance … because sometimes it looks great for stabbing, but then he brings it here [to his mouth], and the fork is turned sideways,” Marie demonstrates.

Norma cuts the baked chicken into bite-sized pieces, and Tom starts poking at the various foods on his plate. The process could lead to frustration — sometimes the angle isn’t quite right to get the food onto the fork, other times it slides off before Tom can get it to his mouth, or he gets only a partial bite. But Tom approaches the task with determination and humor — and Norma and Marie do the same, offering encouragement, laughter, and troubleshooting tips.

They try different forks and different angles. Marie reminds Tom to sit up straight while he eats, bringing the food to his mouth instead of vice versa. She tells both Tom and Norma that a plate with edges can be helpful, giving him something to push the food against.

“As my mobility gets better, strength gets better in this right arm; this should become easier,” Tom says. Marie agrees.

“But I'm happy to work on it at this phase,” he continues, “because I won't get stronger if I don't.”

“And it's not only strength,” Marie explains, “it's also coordination, learning how to turn on which muscles, when.”

Before today, Tom has been practicing using a fork in the day program gym. Sometimes with therapy putty, and once, with a special treat — coffee cake Marie brought from home. Norma laughs that Tom was just as excited about the coffee cake as he was about feeding it to himself.

Since Tom began the day program, he and Norma have made the drive from Kennesaw every weekday, which makes for long days, but they both say it’s worth it.

“I love the combined approach that Shepherd gives you,” Tom says. “An occupational therapist, physical therapist, a rec therapist, speech therapist, and it's asking me, ‘What do you need? What are your goals?’ You know, my goals are to get stronger, get where I can do more things for myself, get where she [Norma] doesn't have to do as much for me. so that I can just enjoy.”

Tom also says it’s great to have Norma there with him.

“I am a lucky person, that I got my wife Norma as my caregiver, she got trained up early and often on all the things,” he says. “And she got a lot of high marks from nursing.”

“And the staff is so great about training us, and letting us do it, so I got comfortable,” Norma explains.

“But she wanted to learn stuff as quick as she could and then it’s on to the next thing,” Tom says. “I heard that some family members were a little apprehensive, and it's like, ‘No, you're going home, so you need to know this stuff.’”

You can tell that Tom and Norma are a great team. They’ve been married for more than 40 years and even worked together in recent years. Sometimes they complete each other’s sentences. They have learned a lot at Shepherd about adapting to life at home, including little tips and tricks to make daily tasks go more smoothly. When Marie shows them how to put two straws together to create an extra-long straw that’s easier to reach, Norma has already experimented with it. She’s even developed her own technique for bending the bottom of the straw, so it balances a little better in the drink.

Tom returns his focus to the task at hand.

“The rotation of my wrist is not where it needs to be quite yet. It's getting there. I mean, in a short amount of time, we went from pretty much nothing to some activity … I am so determined to get some of this cauliflower!”

“Did Marie tell you this is your last meal for today, so you better eat up?” Norma jokes. “Just trying to give him a little motivation,” she laughs.

He tries again, but sometimes the cauliflower slides off the fork. The mac and cheese and chicken are a little more cooperative. Norma and Marie cheer him on — Norma tells him to go for it, that she’ll “go for the save” if anything falls. Marie reminds him to keep his shoulder down and let his elbow come out a bit. He gets a full bite — success.

“Oh, that was tasty. Very good,” Tom declares.

Written by Ruth Underwood

The 23-year-old from Montgomery, Alabama, is in his second week of the day program after completing 10 weeks of therapy in the inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program.

Today, he’s working with physical therapist Heather Jones, DPT, on transfers. First, they tackle transferring from his wheelchair to the floor and back again.

Tae starts by rolling his wheelchair onto a mat, then scoots forward in his chair, holds onto the side, and lowers himself to the floor. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that. He has to position his feet and legs just right, and as Heather reminds him, he can’t forget the number-one rule, “Don’t let go [of the wheelchair] with your right arm.”

Heather helps Tae think through the process and adjust his foot position to see whether one position makes the transfers easier than another.

“There are a lot of different ways you can set up, so it’s figuring out what's best for each person,” Heather says.

They try again.

“Did that feel easier?” Heather asks.

“It was way better,” declares Tae. “I ain't gonna lie to you — it was way better. I was able to get my arm up faster. I didn’t like the other way we did it before. I couldn't get my arm up quick enough.”

They talk through what worked and what Tae might want to adjust. Tae suggests moving his feet even farther out for an easier lift, but Heather cautions that his legs could get caught on the chair if they’re positioned that way.

He tries again but loses his balance. Heather stops him before he falls. He is unfazed.

“I had launched myself so far. I had to catch myself with my left hand. I was gonna fall hard on my bootie,” he laughs.

Heather gives him a few more tips on positioning, and he repeats the process several more times, transferring smoothly to the floor.

Nailed it.

Tae says he started practicing transfers during his inpatient therapy, but in the day program, “they give me a more advanced way to do it.”

“We worked a lot in the beginning on the technique for his depression transfers (transfers without using a slide board). Really understanding how to use your shoulder blades to get extra lift. Once he understood that, his depression transfers just skyrocketed in how much better they got.”

Since both Tae and Heather are satisfied with his technique for floor transfers, Tae is up for another challenge: transferring into an SUV, so they head to the parking deck.

On his way out of the gym, another patient calls out to greet him, and they check in on each other.

As he rolls down the hall, Tae mentions his yoga class from the previous day.

“Man, I ain't gonna lie, I was so sore from yoga yesterday. I woke up, I thought I was old,” he jokes. “Oh, I did a good job, though, yesterday. I'm very flexible.”

When they reach Shepherd Center’s parking deck, Heather points Tae to a mid-size SUV that’s designated for practicing transfers. Tae has already conquered transfers into and out of the sedan parked beside it.

“Ooh, SUV,” he says, clearly ready for the challenge.

“So, there are a bunch of different ways you can do this,” Heather explains. “Like a floor transfer, we have to figure out what ways are gonna work best for you.”

Heather talks him through the process, with suggestions on where to position his feet, hands, body, and wheelchair for a smooth transfer. Again, she allows Tae to problem-solve, since she will not be there to coach him when he goes home — and every situation will be different.

“As long as it's safe and it's not dangerous, we'll try just about any method they want,” she says. “I'll let them try stuff, and then I'll give my feedback, like, ‘Okay, this is how we can make this better and more successful.’”


“He also really likes transfers,” she adds, “so if I didn’t slow him down…”

Tae does a great job on his first try. While he practices, he suggests that he should’ve been a movie star — and insists that he makes everybody laugh, which seems likely. He’d like to make videos showing others how to do everything he’s learning in rehabilitation.

“I can teach people how to do it the right way, instead of doing it the wrong way,” he says. “So, when I get this down pat, it helps me build confidence on, okay, I can go on TikTok and show them this, show them that without messing up, and that makes me happy…. I’m gonna do a little skit. I'm like, ‘Hey, it's my everyday life. You’re living with Tae.’”

Tae makes short work of the mid-size SUV and declares the transfers “easy,” so they decide he’s ready for “the beast” — a Yukon Denali that looks like it hasn’t moved from its spot in years.

The height of the Denali’s seat definitely makes things more difficult, but Tae is undaunted.

“He's making this look really easy,” Heather says. “It's not an easy transfer.”

“I found the technique,” Tae explains, “It's really technique, for real, with everything…. You do need a little upper strength, I can tell you that. But, hey, technique is all that’s key.”

“That makes this PT's heart very happy,” says Heather. “Strength is great, but technique is key.”

Written by Ruth Underwood

Shepherd Center recently welcomed Alicia Seeds, M.D., as the medical director of the Spinal Cord Injury Day Program. A board-certified physiatrist specializing in spinal cord injury medicine, Dr. Seeds views her role as a spinal cord injury physician not only as a passion, but also as a calling. Her own family member’s experience with spinal cord injury influences her approach to patient care.

“My goal is to partner with my patients to ensure they find their version of hope, meaning, and joy after injury. I enjoy providing care for patients throughout the spinal cord injury continuum,” she says. “I value the collaborative, interdisciplinary rehab team approach to optimize patient care.”

Originally from Santa Ana, California, Dr. Seeds earned her medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, followed by an internship in internal medicine at the University of Washington and a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation, also at the University of Washington. She completed a fellowship in spinal cord injury medicine at Emory University and Shepherd Center.

During her fellowship, Dr. Seeds felt a strong connection to the hospital.

“I knew that I wanted to return to Shepherd Center to continue my career in a collaborative, comprehensive rehab environment that strives to improve quality of life and create new possibilities for people experiencing neurologic injury with a team and culture that always puts the patient and family first,” she said.

“Anyone who meets Dr. Seeds quickly realizes her commitment to her patients and the rehab community,” said Angela Beninga, D.O, Chief Medical Informatics Officer and Associate Medical Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation at Shepherd Center. “Her compassion, dedication, and clinical excellence will be a welcome asset to our medical staff. Dr. Seeds made a real connection to our staff during her year here as the spinal cord injury fellow, which made inviting her back to Shepherd Center an easy decision.”

Dr. Seeds volunteers at the Georgia Rehabilitation Services Volunteer Partnership (RSVP) Clinic, providing free, comprehensive rehab care to patients in the Atlanta community. She also volunteers with adaptive sports programs. Her research interests are focused on health disparities, specifically firearm-related spinal cord injury outcomes.

When she is not caring for patients, Dr. Seeds enjoys running on the Atlanta Beltline, playing recreational flag football and soccer, and snowboarding. Her greatest joy comes from spending time with her six nieces and nephews in California.

Upon Mike Hynes’ arrival at Shepherd Center, he remembers meeting Elliot Scott, his charge nurse, as well as the other nurses on his floor. 

“They were just super friendly and very smiley,” he remembers. “Laughter was such a good medicine with them, just to distract from my world being turned upside down. But their professionalism and customer service was just as good as their personalities.” 

Mike was living in Virginia and working as a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent in 2024 when he was assaulted, resulting in a spinal cord injury (SCI). He was in the intensive care unit at the University of Virginia Health University Medical Center for a month before transferring to Shepherd Center. 

During his inpatient therapy, Mike’s girlfriend and sister took turns staying in family housing to support him. After inpatient therapy, Mike stayed for a month of outpatient therapy in the Spinal Cord Injury Day Program, which he said helped prepare him for his transition home. 

“Not only was it nice to have that extra therapy, but [to stay in] housing, just to kind of transition to being on your own a little more, having a little kitchen to use ... it's a nice transition period,” he says. 

Mike also went on several recreation therapy outings, including a trip to an Atlanta Braves game and to the Atlanta FBI office, where he practiced navigating the building using his wheelchair. He also fondly remembers Tuesday night family dinners as a time to meet with other patients and their families. 

After Day Program, Mike returned to Virginia, but his transition has not been without its challenges. Unfortunately, Mike couldn’t return to his job as an FBI field agent, and the agency didn’t have an available office position compatible with his qualifications and pay grade. He’s also had to navigate a divorce. 

But his friends and former FBI colleagues have continued to support him, coming by for visits or going out for dinner or a movie. Mike has also continued physical and occupational therapy, working to increase his strength and independence. 

“It's been a rough year or two, but I think I'm out of the worst part,” he says. “[My goals for the next year] are maybe finding another job, and continuing to build strength in therapy, and to continue to become more independent.”

Written by Erin Kenney

Every day, while Janice went to therapy in the hospital just across the parking deck, Bill worked remotely at his job in marketing, walked along Atlanta’s Beltline, played an occasional game of golf, and shopped for groceries to cook dinner. He confesses that he never cracked the cover of the cookbook provided as part of a fully furnished kitchen. Instead, Janice instructed him as he tried to cook.

Bill and Janice, who live in Chattanooga, Tennessee, were beneficiaries of Shepherd Center’s housing, provided at no cost to patients and families who live more than 60 miles from the hospital. Until the summer of 2024, stays were limited to 30 days. But the opening of the Arthur M. Blank Family Residences more than doubled the number of units, making it possible for Shepherd to provide housing for the duration of a patient’s time at Shepherd. 

Relatives of Shepherd inpatients occupy some apartments. Day Program patients and their relatives stay in others. Some units have two bedrooms, providing space for multiple family members, including children. 

For Bill and Janice, the journey to Shepherd began in their own yard when Janice asked Bill to cut a tree limb that was hanging over her hydrangeas. Wanting to protect the shrubs, Janice tried to catch the limb, fell over a retaining wall, and landed face-down, unable to move. 

After being treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Chattanooga, she transferred to Shepherd as an inpatient in the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Unit (CRU), where she stayed from May 9 until July 3, 2024. When she arrived at Shepherd, she says, she could move only her toes and her right arm. “My legs couldn’t do much of anything.” While she was an inpatient, Bill slept in her hospital room. They returned to Chattanooga for two weeks in July and then she came back to Shepherd for more therapy in Shepherd Center’s Spinal Cord Injury Day Program, which provides intensive outpatient therapy. This time, they moved into family housing. 

Janice’s time in the Day Program built on what she had accomplished on CRU. By the time they left for good, Janice’s upper body was still a bit stiff, but she could write, feed herself, and brush her teeth. She was walking so well that a woman she and Bill met for the first time asked which of them was the patient.
Shepherd therapists have “done an absolute miracle with my legs,” Janice says. She doesn’t think her progress would have been possible anywhere but Shepherd, and her time in the Day Program wouldn’t have been possible without the accessible family housing.

After 53 years of marriage, Bill and Janice would not think of being apart during her therapy, but the cost of a hotel room close to Shepherd would have been prohibitive, Bill says. He calls the apartment “a tremendous gift.” 

“I loved the convenience,” Janice says. “What else I loved about it is the simplicity. We had what we needed, but not more than we needed. It was perfect for us.”

Written by Gayle White

This story is an excerpt from “Mission Moments: 50 Years of Rebuilding Lives One Moment at a Time,” a book celebrating Shepherd’s 50th anniversary in 2025. You can explore the full eBook or purchase a hardcover copy here. 

An ambulance transported Chris to Regional One Health in Memphis, where he spent two days in the trauma ICU and had a six-hour surgery during which doctors placed a rod to repair his left femur and fused the vertebrae above and below his L-2 vertebra. Chris could move his left leg, but the nerves in his right leg were severely damaged, so he had very little feeling in his right leg. “I could barely wiggle my big toe,” he recalls.

Chris was told not to get his hopes up about walking — that with a lot of work, he might be able to take a couple of steps at home. “That was some tough news,” Chris recalls.

As Chris and his family weighed rehabilitation options, Hannah’s aunt, a nurse at a nearby hospital, insisted that Chris should go to Shepherd Center. But Chris was wary at first.

“In my knee-jerk reaction to hearing about Shepherd Center and knowing nothing about it, I was like, ‘They're trying to ship me off to some home.’” he remembers.

“And so, at first, I was very against it. And then when I actually looked [Shepherd] up and saw, I was like, ‘OK, I could handle that.’ And I saw that Hannah would be able to come down and be there with me — that really helped ease my anxiety about it.”

Chris transferred to Shepherd Center in May, completing three weeks of therapy in the inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program and five weeks in the Day Program. Hannah and Chris’s mom took turns staying in family housing to be with him, and he says family support throughout his rehabilitation made a big difference.

“Hannah, my wife, throughout all of it, just kept pushing me, you know, with the mindset of, ‘I don't care if you can't walk again, but we're gonna do everything that we can to make sure that you've tried.’ And I was like, ‘I agree with that. I'll go for it.’ And so, she really helped encourage me every day to try harder, to try to do a little better.” Chris explains.

While he says that much of his time at Shepherd is a blur, some experiences stand out.

“I remember that I got to swim in the pool a couple of times, and that was really nice because I was actually able to move my right leg a little more than I thought I could at first. And it was one of those things where I was so scared about seeing progress that I wouldn't even tell Hannah. And then I would all of a sudden just show her the progress, and she'd be like, ‘What are you doing?’”

Chris says some of his fears were that he would hurt himself or lose some of the gains he had made, but as his confidence grew, he really “put it into gear and went all out.”

Chris didn’t only swim in Shepherd’s pool — he visited the Georgia Aquarium and swam with the whale sharks for recreation therapy.

“Now, all of a sudden, my whole family is realizing how cool whale sharks are. And I'm like, ‘Yeah, I swam with those guys. Don't forget.’”

He also remembers his occupational therapist, Atom Young, incorporating changing a tire into a therapy session.

“I love my car. And that was one of my big things, I was like, ‘I want to be able to do this.’ So, he helped me do that, and then he helped me do a couple of work things,” Chris recalls.

“Most of the work I was doing [before the injury] was lifting heavy stuff or going on a ladder. So, I couldn't [do that], but Atom was able to give me the stuff that I could do still — so, working with my hands making cables and stuff. I really enjoyed that. Getting to do my work again was nice for a little bit.”

Overall, Chris remembers feeling comfortable in therapy at Shepherd.

“I only have good memories at Shepherd Center, and they're always of the staff members being super nice and just super cool. … It impacted me a lot.”

At the end of June 2023, Chris was discharged from Shepherd. He continued physical therapy for eight months closer to home. Now, he can walk unassisted. He returned to work, but because he still can’t lift heavy equipment or climb on ladders, he began to look for a desk job in the audiovisual industry. He recently found one with a well-established audiovisual company in Memphis. He’s enjoying his new role, soaking up everything he can, and he says his co-workers are very supportive.

He and Hannah live in a town outside Memphis with their two dogs. “That’s pretty much where I like to be,” Chris says. “My favorite space is with them.” 

His advice for anyone beginning rehabilitation?

“Set an unrealistic goal,” Chris laughs. “That's what I did. My unrealistic goal being I'm never gonna stop… I just kept moving forward. Also, looking back and looking at the progress you have made. Don't sell it short just because you can't do something now. Look at what you’ve done that you said you couldn't do at first.

“My mindset is not to be stagnant. In work, in relationships, I always want to be progressing.”

 Written by Ruth Underwood

In short, they have seen and heard some things when it comes to life-changing situations. But even they had never witnessed the trifecta of traumas Amanda experienced on Nov. 4, 2020. 

First, a heart attack. Compounded by an anoxic brain injury suffered during her resuscitation. And then a T-10 spinal cord injury — likely caused by a blood clot moving to her spinal cord during CPR — that resulted in paraplegia. 

Thankfully, Amanda stabilized during a two-week stay at Johnson City Medical Center, near the Lyons’ home in Gray, Tennessee, and soon transferred to Shepherd Center. Shepherd’s family housing was an “absolute godsend,” she says, as both Earl and her mom were able to be near while she was inpatient. 

Later, Amanda was able to join them there once she graduated from inpatient to the SCI Day Program. 

Throughout her journey, Amanda appreciated that her complex case was one that still fit easily within Shepherd’s expertise and collaborative team approach to patient care. 

“That’s what’s great about Shepherd Center,” she says. “They’ve seen it before, and they’ll see it again. Everything they did was about anticipating what life would be like at home, preparing me to be as independent as possible, and to learn how to adapt in order to achieve that.” 

Amanda is right about that intentionality at Shepherd Center. In fact, each family receives a form when their loved one is planning to return home. The form has questions about the housing the patient will return to once they leave. Families can supply pictures, too. That information helps Shepherd staff tailor their therapies for specific challenges. 

It also enables staff members to give practical advice for home modifications and safety strategies. 

“We can provide information that’s as simple as where to buy a grab bar to something as detailed as the ratio needed to build a ramp or instructions on widening doors,” says Lauren Ross, OTR/L,MS, an occupational therapist in the brain injury program. “Or even share advice on where families can find more aesthetically appealing modified furniture if that’s a mental boost for a loved one.” 

Shepherd Center also offers home modification classes and home lab classes that recreate home-transition scenarios. Classes dive deep into assistive technologies — such as smart devices, home automation systems, and Bluetooth features — that can make life easier at home. 

“We try to get families to think about these things early on so that they’re ready by the time they leave,” Ross says. “It’s about supporting the caregivers and amplifying patients’ long-term independence. We want them safe and confident at home, not back in a hospital.” 

In Amanda’s case, early conversations at Shepherd Center helped her and Earl realize what home modifications they would need to have ready. 

Amanda also credits her recreational therapy team with helping her figure out new ways to achieve things that used to come easily. 

“As much as possible, they prepared me for what life would really be like at home,” Amanda says. “In OT, I learned skills to navigate our bathroom, brushing my teeth, getting dressed. At our Shepherd family residence, we got that first little feeling like we were really living at home. There were things we could figure out for ourselves, but know that help was still nearby if we needed it.” 

Of course, all of the housing and technology and know-how don’t matter if the human element is missing. And beyond all else, it’s the people at Shepherd Center who impressed the Lyons the most. 

“You know how every once in a while you meet someone and they’re just a phenomenal human being, and it really blows you away?” Earl asks.“Think about how often that happens. Every once in a blue moon? At Shepherd, it was a daily occurrence. Somebody every day impressed me there. And I’m not too easy to impress. Everybody was kind. Everybody treated you like a human — not a patient or an account number. And I know there’s a lot else that goes into it, but when you’re in that kind of situation, how you’re treated means an awful lot.” 

By Phillip Jordan

The charismatic high school senior excelled in the Day Program. As a talented student-athlete — his high school baseball team won the state championship in May — he was committed to his therapy and staying on top of his schoolwork, not to mention befriending everyone he met. His dedication and positive outlook played a key role in his recovery from his SCI.

The morning Keshavious sustained his SCI started as any other day. He was at football practice, doing drills, and hanging out with his teammates. But then, in one drill, he had an awkward collision with another player.

 “I felt my neck snap,” he says. “I fell on the ground in slow motion.”

He was immediately transported, first by ambulance, then helicopter, to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. After nine days, he transferred to Shepherd Center. He had sustained an incomplete C3-C4 injury.

When he initially arrived as an inpatient in the Adolescent Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program, he didn’t expect to make any friends during his rehab. Then came Cam Rhoden.

“When I got here, I got room 428. My first day, Cam came in to say, “this was my old room,’” Keshavious says. “I didn’t think I was going to meet new people — I thought I was going to be by myself. But he came to tell me that this is a good place.”

Cam, another adolescent patient, was the fourth-floor mayor during part of his rehab, a title given to an adolescent patient by their peers. Cam and Keshavious hung out on “Fun Friday” outings, and Cam showed him the ropes.

Once he started therapy, Keshavious’ mobility improved rapidly — he went from using a powerchair on his arrival to using no mobility aids at all. In Day Program, his therapists introduced skipping and jogging. Now, he has his sights set on running again.

When Keshavious prepared to go home in September, he was eager to return to school, to support his teammates, and to keep working toward his goals of joining the Air Force and becoming an orthopedic surgeon. But he was looking forward to the little things, too, like sleeping in his own bed again. No matter what comes next, he feels ready for the future.

 “You never know when bad things will happen,” he says. “Always keep your head up. Always be nice to others, and you’ll get through life.”

By Erin Kenney