Former patients injured in pedestrian accidents

Transcription

Former patients injured in
pedestrian accidents share
their stories and offer injury
prevention advice.
also inside
Powered exoskeleton + Injury In the lIne of duty +
hoPe restored + realItIes of returnIng home
ShepherdCenterMagazine.org | Fall 2013
Shepherd Center Magazine:
Spinal Column®
Fall 2013
Shepherd Center
2020 Peachtree Road, NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
404-352-2020
[email protected]
www.ShepherdCenterMagazine.org
Design
Soloflight, Inc.
Contributing Writers
Kate Barnes, Sara Baxter, John Christensen,
Amanda Crowe, Rachel Franco, Phillip
Jordan, Florina Newcomb, Leo Rubini,
Scott Sikes, David Simpson, Midge Tracy,
Matt Winkeljohn
Contributing Photographers
Jacque Brund, Louie Favorite, Jamie
Harmon, Dennis Keim, Gary Meek,
Meg Porter
Board of Directors
James H. Shepherd, Jr., Chairman
Gary Ulicny, Ph.D., President and CEO
Emory A. Schwall, Vice President
William C. Fowler, Treasurer
Stephen B. Goot, Corporate Secretary
Alana Shepherd, Recording Secretary
Members
Fred V. Alias, Gregory P. Anderson, David
F. Apple, Jr., M.D., C. Duncan Beard†, Brock
Bowman, M.D.*, Wilma Bunch*, James M.
Caswell, Jr., Sara S. Chapman, Clark
Dean, John S. Dryman, Mitchell J. Fillhaber*,
David H. Flint, Stephen B. Holleman*,
Michael L. Jones, Ph.D.*, Tammy King*,
Donald Peck Leslie, M.D., Douglas Lindauer,
Sarah Morrison, PT*, Julian B. Mohr, Charles
T. Nunnally III, Sally D. Nunnally, Clyde
Shepherd III, J. Harold Shepherd, Scott H.
Sikes*, James E. Stephenson, James D.
Thompson, Goodloe H. Yancey III†
*
†
Ex Officio
Emeritus
Shepherd Center Magazine: Spinal Column
is published quarterly by Shepherd Center, a
private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in
the treatment of people with spinal cord injury,
brain injury and multiple sclerosis. E-mail
change of address information or request to
be removed from our mailing list to magazine@
shepherd.org, or by mail to Shepherd Center,
Attn: Shepherd Center Magazine Mailing List,
2020 Peachtree Road, NW, Atlanta, Georgia,
30309. Please include mailing label. Shepherd
Center Magazine accepts no advertising.
Spinal Column is a registered trademark of
Shepherd Center.
About the Cover: Von fusco, 18, of orlando,
fla., sustained a brain injury when he was
hit by a car while crossing a road in a heavily
traveled area. after rehabilitation at shepherd
Center, he returned to school and graduated
on time. Photo by Jacque Brund
A Letter from JAmes shepherd
dear friends,
At Shepherd Center in the past several years, we’ve seen an increasing
number of people injured in pedestrian accidents. In many cases, these
pedestrians were hit by vehicles driven by people who were distracted
by texting, eating, grooming or other things that interfered with their
focus on the environment around them. In other cases, drivers were
speeding, not giving them enough time to react to a pedestrian who
suddenly appeared in their field of vision. And in still other cases, alcohol
or drugs impaired the judgment of drivers who hit pedestrians.
In all of these situations, the accidents could have been prevented
if the drivers had made it a priority to drive safely — not only for their own
sake, but for their passengers, other drivers and pedestrians along
the roadways.
These accidents have devastating consequences for everyone
involved. Lives are changed forever. Dreams end. Futures are altered.
In this issue of Spinal Column, we tell the stories of three of our
former patients who were injured in pedestrian accidents — two who
sustained brain injuries and another whose spinal cord was injured,
leaving him paralyzed. They describe the accidents, the acute and
rehabilitation care they received, and the various ways in which the
experience has changed their lives. They also offer advice to drivers
and to other pedestrians. (See page 6.)
In this cover story section, we also bring you some interesting facts,
figures and recommendations from the experts regarding pedestrian
safety. (See page 9.)
I offer my own advice, as well. Drivers, stay focused, especially in
low-light times of the day. Pedestrians, wear reflective clothing, cross
the street only at crosswalks when the sign indicates it’s the time to
cross. Even then, look both ways before crossing. Drivers, always yield
to pedestrians. And pay attention to signs and other alerts in areas that
are unfamiliar to you and also in areas where you drive frequently and
may tend to ignore signage.
Please, whether you are behind the wheel or on foot, remain vigilant
about your surroundings and be prepared to react quickly. While we
stand ready to provide excellent rehabilitation care to you or your loved
ones, we continue to be committed to injury prevention.
warm regards,
james h. shepherd, jr.
Chairman of the Board
Photo by louie favorite
Editor
Jane M. Sanders
Spinal Column®
Contents
fall 2013 • shepherd Center
DEPARTMENTS
2
5
16
18
20
22
30
sHoRT
TaKes
MediCal sTaFF PRoFile
Sherrill Loring, M.D.
ReseaRCH
Powered Exoskeleton to
Assist Walking
PaTienT PRoFile
Mark Caprio
alUMni
PRoFiles
FoUndaTion
FeaTURes
HonoRaRiUMs
and MeMoRials
FEATURES
5
THE REALITIES OF
RETURNING HOME
6
COVER STORY:
FOOT TRAFFIC
12
14
17
Project aims to ease transition to
home for patients and families.
Patients injured in pedestrian
accidents share insight.
HOPE RESTORED
Program provides brain injury
rehabilitation to military service
members.
RETURNING TO WORK
AFTER AN INJURY IN
THE LINE OF DUTY
officer works hard in rehabilitation
to return to law enforcement.
REFERRING PHYSICIAN
Joel Pickett, M.D.
COVER STORY, Page 6:
Jay O’Neal of Columbus, Ga.,
spends time reflecting on his
injury experience and recovery.
See ShepherdCenterMagazine.org
for exclusive online content.
Gifts of Generosity
If you would like to make a gift to support the work you have read
about, please contact Scott H. Sikes at the Shepherd Center
Foundation at 404-350-7305 or visit shepherd.org.
Shepherd Pain Institute goes far
beyond medication to provide relief.
Former SHARE Military Initiative
client and his wife share their story,
hoping to help others.
S
short
takes
Shepherd Center Paralympic Athlete Inducted
into Georgia Aquatics Hall of Fame
In August, Paralympian and Shepherd Center athlete Curtis Lovejoy
was inducted into the Georgia
Aquatics Hall of Fame for his many
accomplishments, records and
medals earned in swimming.
At age 56, Curtis has been
awarded eight Paralympic medals
and holds 10 world records, five
Pan/Am records and 14 U.S. records.
Curtis began swimming following
rehabilitation for a C-5 to -7 spinal
cord injury he sustained in a car
accident in 1986.
Curtis attributes his athletic
success to a positive outlook and
disciplined training regimen.“I never
would have guessed that I would
accomplish so much right after my
injury happened,” Curtis says,
reflecting on his athletic career.
He adds that mentoring a
successor to follow in his athletic
footsteps will complete what he
CURTIS LOVEJOY
hopes to accomplish in his sports
career. As the head coach of the
Shepherd Sharks swim team,
Curtis has coached swimmers
ranked fifth and tenth in the
world, as well as numerous other
successful swimmers.
Shepherd Center sports teams
coordinator Matt Edens, who has
worked closely with Curtis, says: “No
one is more deserving to be a hall of
fame inductee than Curtis. He puts in
his time in the water and gives back
to the sport, as well.”
Curtis was inducted with fellow
Georgia aquatics athletes, including
David Larson, an Olympic gold
medalist, and Kristy Kowal, an
Olympic silver medalist.
Curtis says he would not be
where he is today without the love
and support that Shepherd Center
has provided for him. leo rubini
CHICHI BERHANE, M.D., MBA
TERESA ASHMAN, PH.D.
Shepherd Center has added two new providers
to its medical staff. They are plastic surgeon
ChiChi Berhane, M.D., MBA, and new Director of
Neurorehabilitation Psychology Teresa Ashman,
Ph.D.
Dr. Berhane, who specializes in aesthetic and
reconstructive plastic surgery, recently began
seeing patients in Shepherd Center’s wound clinic
on Mondays and Wednesdays and performing
surgeries on Fridays. Shepherd Center Medical
Director Donald P. Leslie, M.D., describes Dr.
Berhane as “a very talented plastic surgeon who
will be the principal surgeon at Shepherd Center
for our patients with pressure wounds, which can
be a secondary complication arising from spinal
cord injury.”
Dr. Berhane completed his plastic surgery
residency at the University of Miami Hospital in
Miami, Fla., and is a member of several
professional organizations, including the American
Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American
Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons. Dr. Berhane is a
two-time winner of the Marshall University
2 • shepherdCentermagazine.org
Department of Surgery’s Resident of the Year
Award. He participates in many public service
organizations, including Physicians for Social
Responsibility and Doctors Without Borders.
Dr. Ashman, who joined Shepherd Center on
July 15, previously practiced at the Department of
Rehabilitation Medicine at both New York
University Langone Medical Center and Mount
Sinai Medical Center prior to relocating to Atlanta.
In her role, she oversees all neurorehabilitation
psychological services for patients. She also
conducts extensive clinical research with people
with traumatic brain injury. “We are extremely
pleased to have Dr. Ashman serve our patients in
this very important role,” Dr. Leslie says.
She received a doctorate of psychology from
New School University and is certified in
rehabilitation psychology by the American Board of
Professional Psychology. Dr. Ashman has received
prestigious awards such as the Ted Weiss
Advocacy Award, the John G. Gianutsos Award
and is a two-time recipient of the David Strauss
Memorial Award. leo rubini
Photos by gary Meek anD leo rubini
TWO NEW PROVIDERS JOIN MEDICAL STAFF AT SHEPHERD CENTER
Shepherd Center Co-Founder Alana Shepherd
Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
ALANA SHEPHERD
In September, the Turknett Leadership
Group presented Shepherd Center cofounder Alana Shepherd with a Lifetime
Achievement Award, an honor presented
to those who have dedicated their lives
to the betterment of an organization and
its surrounding communities. Alana is
the organization’s second recipient of
this award.
Through her commendable
character and dedication to Shepherd
Center and its patients, Alana received
this award for her commitment to
neurological research and rehabilitation
in Atlanta for the past 40 years. She
received the Turknett award at the 10th
annual Leadership Character Awards
ceremony on Sept. 18.
Photos by gary Meek anD louie favorite
SHEPHERD CENTER LAUNCHES ITS FIRST-EVER
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN IN METRO ATLANTA AREA
Shepherd Center kicked off
an advertising campaign in
the Atlanta area in August
aimed at creating a strong,
local identity for Shepherd
Center as the natural goto choice when seeking
expert rehabilitation care for
catastrophic spinal cord or
brain injury.
The campaign runs into
November and consists of
outdoor billboards, radio
spots for AM and FM, print
ads, video and social media
promotions.
The goal of the campaign is to introduce Shepherd Center to
general consumers who may not know about Shepherd and its
nationally acclaimed expertise, says Larry Bowie, director of public
relations and marketing.
“Now, more than ever, healthcare decisions are made at the
consumer level, and we want consumers to know they have choices
when deciding upon their best option in rehabilitation care for
catastrophic spinal cord or brain injury,” Bowie says.
As a not-for-profit hospital, Shepherd Center hopes the ads will
also draw in more donors who are moved by the hospital’s work, as
well as the stories of the people who are treated here.
Shepherd Center partnered with Atlanta-based creative agency
Frederick Swanston to develop the campaign.
“We are honored to recognize Alana
with our second Lifetime Achievement
Award for her relentless advocacy of
neurological healthcare and for her
sustained contributions to the
community,” says Turknett CEO Bob
Turknett. “Her passion, dedication, and
unsurpassed respect for all are
reflections of her exceptional character.”
Alana remains active in the
Shepherd community by serving on the
hospital’s board, leading tours, and
visiting with patients and their families.
“It has been an honor and a privilege
to have helped Shepherd Center
grow,” Alana says. “I am proud to have
played a part in the hospital’s success.”
leo rubini
SHEPHERD CENTER LISTED AS A
TOP 50 SOCIAL MEDIA FRIENDLY
HOSPITAL FOR 2013
Shepherd Center was recently named a
Top 50 Social Media Friendly Hospital for
2013 by the Advocates for Healthcare
Administration Worldwide.
Shepherd ranked No. 42 among 50 other
U.S. hospitals that have created a buzz with
their use of various social media platforms.
Rankings for each hospital are based on a
number of criteria, including a top-ranked
specialty program as rated by U.S. News &
World Report and the number of followers and
amount of activity on each social platform, to
calculate a score total of 100.
“Sharing the latest medical research on your
hospital’s blog and social media accounts can
help you attract followers and build up buzz for
your facility,” says a representative of Advocates
for Healthcare Administration Worldwide. “In
addition to keeping consumers informed about
breakthroughs being made at your own hospital,
you can also monitor peer-reviewed journals for
interesting developments and summarize them
for your followers.”
Shepherd Center can be found on several
social media platforms, including Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Connect with us via social media links at
www.shepherd.org.
Spinal Column® / fall 2013 • 3
Readying Patients and Families
for the Realities of Returning Home
New project aims to ease
transition, lower hospital
readmission rates and
boost self-confidence.
For many people recovering from
spinal cord injury (SCI), returning home
after being in the hospital is a big step in
their rehabilitation. But it is not always an
easy one. Suddenly being outside of
Shepherd Center’s structured and
supportive environment can be daunting
for many patients and families.
“Patients feel good about going
home, but when they get there, they
often feel lost and overwhelmed,” says
Mike Jones, Ph.D., vice president of
research and technology at Shepherd
Center. “They now have their injury plus
the pressures of daily life, and they are
hit with the realization that they can’t do
everything they used to do.”
In addition, many people with SCI
still have acute medical needs that
must be managed post-discharge. For
example, they might need a feeding tube
or catheter, so they need to know how to
problem solve and what to watch for to
avoid problems.
Patients typically do not lack
information or even the skills to care
for themselves by the time they are ready
to go home, but they may not
feel confident making decisions
independent of their treatment team,
Jones explains. He likens it to the panic
that can set in for new parents when
bringing a newborn home from the
hospital. For the first time, no one is
around to help coach them or reinforce
their decisions about how to care for
this new little life. For people with
SCI, feeling ill-prepared can lead to
return visits to the hospital (called
readmissions) and other problems.
Now, thanks to a new grant from the
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Institute (PCORI), Jones and his team
will evaluate the effect of several
hospital-wide changes aimed to build
patients’ self-efficacy—the belief that
they can effectively manage their care.
These include efforts to:
1. Expand Shepherd Center’s peer
mentoring program so patients can
readily connect with and learn from other
people with SCI both at Shepherd and
after discharge.
2. Revamp the way patients are
educated about SCI and its
complications by shifting from passive,
lecture-style teaching to a “flippedclassroom” approach in which patients
and families review information online
and then come to class ready to discuss
and apply what they’ve learned with
their peers.
3. Develop patient portals that will
include personalized medication lists,
education and guidance on specific
issues (e.g., bladder, skin) and access to
peer discussions.
With the near $1.5 million PCORI
award, researchers will be able to collect
extensive data to determine whether
these interventions affect hospital
readmissions, medical complications,
and compliance with doctor visits and
medications post-discharge. Patients
included in the study will be evaluated
30, 90 and 100 days post-discharge and
again at one year.
“SCI affects all body systems, so
when patients go home, there are a lot of
ways to get into trouble with their health,”
says Sarah Morrison, PT, vice president
of clinical services. “Our job
is to prevent that from happening.”
The hope is that by offering
interactive education sessions,
providing individualized online tools
and linking them with peers who have
faced similar experiences, patients will
be better equipped to make health
decisions to stay healthy and prevent
problems once they are on their own.
“We want to boost their ability to
manage their condition,” Jones says.
“The way health care is going, the more
control and confidence they have to
manage their care, the better so they
don’t rely on the healthcare system to
meet those needs.”
This work will also help shape
Shepherd’s discharge planning and
post-discharge supports for patients
and families.
BY AMANDA CROWE, MA, MPH
P
staff
profile
INTERESTING FACTS:
sherrIll lorIng, m.d.,
NEUROLOGIST,
MS INSTITUTE,
SHEPHERD CENTER
sherriLL LoriNG, m.d.,
NeuroLoGist,
ms iNstitute,
shepherd CeNter
INTERVIEWED BY PHILLIP JORDAN
Dr. Sherrill Loring is a neurologist at the
Andrew C. Carlos Multiple Sclerosis Institute
at Shepherd Center. She has worked in the
MS Institute for the past five years, treating
patients and conducting research.
Q: what fIrst drew your Interest to
the medICal fIeld?
A: I’d always wanted to be a doctor since I was
a little girl, and I never really wavered from that.
Looking back, I think in large part that had to
do with my father getting sick. When I was six,
he had a stroke. So I’m sure that’s what led me
toward neurology.
the case. Just four years ago, that still might have
been the norm. But now we have more diseasemodifying treatments than ever.
Q: what motIVates you the most In
your work?
A: I take great pride in the MS Institute. We do
a very good job of offering specialized care and
we take on challenging cases. We can truly alter
lives, improve lives. That’s very exciting. And we
get a lot of young patients here who have their
whole lives ahead of them. It gives me a big
charge to realize what we’re capable of doing.
Q: what haVe Been some of the BIggest
dIfferenCes In your aBIlIty to treat ms
PatIents through the years?
Photos by gary Meek
American Academy of
Neurology; American
Medical Association.
Previously: associate
professor of neurology,
University of Florida;
director, MS Clinic at
Georgetown University
Hospital (Washington,
D.C.); chief of
neurology, University
Hospital (Augusta, Ga.).
resIdenCy:
Medical College of
Georgia
medICal sChool:
Medical University of
South Carolina
undergraduate
degree:
Columbia College
(Bachelor of Arts in
Chemistry)
random faCts:
A gardener and cook
at home, Dr. Loring’s
summer vegetable
garden included
tomatoes, cucumbers,
squash and basil.
If she could choose
one person in history
to have a conversation
with, it would be JeanMartin Charcot – the
“father of neurology,”
who first named and
described MS.
A: When I first started, there weren’t any actual
treatments. We were just treating symptoms. We
didn’t have ways to actually change the course
of the disease or the outcomes of the disease.
That first treatment was approved in 1993, and
then four more in the next 10 years. Now we have
three oral treatments – IV therapies – and that
doesn’t even include all the possibilities coming
down the pipeline in research.
Dr. Loring’s greatest
fear? Going to the
doctor. “It’s hard to be
on the other side,” she
says. “I know I should
set a better example,
but even doctors can
be afraid of going to the
doctor sometimes!”
Q: what Is the most Common
mIsConCePtIon you hear aBout ms?
A: That people think everyone with MS is going
to end up disabled in a wheelchair. That’s a big
misconception, especially today. With the ability
to diagnose early and start treatment early, it’s not
exPerIenCe:
Dr. Loring’s
husband, David, is a
neuropsychologist at
Emory University.
Sherrill Loring, M.D., treats MS patient Erica Taylor of Decatur,
Ga., in the MS Institute at Shepherd Center.
More online at
ShepherdCenterMagazine.org
Former patients injured in pedestrian accidents share
their stories and offer injury prevention advice.
by DaviD siMPson. Photos by JaMie harMon, louie favorite anD Jacque brunD
1
When driving, Patrick Helper-Ferris makes an extra effort at
every intersection to turn his head and look for pedestrians
in his blind spot. Jay O’Neal pays for taxi rides for inebriated
restaurant patrons. Von Fusco tells his friends to use crosswalks on foot and to put down their phones while driving.
Be alert. Eliminate distractions. Don’t drive after drinking. It’s
simple advice — often repeated and often forgotten. But it’s easy to
remember for these three former Shepherd Center patients, each
of whom was a pedestrian struck by an automobile.
The occurrence of incidents like this is significant. The federal
government recorded 4,280 pedestrian fatalities and an estimated
70,000 injuries in 2010.
“When a car hits a pedestrian, you have this huge mass that’s
colliding with something a fraction of its weight,” says Shepherd
Center physician Anna Elmers, M.D. “So just by sheer physics,
the injuries that occur are going to be significant — often multiple
trauma, broken bones and brain and spinal cord injuries.”
In fact, the severity of brain and spinal cord injuries may mean
that other injuries, such as ligament damage to knees, may not
even have been diagnosed by the time patients arrive at Shepherd
Center, Dr. Elmers notes.
“It’s difficult to tell in a trauma setting what a patient ultimately will
be able to do,” she says. She has learned that some recoveries are
surprising.
Patrick’s story
Patrick Helper-Ferris didn’t use his usual
corner to cross Memphis’ Central Avenue
on a Saturday morning walk with his
two dogs, Hector and Percival, on July
11, 2009. He didn’t like being shielded
from the road by the thick hedge on the
northeast corner of the intersection.
“But it was a very hot day, and
that hedge was providing shade. So
my dogs wanted to go to that shade,”
Patrick recalls.
When the traffic light changed, he
took the dogs briskly into the crosswalk
to be sure he could get across the fivelane road.
“I don’t remember being struck,”
Patrick says. From the police
investigation, he knows a driver
unfamiliar with the neighborhood was
looking for street signs and didn’t see
the traffic light. The car, traveling at 40
to 45 miles an hour, struck a sport utility
vehicle “so hard that it spun around 360
degrees and knocked me out of the
crosswalk and back onto the sidewalk
I had just left,” he explains.
Patrick, now 43, remembers
nothing of the next two weeks. It was
a frightening time for his wife, Laura
Helper-Ferris. She returned home from
a tai chi class that Saturday to find one
of the dogs, Hector, on the front porch.
Soon after, a woman arrived who had
found an injured Percival at the accident
scene. She had taken the dog to a
veterinarian and used the dog collar to
find Laura. They went to the accident
1
scene and tracked Patrick to the
Regional Medical Center at Memphis.
He had sustained a complete T-2
spinal cord injury, causing paralysis
from his chest down. His left wrist and
clavicle also were broken, causing
severe nerve damage in that arm. His
head was hit hard enough to damage
his peripheral vision on the left side.
After 10 days with his life in the
balance, Patrick had spinal surgery in
Memphis. He was on a ventilator when
he arrived at Shepherd Center on July 27,
2009. He needed multiple procedures to
overcome his lung problems, but finally
was able to breathe on his own.
In physical and occupational therapy,
Patrick learned to roll, sit up, slide on a
board from bed to chair, and use a swing
and lift for the toilet and shower.
Physical therapy helped restore
about 25 percent of the function of his
damaged left arm. “The index finger and
thumb can close, so that helps,” he says.
“I tried to use my hands as much
as I could, especially the left one —
practiced working those arms, turning
the chair, driving the chair,” he recalls.
Laura stayed in Atlanta throughout
Patrick’s four months of treatment, living
first in housing provided by Shepherd
Center and then with a woman who
responded to a call for help from the
Quaker community. That host even
permitted Hector and the mended
Percival to come along. Later, she
lived with Patrick in a Shepherd Center
apartment when he graduated to
Shepherd’s Day Program. Laura recalls
that Shepherd Center therapists were
“incredible teachers,” training her to help
Patrick move in and out of his chair, dress
his lower body and even to suction a
tracheotomy tube, although the last task
proved unnecessary as he recovered.
She described his homecoming on
Dec. 5, 2009 as “triumphant.” Friends,
neighbors, Quakers, family and coworkers pitched in to help modify the
couple’s home for Patrick. They raised
money and even helped design and
build wheelchair ramps and bathroom
and kitchen renovations.
After more therapy and four followup surgeries in Memphis, Patrick
resumed the college classes he had
begun before the accident with the
support of his employer. In January
2
3
2011, he returned to his job as an
information systems administrator. He
expects to receive his college diploma in
January 2014.
In 2012, Patrick started working as
a volunteer counselor for a Memphis
suicide prevention hotline.
“I had been looking for an
opportunity to give back,” he says.
“Since the accident, I’ve really been
humbled by the generosity and kindness
of just about everyone in the world —
certainly, my family, friends and coworkers. But anywhere I go, strangers
hold doors and are very helpful.”
Patrick now drives a customized
van, purchased with family support.
2 persistent injuries is a vision
One of his
“field cut,” like a smudge on the left lens
of a pair of glasses. He adds, “When I
stop at an intersection, I definitely turn
my head around to be sure I’m not
missing anyone stepping from a corner,
especially on my left side.”
1.,2. Patrick Helper-Ferris of Memphis, Tenn.,
enjoys great support from his wife Laura and their
dog. 3. Patrick drives a customized van purchased
with family support.
PEdEstrian saFEty Fact shEEt
american pedestrians took 35
billion trips in a year, according to
the CDC, compared to nearly 350
billion trips by car. (each person
counts as a separate trip.) the
agency’s study found these death
rates per 100 million trips:
In the United States, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic accident
every eight minutes, and a pedestrian is killed every two hours,
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The advocacy group Transportation for America compares the
death toll to a jumbo jet crashing every month.
Pedestrian deaths account
for nearly one in four traffic
deaths among children
14 and younger. safe kids
worldwide reports that
pedestrian accidents are
the second leading cause of
death for children ages 5-14. 1
30 percent of pedestrian
fatalities occur between
8 and 11:59 p.m.
rates are higher on Friday,
saturday and sunday. 1
aBout
out a third o
oF
F PE
PEd
dEstrians killEd
in 2010 wErE lEgally drunk. among
drivErs involvEd in thE accidEnts,
14 PErcEnt wErE lEgally drunk. 1
mEn arE 2.5 timEs mor
morE
likEly
Ely than womEn to diE
di
in a PEdEstrian accidEnt. 2
WaRninG
RninG
QUiCK
FaCTs
death rates for
pedestrians are
highest in large,
central metropolitan
areas. 2
saFEty tiPs
For both men and
women, death rates
increase at age 75.
america’s elderly
population is growing, so this
trend could mean more pedestrian deaths in the future. 2
More tips from Safe Kids Worldwide:
teach kids to look left, right
and left again when crossing
the street.
from the CDC:
“Pedestrian deaths are a serious public health
problem,” says Laurie Beck, a researcher with
the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention
and Control. “Pedestrians have a higher risk of
death than motor vehicle occupants.”
In 2010, emergency rooms
treated injuries in about
1,500 pedestrians who
were using a cell phone
while walking — double the
number from 2005.
Youths aged 16 to 25 were
most likely to be in that group,
and most were talking rather
than texting.3
cross the street at a
designated crosswalk.
rEmind
mind kids to makE EyE contact
with drivErs BEForE crossing in Front
increase your visibility
at night by carrying a
flashlight and wearing
reflective clothing.
oF thEm
m and to watch out For cars
that arE turning or Backing uP.
u
if children need to use a
cell phone, make sure they
stop walking and find a safe
area to talk. teach kids to
look up and pay extra attention
when using headphones and
to remove them when
crossing the street.
BE carEFul at intErsEctions whErE
whE
drivErs may Fail
F
to yiEld thE rightoF-way
-way to PEdEstrians whilE turning
onto anothEr strEEt.
it’s safest to walk on
a sidewalk. if you must
walk in the street,
walk facing traffic.
1
2
3
the national highway traffic safety administration
the centers for Disease control
Jack l. nasar, Derek troyer, Pedestrian injuries due to
mobile phone use in public places, Accident Analysis &
Prevention, volume 57, august 2013, Pages 91-95
1
Jay’s story
Jay O’Neal “woke up” one day in
2006 at Shepherd Center, looking in
a bathroom mirror.
The face looking back at him was
scarred. His head was shaved.
“I thought, ‘What happened to me?’
I was kind of waking up to the world,”
says Jay, now 28. “I’m glad it happened
at Shepherd because they were so
much better able to explain it to me
and handle me.”
Shepherd Center professionals
explained that a drunken driver had
veered off the road and hit him as he
walked toward his car after a church
outing at a Columbus, Ga., park, on
the night of June 14, 2006.
The impact “completely crushed”
his pelvis, requiring major reconstructive
surgery at Columbus Regional Hospital.
“I’ve got a lot of titanium bolts, screws
and that kind of thing,” he says.
“They saved my life,” Jay says.
“My family was all excited about it.”
Then a doctor told his relatives:
“You don’t understand. That’s not
his worst injury.”
All four lobes of Jay’s brain had
been injured. When doctors let him
emerge from a medically induced
coma, he was confused and prone to
outbursts. His family had been told to
consider a nursing home, and then
“Shepherd Center found us,” he says.
Only after his transfer to Shepherd
did Jay regain awareness of what was
happening to him.
“What I love about Shepherd
Center is they try to build community
among patients and staff,” Jay says.
He dined with other patients and was
expected to keep track of his own
treatment schedule.
2
“They taught me how to be selfreliant and functioning,” Jay says.
“Every morning, I had to look at the
therapy schedule and see where to be.
My recovery was up to me.” He also
credits Shepherd with promoting early
therapy for patients with brain injury,
rather than waiting for the brain to heal
itself. The approach worked for him.
“It was a gradual thing,” he recalls.
“I’m not going to lie and say there was
never a time that I sat there and cried
because my life had changed. But there
were things that would happen that
would make me realize life isn’t all that
much different.”
One was an outing with a fellow
patient. They got approval one day
to go with their mothers to an offsite restaurant — to the horror of their
mothers. “They said, ‘You’re not leaving
the hospital.’ But we did. It made me
realize I’m normal. I thought, ‘Look at
me, I’m in public.’”
Jay’s family participated in training
at Shepherd Center before he went
home, and he continued to improve with
physical, speech and cognitive therapy
in Columbus.
Jay had been pursuing paramedic
training before the accident. But in
fall 2007, he transferred to Columbus
State University and became a
communications major. “I think it is
quite ironic,” he says, because his
family was told at one point that he
would have to relearn how to read,
write and talk again. He wrote a
paper on patient communication at
rehabilitation hospitals, centered on
his Shepherd Center experience. The
paper was approved for presentation
at a national conference.
He expects to receive his diploma
in December 2013, but he already is
working as executive director of the
Contact Disability Resource Center
in Columbus.
Now, he works to prevent drunken
driving. He is alert in restaurants to
patrons stumbling toward the door.
“I’ll pay for their taxi, and then I’ll go
to the bartender and say you’re overpouring,” Jay says.
He calls his healing “a true gift from
God” and says he has no anger toward
the driver who hit him.
“She needs her own healing,” Jay
says. “It was a mistake. I’m getting
better and I hope she’s getting better.
I don’t regret the accident. This has
made me who I am.”
1. Jay O’Neal of Columbus, Ga., is the new executive
director of Contact Disability Resource Center in
his hometown. 2. Jay spends time reflecting on his
injury experience and recovery.
von’s story
Von Fusco, 18, of Orlando, Fla., would
still like to have a career in the Air Force,
though he knows his career path may
have to change. That is the strongest
sign of his recovery since he was literally
knocked off an Orlando street.
He and a friend got off a city bus on
the way to another friend’s home. It was
some distance to the nearest crosswalk,
but they started across the street while
the light for oncoming traffic was red.
They started too late.
“I was told the driver was on the
phone and hit the gas when the light
turned green,” Von says.
The impact broke his legs, shattered
his right wrist and severely injured his
brain. That was Sept. 3, 2012.
“I don’t remember the two weeks
before the accident or anything until my
birthday on Oct. 21,” he says. “I woke
up with two metal rods in my legs.
That’s how I knew something
happened.”
In high school JROTC, Von routinely
ran 10 miles. But when he regained his
faculties on Oct. 21, he needed a helmet
to protect his head when he walked.
At Shepherd Center, Von started
walking slowly with a therapist close
behind for support. But he progressed
quickly. He graduated from inpatient
care on Nov. 6 and left Shepherd
Pathways outpatient care on Dec. 14.
“You need inner strength,” he says.
“What gave me the physical strength
was the doctors’ and therapists’ work
with me. What gave me the spiritual
strength was the love of my friends
and family.”
Once home, Von got back on track
at Colonial High School, doing some
classwork at home. He graduated with
his class this past June.
By summer, he was “pretty much
up to speed” and training to run in a
5K race.
While on disability status, he would
like to attend college if he can secure
3
funding. Otherwise, he will work when
he is cleared for employment. In either
case, he still hopes to join the Air Force
when he’s 23. His father is a full-time
recruiter in the Air Force Reserve.
Von is able to drive now, and he
does so with caution.
“One thing I never do is touch my
cell phone while driving. There’s no
reason to,” he says. He spreads that
message to his friends.
“A majority — not all of them
unfortunately — but a majority of them
do learn from what happened to me,”
he says.
2
3
1. Von Fusco, 18, of Orlando, Fla., shares
how he sustained a brain injury in a
pedestrian accident. His mother, Amy
Fusco, fills in the details Von does not
recall. 2. Von visits the area where he was
injured. 3. Von celebrates his graduation
from rehabilitation at Shepherd Center.
More online at
1
HOPE Restored
Shepherd Center’s SHARE Military
Initiative helps injured military service
members prepare for the future.
BY SARA BAXTER
1
Photos by gary Meek
Sergeant First Class Chuck Wesson was thankful to have made it through four
combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo
without sustaining a major injury. At Fort Campbell, Ky., he was not so fortunate.
On an afternoon in April 2012, Chuck was walking
at night near his home base when a car plowed
into him, then sped away. The accident left him
paralyzed from the waist down.
Chuck spent four months in Shepherd Center’s
Spinal Cord Injury Program, working every day to
adjust to his new life. It was there that he met Tina
Raziano, who coordinates services for members of
the military in Shepherd’s SHARE Military Initiative.
While Chuck was not enrolled in the program,
Raziano checked on him periodically.
Their interaction ultimately revealed something
that would profoundly change Chuck’s life: He had,
in fact, been injured in combat.
“I had accepted the fact I was in a wheelchair
because of the accident,” Chuck says, “but other
things were taking a toll. I was trying to cling on to
who I was before I got hurt.”
That is to say that, after being discharged from
Shepherd Center, Chuck struggled to retain
information. He got angry easily. Large crowds
made him anxious. He describes his life during this
period as “a funk I couldn’t get out of.”
Raziano made a point to keep up with Chuck
after he left Shepherd. He’d assured her everything
was fine, but she recognized his struggles as the
potential signs of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
So in fall 2012, Raziano went on a mission: She
traveled to Chuck’s home in Charlotte, N.C., and
persuaded him to come back to Shepherd Center
and enroll in SHARE.
“SHARE is a comprehensive, specialized
rehabilitation program for service members who
have mild TBI and who may have fallen through
the cracks elsewhere,” says Greg Bennett, who
manages the program. “We take a holistic
approach in helping these service members
establish a plan to meet their goals.”
Such goals could range from managing panic
attacks to sleeping through the night to returning
to work or school, Bennett explains. It’s an
outpatient program, but free housing is provided
while they are in the program, on average for about
12 weeks.
Chuck is one of more than 160 injured
service members who, since 2008, have passed
through SHARE, which stands for Shaping Hope
and Recovery Excellence. Most sustained mild
TBIs, which can cause significant physical,
behavioral and cognitive impairments. Symptoms
include dizziness, migraine headaches, and
problems with mental focus, vision, balance and
anger management.
Because of their specialized needs, people in
the SHARE Military Initiative are treated separately
from Shepherd’s general patient population. The
environment is modified to accommodate their
individual limitations — no bright flashing lights or
incessantly buzzing alarms for service members
sensitive to such stimuli, for example.
Chuck says he particularly benefitted from the
program’s speech therapy, which helped him with
reading comprehension, as well as one-on-one
counseling. “In the military, you put everything
you’re dealing with in the back of your mind, and it
stacks up,” Chuck says. “The counselor started
digging and helped me deal with it all. I was able
to gain some closure and started feeling better.”
SHARE participants also learn how to plan
menus, shop for groceries and cook meals.
They take outings to movie theaters, retail malls and
sporting events. All of these activities help them
learn to function on their own after they return home.
“It’s a one-stop shop for everything,” Raziano
says. “We customize it for each person and try to
address all of their needs.” Raziano focuses on the
time after patients leave the program. She helps
them transition and assimilate into the community,
serving as a resource as obstacles arise. She also
navigates the disability process of the military,
helping veterans get the maximum benefits to
which they are entitled.
“I am a safety net once they leave the hospital,”
she says. “I make sure they continue to progress
outside of the SHARE Military Initiative. The fact
that we follow them after discharge is what sets
us apart.”
Established through a generous 2008 donation
from Atlanta philanthropist Bernie Marcus, the
SHARE Military Initiative is sustained through
private contributions — and is provided at no cost
to service members.
“No one gets turned away,” says Jon Roxland,
senior major gifts officer in the Shepherd Center
Foundation. “Military insurance pays about 38
cents on the dollar for the cost of care. The
Foundation must raise about $90,000 a month to
keep the program running. So we rely on donations
from corporations, foundations and individuals to
support the initiative and its clients.”
Today, Chuck is at home living with his mother,
but he’s making plans to get a place of his own.
He also hopes to go back to school to become a
counselor. And he firmly believes that participating
in the SHARE Military Initiative turned around
his life.
“I lost my job and my career,” he says. “On top
of having an injury, not having a purpose or a goal
was really difficult. SHARE was the best thing I
could have possibly done. It made me a real
person again — and a better person.”
2
1. USMC Sgt. Travis Buskuhl
participates in visuomotor and
cognitive assessment training
using the Dynavision in the
SHARE Military Initiative.
2. USMC Cpl. Reason Stanley
participates in vocational
rehabilitation counseling
in SHARE.
More online at
RETURNING
TO WORK
AFTER AN INJURY
IN THE LINE
OF DUTY
Sgt. Lee Gragg Works Hard in Rehabilitation
to Return to Work in Just Four Months.
BY MATT WINkELJOHN
Lee Gragg always wanted to be a police officer, so it was
no surprise when soon after being injured in the line of
duty, his thoughts centered on returning to work.
The fact that he’s wearing a badge again in Palmetto,
Ga., is stunning, though. After Lee flew like a bird and
landed like a melon on Sept. 12, 2009, the fight was
to survive, not work. Quickly after being thrown from a
suspect’s car at 80 miles an hour and landing on his head,
Lee went into cardiac arrest at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial
Hospital. Doctors resuscitated him, but a traumatic brain
injury and a shattered face topped a list of injuries.
He couldn’t talk, walk or do much else. Yet, he’s back
on the beat in a small town about 25 miles southwest of
Atlanta.
Not long after transferring to Shepherd Center on Oct.
9, 2009, Lee inquired with Palmetto Deputy Chief John
Cooper and other colleagues about work. Here was a
6-foot-2-inch, 250-pound guy who could barely speak. Yet
he found a way to ask.
Most amazingly, Lee, now 41, returned to work four
months after landing in a heap. It was initially just four
hours twice a week and working “over property and
evidence” — not as intense as his previous duty in the
Crime Suppression Unit, but still it had only been four
months since his injury.
“It’s beyond reasoning,” Cooper says of the
comeback. “The rehabilitation at Shepherd Center did him
wonders. I’ve heard it takes years to get over this.”
1
Photos by gary Meek
Lee had sustained a T-7 spine fracture and
broken several ribs, lost vision in his left eye and
damaged nerves in his right arm. And a massive
rebuild was required from the neck up.
“Basically, every bone in his face was broken,”
says his wife, Shelly. Her husband’s palates were
wrecked, his tear ducts crushed, and neither eye
was in the proper place.
Before his transfer to Shepherd Center, Lee had
already undergone many of his 26 surgeries.
At Shepherd, physiatrist Gerald Bilsky, M.D.,
soon discovered that, after adjusting Lee’s
medications, Lee was cognitively ahead of where
most people are at that point in rehabilitation.
With help from Dr. Bilsky and the rest of his
Shepherd Center treatment team, Lee had to
relearn how to walk, talk and eat. “I couldn’t even
chew,” he recalls. “Food would just fall out.”
Lee has intermittent memory issues, and no
recollection of the accident. Fellow officers fill in
details. Of that fateful day he does recall, “my son
had his first baseball game.”
A few hours later, Lee and fellow officers were
hoping to catch a drug runner.
“We got a tip that a guy was going to be
coming through with methamphetamine, and I set
up a road check because I was sergeant over the
Crime Suppression Unit,” he says.
Officers first stopped another motorist. “He had
a suspended license and a warrant for his arrest,”
Lee says. Everybody tells me he said, ‘I’m not
going back to jail,’ and he reached for something
on the floorboard of the car. I reached down
through the window to stop him.”
The driver hit the gas, dragging Lee. About 300
yards later, the car hit a brick mailbox. “I went flying
and landed on my head,” he says. “They say I went
higher than a power line.”
The driver died. The sergeant had his heart
restarted at Grady.
Four weeks later, Lee transferred to Shepherd
Center to restart his life.
The spinal fracture healed, but Lee’s brain injury
required more intense rehabilitation, Dr. Bilsky says.
Lee underwent speech, physical, occupational and
recreation therapies, including music therapy.
In November 2009, Lee went home to
Douglasville, near where he grew up on Atlanta’s
west side. He became a Shepherd Pathways
outpatient, and the Graggs, now married 20 years
with a 17-year-old daughter and 11-year old son,
immersed themselves in Lee’s rehabilitation.
“They’re incredibly good together,” Dr. Bilsky
says of the couple. “I tell families there are four
parts: First, the medical side has to do the right
things; the therapy and nursing support has to be
there; the support of family and friends is critical;
and the fourth is out of our control.
“Call it luck, Mother Nature, powers that be,
fate,” Dr. Bilsky adds. “There’s got to be something.
To a certain extent, he was lucky because it could
have easily been a fatal injury.”
On Jan. 12, 2010, Lee returned to work in a limited
role. Over the next year, he ramped up to full time.
Now, he’s a sergeant in the Criminal Investigations
Division and a public information officer.
No doubt, Lee is different now. He forgot the
way home from work once, buying a GPS to remedy
that. Shelly worries about her husband’s loss of
vision to the left. Yet Lee’s a full-time cop again.
“I’ve learned to adapt,” he says. “I write notes,
even at home, or keep it on my phone. I can tell
you about work or music, but I don’t remember
getting married. I have headaches pretty bad.
That’s probably the main complaint besides
memory loss.”
Lee is a detective in charge of other detectives
rather than running a drug task force.
“My days of running after folks, the crime
suppression, that’s a done deal,” Lee says. “I still
do search warrants, but I let others make entries
while I observe and supervise.
“I’ve learned that no matter how bad off you
may be, there is somebody else worse off,” Lee
says. “To look at people who didn’t have the
opportunity to recover as well as I did — especially
if they didn’t have the opportunity to go to Shepherd
Center — that puts it in perspective for me.”
Initially, former Shepherd
Center patient Sgt. Lee
Gragg returned to work at the
Palmetto Police Department
south of Atlanta in a limited
role. Over the next year, he
ramped up to full time. Now,
he’s a sergeant in the Criminal
Investigations Division and a
public information officer.
More online at
R
research
powered exoskeleton
to Assist Walking
Shepherd Center provides clinical test ground for new
device that gives freedom to those with limited mobility.
Researchers test the Indego®
powered exoskeleton with
David Carter of Dallas, Ga.
More online at
What’s in a name? The team behind a new powered
exoskeleton designed to help people with spinal cord
injury and other mobility-limiting conditions walk and
regain independence will tell you everything.
The Indego® — short for independence and
go — is living up to its carefully chosen name and
could be available to clinical rehabilitation centers
in the United States as early
as next year thanks to an
innovative partnership among
Shepherd Center, Vanderbilt
University and Parker Hannifin
Corporation, the company that
will manufacture the device.
Think of it as a Segway
with legs, says device inventor
Michael Goldfarb, Ph.D.,
the H. Fort Flowers Chair
in Mechanical Engineering
and professor of physical
medicine and rehabilitation at
Vanderbilt.
The Indego is worn on the
outside of the body, helping
users move their legs and
allowing them to stand and
walk. To go, the wearer leans
forward. To stop or sit, they
stand upright or lean back.
“It’s extremely intuitive and
moves in harmony with the
body,” says Clare Hartigan,
a physical therapist and research coordinator at
Shepherd Center. “It’s also the only device that allows
the user to transport it completely by themselves.
They can wear it in their wheelchair, in a restaurant
or car. People have been in the device as long as six
hours — sitting, standing and walking.”
The Indego has several other inherent
advantages over existing lower-extremity
exoskeletons, Hartigan says. It easily snaps apart
and is compact and lightweight (27 versus 45
pounds or more for other exoskeletons). It is also
the first to allow the wearer to vary the degree of
robotic assistance applied based on his or her
level of function and muscle control. “This device
will adjust in the same way a physical therapist
will interact with a patient differently depending
on what that patient needs,” Dr. Goldfarb says.
So far, the device has been tested by
10 patients at Shepherd Center — and with
great success.
David Carter, 27, of Dallas, Ga., was injured in
a 2010 motorcycle accident, which left him with a
T-7 complete SCI. After just three sessions with the
Indego — only two to three hours each — he was
able to walk by himself using a walker for the first
time in two years.
“It was amazing to stand side-by-side
with someone and look them in the eye rather
than always looking up at them,” he says. It is
technology that, in Indego’s case, has been
developed and refined over several years with
real-time feedback from clinicians and patients
at Shepherd Center.
There are also secondary benefits associated
with the weight-bearing and movement that come
with using the device. For example, users report
reduced spasticity and pain, improved bowel and
bladder function and better skin health.
More recently, clinicians have started testing
it on people recovering from stroke. Hartigan
says the device has shown such promise that
researchers now plan to expand their study from
three to 20 people who have experienced a
stroke. The device is retraining the way they walk
by teaching them to trust their weaker leg, and it
seems to be paying off.
Shepherd Center is Parker’s lead clinical
partner. It is the only center with access to the
device. In 2014, Shepherd and other select clinical
centers will receive the generation-two prototype,
and multi-site clinical trials will begin. Shepherd
is charged with developing the clinical protocols
for using the device, training clinicians at other
rehabilitation centers and monitoring clinical trials.
For information about the trials at Shepherd
Center, visit www.shepherd.org/research and
complete the research intake form.
BY AMANDA CROWE, MA, MPH
P
doctor
profile
Referring Physician Profile
Joel PiCKeTT, M.d.
INTERVIEWED BY JOHN CHRISTENSEN
When Mark Caprio was treated in the
emergency room of Huntsville Hospital
in Alabama in 2001 for horrific injuries he
sustained in an automobile accident, his
prospects were not good.
He was in a coma and had multiple skull
fractures, as well as bruises and contusions
of the brain and extensive bleeding. He also
had collapsed lungs and a ruptured spleen.
Joel Pickett, M.D., a neurosurgeon,
operated on Mark’s brain while another
surgeon, Deepak Katyal, M.D., treated
his lungs and removed his spleen. Their
collaboration saved Mark’s life.
Dr. Pickett spoke with Spinal Column
about Mark’s injuries and remarkable
recovery, and explained why emergency
room treatment continues to be a regular
part of his practice.
Q: How SeriouS were Mark’S injurieS?
A: With a global head injury like he had, the
mortality is about 50 percent. Of those who
do survive, about one in four has a reasonably
good life.
Q: wHat do you reMeMber about HiS Stay at
HuntSville HoSpital?
A: He was comatose for a while and actually
had a cardiac arrest in intensive care, but
he responded to resuscitation. Later, he
had pneumonia and was very, very sick. But
eventually he was weaned off the ventilator and
able to respond to commands.
Q: wHy did you reCoMMend tHat Mark undergo
reHabilitation at SHepHerd Center?
A: We are very familiar with Shepherd Center and
send a lot of our patients there.
Q: wHy?
A: The main thing is that the patients and families
we have sent to Shepherd Center have all
spoken so highly about it when they return.
They felt that the physical therapy and
occupational therapy was top-notch. And
family members, in particular, indicated that
they were very pleased with the treatment.
They said how pleased they were that all of
their questions were answered.
More online at
It’s just the whole package. Families feel like
Shepherd Center does everything they possibly
can to help the patient. That’s what the family
wants, and that’s what they do.
Q: wHen did you firSt See Mark after He
returned froM SHepHerd Center?
A: The first time I saw him was at my home, not at
my office. Mark and my son, Tyler, are friends,
and Tyler brought him by the house.
Q: How waS He?
A: Very good. He was actually joking around and
very engaging. He told me his father told him
when he came home that there would be things
he wouldn’t remember, and one of those things
was that he used to be a stickler for neatness
and always kept his room clean. Mark said
he told his father: “I don’t think so, Dad. I’d
remember that.”
Q: it’S been 12 yearS SinCe Mark’S injury. How
would you aSSeSS HiS progreSS?
A: He’s really gotten well. He’ll tell you he struggles
sometimes, but you wouldn’t know that if you
didn’t talk to him and dig into it. Considering
that he had a global head injury, he’s recovered
spectacularly.
Q: finally, unlike Many neuroSurgeonS,
you Still treat trauMa patientS in
tHe eMergenCy rooM juSt aS you did
witH Mark. wHy?
A: Well, it’s time-consuming, it’s hard work and
it’s late nights, but I see that as my job as a
neurosurgeon. This is my community and my
home. These are my neighbors. I want to take
care of them if I can.
>
Turn the page to
read more about
Mark Caprio.
P
patient
profile
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Mark Caprio reflects on the
milestones and challenges ahead.
BY JOHN CHRISTENSEN
1
Photos by Dennis keiM
also loses track of time and sometimes
Mark Caprio, 30, of Huntsville, Ala., survived a
struggles to express himself clearly.
horrific automobile accident in 2001 only because
Mark’s strengths shine, though. “He’s a good
a nurse and her EMT tech husband happened
onto the scene and kept his windpipe clear until an guy,” Frank says. “He’s helpful, he’s got a great
heart and he loves people.”
ambulance arrived. A neurosurgeon and surgeon
In fact, Mark loves to umpire baseball
operated on him simultaneously at the hospital
games and excels at working with children with
because his injury was so severe, and he had to
disabilities. He is now working at the Boys and
be resuscitated in the intensive care unit when his
Girls Club and wonders: “What do I want to do?
heart stopped.
What do I want to strive for in life? I don’t want to
But because he had a brain injury, Mark
remembers little of those life-and-death struggles. go through the motions.”
Mark’s concerns are common among people
He does remember going back to college,
with TBI, says Terri Kohn, a Shepherd Pathways
becoming an all-conference baseball player,
making the dean’s list and getting his degree. And licensed professional counselor who works with
people with TBI.
he is grateful today that he has a job and is living
“Following a brain injury, one’s priorities
independently, but he says he still feels he has
change,” she says. “What seems important to his
much to accomplish.
peers at 19 or 20 might be things such as dating,
“Mark is a walking, talking, working miracle,”
going to bars and socializing. But Mark missed
says Donald P. Leslie, M.D., Shepherd Center’s
out on the socializing because he had to focus so
medical director. Dr. Leslie treated Mark when
hard on surviving and getting through school.”
he arrived at Shepherd a month after his
As a result, she says, young people with TBI
accident. “His progression over the past 12
often feel awkward and left behind socially while
years is incredible.”
their peers have moved on. And, in fact, Mark
When Mark arrived at Shepherd Center, he
says he feels like he was “born again” — not in
was in a waking coma. He was incoherent and
often agitated, and he still had a tube in his chest.
a religious sense, but rather that after his injury,
“But that first day,” says Lisa Caprio, Mark’s
his life started over again.
mother, “the nurse came in and said, ‘OK, you’re
“Mark definitely has issues,” his mother says,
going to take a shower.’ And I’m thinking, ‘You
“but he’s in a good spot. We always comment that
can’t do this,’ and she says, ‘Mom, you go over
when he had his accident, he was an 18-yearthere and relax.’”
old boy. Now he’s becoming more mature and
Within days, therapists had Mark using a walker thinking about his future and his career. I do see
and shooting baskets on the basketball court.
him evolving and I hope he’s still getting better
“I realized then how much I appreciated
and learning to cope and strategize on those
Shepherd Center,” Lisa says. “Every day we could
issues so he can make it on a job.”
see improvement. They had constant activity for
“Brain injuries tend to be very humbling,”
him, a schedule. They weren’t going to let the
Kohn says. “When you have a brain injury, people
patient decide. They knew what was best and
see you at your most vulnerable, and it can be
what the patient could do. What a great place it is.” physical, mental, spiritual or behavioral. It’s very
“Shepherd Center is tremendous,” says Frank
humbling to have family, friends and healthcare
Caprio, Mark’s father. “We were lucky to be there.”
workers knowing intimate details that you do not
After a year at home to continue his
recall and most likely will not recall.”
rehabilitation, Mark returned to school at the
On the other hand, she says people like Mark
urging of his coach and found he still excelled
learn to focus on what is important and appreciate
at baseball. He attended three colleges over the
that they’ve been given a second chance. And so
next several years and got his degree from the
have their families.
University of Alabama.
Frank says that before the accident, he and
“That first week of school, I realized that I had
Mark “used to butt heads.” Now, he says, their
something like ADD,” Mark says. “I could pay
relationship is far better than when Mark was
attention for about two minutes, and then I’d be off going through adolescence.
and not know where I went.”
“I got an opportunity to have a deeper
Medication helped, and after registering with
relationship with my son and to tell him what I really
the disability office, he was given extended time
feel about him,” Frank says. “Shepherd Center gave
and quiet places to take tests.
us another chance at a good life together.”
But he found that keeping a job was difficult
because he experiences cognitive fatigue. He
2
3
1. Former patient Mark
Caprio of Huntsville, Ala.,
loves to umpire baseball
games. 2. Mark enjoys great
support from his parents,
Frank and Lisa Caprio. 3.
Mark has made a remarkable
recovery from a very severe
brain injury.
More online at
A
alumni
profiles
4
2
1
3
From near
and Far
former shepherd Center
patients from across the
nation report on their
productive lives post-injury.
BY PHILLIP JORDAN
1
Michael
Arneson
CHAPEL HILL,
NORTH CAROLINA
Within a three-year span, michael
“mike” arneson, 19, of Chapel hill,
N.C., sustained a brain injury in a bicycle
accident, was diagnosed with cancer
and saw his family’s home burn down
when struck by lightning.
“In my family, we like to say we follow
the rule of threes, so we’ve completed
our trio now,” Mike says. He laughs as
he says it and is thankful he can. After
his bicycling accident, it took nearly a
month before the fog in his mind began
dissipating. “My mom described it as
‘The lights were on, but nobody was
home,’” Mike recalls.
Nearly two months at Shepherd
Center and a stint at Shepherd Pathways
helped him recapture his strength and
start to regain the use of his hands. “Just
walking out of Shepherd Center was
a huge accomplishment for me then,”
Mike says.
Two years later, as he continued
to improve, a small bump on his neck
was diagnosed as Stage II-A Hodgkin’s
lymphoma. Six rounds of chemotherapy
later, Mike emerged cancer-free and has
remained so since.
Those two experiences would put
last year’s loss of his family’s home in
perspective. “It was tough, especially for
my mom, to lose pictures and childhood
memorabilia,” he says. “But we know
there are worse things.”
The house has been rebuilt, but Mike
will soon be on the move again — this
time to attend the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. This past spring,
as he looked forward to college, Mike
shared some advice through his high
school valedictorian speech.
“Don’t regret the past,” he says.
“Sometimes at Shepherd Center, I’d
start thinking ‘What if? What if I hadn’t
gone biking that day?’ But that doesn’t
help anything. Whining or wondering
about choices in the past only prevents
you from doing what you need to do in
the present.”
More online at
2
3
Josh
Lam
Matt
Lee
Meg
throckmorton
MCGAYESVILLE,
VIRGINIA
STONE MOUNTAIN,
GEORGIA
WAYNESBURG,
PENNSYLVANIA
josh lam, 28, of mcgayesville, Va.,
lives on a family farm nestled in the
Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains.
From his doorstep, he can see the
homes of his grandmother, uncle, cousin
and parents. Close by is the pond where
Josh and his wife Cassie were married
two years ago.
It’s a scene he doesn’t take for
granted since his injury in September
2010. “All the family support around me
helped get me through,” he says.
Josh sustained a C-4 to C-5
incomplete spinal cord injury in a
nighttime automobile accident in which
he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. When he
came to, he was trapped in his wrecked
truck, listening to fuel gurgle out of the
punctured gas tank and watching head
beams become taillights as cars sped
by. “It felt so strange. I don’t know if it
was the adrenaline, but I’d broken my
neck and I never really felt much pain,”
he recalls.
When Josh arrived at Shepherd
Center three weeks later, he couldn’t
move his legs, fingers or hands. Nine
weeks there, followed later by two weeks
in Shepherd Center’s Spinal Cord Injury
Day Program, brought Josh’s fingers
back to life and movement back to his
knees and ankles.
“You’ve really gotta put your time in
down there,” he recalls. “They work you,
but it’s such a great place. I was very
lucky to go there.”
Today, Josh gets around most
places with only a cane. He doesn’t bale
hay anymore, but he’s constructing a
new chicken house and can operate
most of the farm’s machinery. He’s also
gotten a new side job in town at a car
dealership.
“I’m a simple, laid-back guy,”
Josh says. “Being here with my wife,
my family. That’s what meant the most
to me.”
matt lee, 22, of stone mountain, ga.,
has about a half-dozen teachers in his
family. “I think it’s just in my blood,” he
says. “As long as I can remember, I’ve
wanted to teach.”
When Matt sustained a brain injury
in January 2009, it appeared his lifelong
plans might be in jeopardy. He had
hydroplaned in his car on a foggy night,
and Matt wound up in an intensive
care unit for a week. His longer-term
challenge would be reclaiming his shortterm memory.
At Shepherd Center, Matt would
forget instructions he’d received only
a few minutes before. He couldn’t
remember his room number.
“A lot of that period is gone from my
memory,” Matt says. “But as time goes
on, I do remember music and speech
therapy sessions, and how nice and
helpful everyone was. I’ve gone back to
visit with therapists since I’ve recovered,
and it’s been so good to actually have
full conversations with them!”
He went on to spend five months
at Shepherd Pathways. Halfway through
his time in the program, Matt started
walking and soon began light running.
His balance and coordination improved.
Eventually, his memory and attention
span improved, as well.
Since then, Matt has earned a
degree in religion at Samford University
in Birmingham, Ala. This fall, he started
classes at Emory University’s Candler
School of Theology. Matt’s focus is
on Old Testament studies, as well as
ancient languages and civilizations. After
attaining his master’s degree, his next
goal will be to get a doctorate.
“I’d actually started as a music major
at Samford,” Matt says, “but I realized
pretty quickly that I enjoy music more
as a hobby. I’ve always had this interest
in religious studies and languages, so
I made the switch. This is what I want
to teach.”
4
For the first time in more than a year,
meg throckmorton, 18, of
waynesburg, Penn., practiced ballet
this past summer. “I’m taking it slow,
just stretching and exercises on the
balls of my feet,” she says. “Even if I
can’t dance like I did before, it’s so
great to be part of it again.”
“Before” is the time leading up to
April 13, 2012, when Meg sustained
an incomplete C-1 to C-2 spinal cord
injury while practicing for a dance
competition. The injury left her in a neck
halo for six weeks, and she relied on a
ventilator when she came to Shepherd
Center. But Meg became one of the
youngest people to be approved for a
Diaphragmatic Pacing System (DPS),
which stimulated her diaphragm a dozen
times a minute to assist her breathing.
“It felt like a bee was stinging me!”
Meg says. “But I got more comfortable
with it, and that helped get me breathing
again on my own.”
She and a fellow patient named
Montana challenged each other to a
vent-weaning competition. “And I beat
him by a few days!” Meg says with a
laugh. “We were doing it at the same
time, so we had fun with it. Really, it was
just good to have someone to talk with
about it.”
She returned to Shepherd Center
this spring to take part in the Beyond
Therapy® program and credits it for
getting her to the point she’s reached
now — able to dance, swim and go out
with her friends.
“Shepherd was such a different
experience from the first day I was
there,” Meg recalls. “They didn’t let me
wallow. They got me going right away.
Every single nurse, every single therapist
was so amazing. I remember telling my
mom, ‘Thank you for bringing me here.’
It’s exactly what I needed.”
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
24
DONOR PROFILE
25
SUMMER IN THE CITY
26
NEW VOLUNTEER GROUP
FOR TEENS
28
DERBY DAY PREVIEW
29
PECANS FUNDRAISER
29
HONORARIUMS
30
MEMORIALS
32
NoTeS froM
scott h. sikes
Shepherd Center foundation executive Director
reinvigorated injury prevention education efforts
Only a couple of quarters ago, I wrote about our efforts to reinvigorate our existing small,
but important, Injury Prevention Education Program. Now, I have an update on that ongoing
work championed by our President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Ulicny, Ph.D., orthopedic
surgeon Herndon Murray, M.D., Clinical Vice President Sarah Morrison, PT, and Spinal Cord
Injury (SCI) Program Director Shari McDowell, PT.
As you may recall, we selected Bridget Metzger, one of our long-tenured case managers,
to lead our injury prevention efforts. Bridget has been busily executing the ideas she and
other Shepherd Center employees proposed a few months ago. Since the program began,
there have been several successful campaigns and some exciting projects in the works.
Photo by Meg Porter
In April 2013, we had our first annual
Employee Safe Driving Week, during which
we rolled out the “Reasons” campaign.
Using a mix of print and online platforms,
we asked people to consider their reason
for arriving safely at their destination as a
way to discourage distracted driving. The
campaign won a Gold Award in this year’s
Aster Awards, which recognizes excellence
in healthcare marketing. Follow up surveys
showed that 95 percent of employees
who participated in the week’s activities
changed their behavior to reduce or
eliminate distracted driving activities.
Employee Safe Driving Week will be held
yearly to remind our employees to be safe
driving role models for our community.
The Cobb County Schools curriculum
expanded from one to four schools in spring
2013, reaching about 1,300 students with
education about traumatic train injury (TBI)
and SCI, anatomy, careers in rehabilitation
and injury prevention strategies. In spring
2014, the program will expand to 10 or
more schools.
We’re producing a video about former
patients who have been visiting schools
with our program. The video will be a
powerful tool for schools to teach students
about TBI and SCI, what life is like after
injury and how young people can avoid
getting hurt.
We have partnered with PEDs.org, an
Atlanta organization focused on pedestrian
safety, for a workshop to be held this fall
at Shepherd Center. Michael Ronkin, an
international expert on pedestrian safety,
will lead the workshop, which will include
a “walk and roll” tour of nearby pedestrian
areas from Brookwood Circle to Collier
Road to identify any areas of concern with
sidewalks and intersections so we may
make recommendations to the city about
any needed improvements so patients,
families and employees can safely navigate
the area.
Next spring, we’ll launch a campaign to
raise awareness of diving injuries, one of
the most preventable causes of injury we
see each summer.
How do we pay what it costs to bring ideas into action? Gifts from Spinal Column magazine
readers like you. For example, Mr. Bill Erb and his employees at ERB Industries (makers of safety
apparel) gave us initial funding to begin an Injury Prevention Program years ago. They helped
carry our message to thousands of Atlanta area schoolchildren. Just last year, Mr. Tommy Malone
and his partners at the Malone Law Firm in Atlanta, and Mr. Jim Butler and his partners at Butler,
Wooten and Fryhofer in Columbus and Atlanta, gave us a dramatic infusion of additional funds to
take our injury prevention efforts to a new level.
We call these donors our “Injury Prevention Partners.” Their support has attracted the attention
of others. The Kia Motors Manufacturing Corporation in LaGrange, Ga., have named safety and
injury prevention one of their plant’s key missions, and in recognition of this, they have made a gift
to help support our injury prevention education efforts.
If you would like us to bring our injury prevention message to your employees or help us fund
this work, please contact me at (404) 350-7305 or [email protected].
v
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
Mary Kay Howard
Lifetime volunteer helps shepherd Center
in more ways than one can count.
Mary Kay Howard has
volunteered at Shepherd
Center since 1999. She also
worked part time as a
librarian in the hospital’s
Noble Resource Learning
Center for a decade.
More online at
Anyone who knows Mary Kay Howard knows
she devotes a lot of time to helping others,
especially people at Shepherd Center.
For more than 25 years, she helped
students in the Cobb County School District as
a special education teacher. And Mary Kay has
supported the Georgia Symphony Orchestra in
numerous capacities.
It was while teaching that she learned about
Shepherd Center through the hospital’s magazine.
Impressed with patients’ stories and Shepherd’s
work, Mary Kay decided to become a volunteer
in 1999.
Inspired by the positive spirits of Shepherd
staff members, Mary Kay took a position as a
part-time librarian in the hospital’s Noble Resource
Learning Center that same year. She worked in the
library and helped families and staff with research
needs and other tasks until retiring in 2009.
Meanwhile, Mary Kay has continued to
volunteer for Shepherd since 1999. A lifetime
member of the Shepherd Center Auxiliary, Mary
Kay has served as the Auxiliary’s treasurer, in
charge of managing the budget and dues
collection; membership chair, in charge of current
member and new member solicitation efforts; the
historian; and, ultimately, president of the Auxiliary.
She has also chaired the Auxiliary’s annual
Pecans on Peachtree fundraiser and has
participated in many other fundraisers that have
resulted in a new suite at the Woodruff Family
Residence Center, a new floor in the Livingston
Gym, a patient room in the Shepherd Building and
other significant renovations.
“Mary Kay has been with us for such a long
time that she’s really a part of Shepherd,” says
Alex Seblatnigg, CAVS, associate director of
Volunteer Services. “She sees where she can
contribute and jumps in with both feet. She is one
of a kind, and we are really lucky to have her.”
Visitors who pass by the Welcome Desk
when they enter the hospital feel lucky to have
Mary Kay, too. Volunteering there each Friday
morning, Mary Kay serves as the first friendly
face that patients, families and others see when
they come to Shepherd Center. Not only does
Mary Kay answer questions visitors may have,
but she also provides great comfort to patients
and families who come to the hospital for the
first time and who may be feeling anxious.
Gratified by serving Shepherd Center,
Mary Kay encourages others to volunteer at the
hospital, as well. “If you want to do something
that you’ll feel good about doing and that will
make someone else feel good,” Mary Kay says,
“then volunteer at Shepherd Center.”
Photo by gary Meek
BY RACHEL FRANCO
DONOR PROFILE
d
Tom Kelly, Danny Spinks and Hal Harris
three friends share brotherhood and a dedication
to helping shepherd Center patients.
Photos by louie favorite
BY RACHEL FRANCO
Talk to Tom Kelly, Danny Spinks and Hal Harris for
10 minutes and you just might feel as if you are in
the middle of a comedy show. Behind all of the
laughter created by these three men, however, lies
a whole lot of heart — especially when it comes to
helping patients at Shepherd Center.
Lifelong friends since their youth, the three
men share a friendship that feels more like a
brotherhood strengthened by their shared
commitment to giving back to the communities in
which they live and work. “We’ve been so blessed
and feel compelled to try and bless others and to
give back,” Tom says. Danny concurs, “It’s just
rewarding to serve others and to see them grow.
Hal feels the same. We wouldn’t be as close as
we are if we didn’t all feel the same way.”
Tom, Danny and Hal certainly feel similar
admiration for Shepherd Center — a sentiment
largely behind their donation of both time and land
to the hospital for the inpatient hunting program.
It provides staff-led, overnight hunting trips for
patients. The idea for the program began in 1991,
when Harold Hobbs, the manager of Tom’s
father’s plantation, Mossy Dell, approached him
about taking his friend, former Shepherd Center
patient Chuck Seaton, on a hunting trip. Seeing
how much Chuck enjoyed this experience, Tom’s
father, Gene, felt encouraged to take other
Shepherd Center patients hunting at his plantation
each year.
After observing these hunts at Mossy Dell,
Tom, Danny and Hal felt they could create the
same wonderful experience for Shepherd patients
at Tom’s land in Monticello, Ga. They held their
first turkey hunt there in 1997. Since that time, they
have hosted Shepherd staff, patients and family
members at Tom’s Monticello property twice a
year (in December for deer hunting and in March
for turkey hunting) and at Mossy Dell Plantation
once a year (in January for deer hunting).
With safety as their top concern, Tom, Danny
and Hal, in coordination with Chris Ravotti, CTRS,
an outdoor specialist at Shepherd Center, do
everything they can to make the outings
successful and enjoyable for patients. The goal
is to help patients practice hunting in a real-world
environment and regain hope that, despite their
wheelchair, they will be able to participate in
outdoor recreational activities again. “Doing
1
2
everything they can” includes, among other things,
clearing roads, readying the cabin, determining
the best hunting spots for each patient based on
his or her injury, and setting up hunting blinds to
prevent detection by animals.
Tom, Danny and Hal thoroughly enjoy getting
to know each patient and find it rewarding to serve
Shepherd Center. When asked why others should
donate their time or resources to the hospital, Tom
simply states: “Do it. You get more back than you
give. Period. End of story. Try it one time and you’ll
be hooked.”
Chris Ravotti finds it equally as rewarding to
work with donors like Tom, Danny and Hal.
“Whatever I need to make the outings more
enjoyable, they will drop whatever they are doing
to help,” Chris says. “They’re just a great group of
guys I can depend on every year to provide an
exceptional experience for the patients.”
1. Tom Kelly, center, and his
friends Danny Spinks, left,
and Hal Harris host hunting
trips for Shepherd Center
patients on Tom’s family’s
land in Monticello, Ga. 2.
Hal and his friends find a lot
of satisfaction in donating
their time and resources to
help patients have fun and
learn new ways of doing the
activities they enjoy.
More online at
Summer in the City 2013:
Delicious Food, Phenomenal Wine and Always A Good Time
by Florina Newcomb
1
2
4
3
1. Duane Morrow and his wife Kim enjoy Summer in
the City 2013. 2. Left to right: SITC Chairs Lee and
Kimbrough Haverstock and Kari Carlos, and SCS
Chairs Anne Pearce Worrell and Ryan Hoyt. 3. The
Wall Family. 4. Elizabeth Smithgall, Sonya Hanafi
and Frances Marlow
26 • ShepherdCenterMagazine.org
Photos by Meg Porter
SPONSORS
For the third year in a row, Shepherd
Center Society’s popular Summer in
the City fundraiser has been the most
talked about event of the summer. More
than 400 guests enjoyed the beautiful
setting at the Greystone Conservancy
at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, delicious
food from 11 of the best chefs in the
city and 19 wine selections provided by
Presenting Sponsor National Distributing
Company.
Guests sipped fine wines, sampled
many dishes and bid on marvelous
items in the largest silent auction
the event has had. On the veranda,
mixologists captivated the crowd with
the sort of drinks that seem complicated,
yet refreshing on a muggy summer
night. It was a fun evening, a perfect way
to break the monotony of the workweek
and a great way to meet with friends.
Summer in the City is organized by
Shepherd Center Society (SCS), a young
adult volunteer group that supports
Shepherd Center and serves as
advocates for the hospital. Kari Carlos
and Lee and Kimbrough Haverstock,
co-chairs for the 2013 event, Mitch
Kerpoe the event director and the entire
Summer in the City Committee worked
tirelessly to plan the event. They did
everything from fundraising and selling
tickets to securing heavily soughtafter items for the silent auction. Items
included vacation trips, relaxing spa
escapes, fine wine and beautiful artwork.
This year was the most successful
Summer in the City yet, raising $100,000
to support Shepherd Center’s SHARE
Military Initiative, a program that
provides rehabilitation care for U.S.
service personnel who have sustained
a traumatic brain injury while serving in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
The clinking of wine glasses, the
laughter of beautifully dressed guests
and the excitement of the silent auction
made Summer in the City yet another
successful Shepherd Center event.
Shepherd Center Society 2013
Chairs
ryan hoyt
anne Pearce Worrell
Presented By
national Distributing company
Summer in the City 2013 Chairs
kari carlos
kimbrough and lee haverstock
Sommelier
Pnc bank
springer Mountain farms
elaine and John carlos
eula carlos
Summer in the City 2013
Committee
Dee Dee atta
brook beadle
brandi bazemore
sarah baum
Paige booker
gena bryant
Mcqueen calvert
kyle castelo
brian cosgray
alison Douis
adam Dormuth
alejandra fiallos
Meredith hill
shannon hinson
kristine hoffman
Maryanna Marks
virginia M. Jackson
elizabeth loyd
courtney lundeen
carolina Murray
Joseph raborn
Mary richardson
virgina seawell
kelley simoneaux
kelley anne smaha
Mark D. tiller, Jr.
brian Walker
travis e. Weatherly
taylor Weitz
Vintner
brand fever
Double Magnum
choate construction company
the colorspot, inc.
the ruth & talmage Dobbs, Jr.
foundation
helen and Jimmy carlos
helen carlos and ron hilliard
Magnum
the Piedmont Park conservancy
the ritz-carlton hotels of atlanta
Jessica and Justin Jones
Jennifer and David kahn
harold and alana shepherd
Standard
Décor sponsor —
Michal evans floral Design
Media sponsor — Modern luxury
Media sponsor — Atlanta Magazine
a legendary event — tony conway
batchelor and kimball
southwest airlines
sugarloaf Wealth Management
the ritz-carlton, lodge —
reynolds Plantation
Über technologies
Mr. and Mrs. John g. alston
Dr. kenneth c. bazemore
and family
kari carlos
Dr. george and beth cary
the haverstock family
kadee and ryan hoyt
Mr. and Mrs. William D. hoyt
libby and gene Pearce
Dixie Purvis
kelley and bradlee simoneaux
tom and beth ventulett
June and John Weitnauer
Mr. and Mrs. bruce b. Wilson
anne and andrew Worrell
Glass
adams capital, inc.
atlanta hawks and
Philips arena
atlanta refrigeration service —
John spivey
aycock Properties, inc.
b.D. Jeffries
bella Medspa
centricsit, llc
charles schwab
and companies, inc.
cornerstone Development
Partners, llc
Dermatology affiliates
four seasons hotel, atlanta
Miller brothers ltd.
Morgan stanley
Wealth Management
one on one Matchmaking
sons auto group
trader Joes, buckhead
Woo skincare cosmetics
angie and Jim Dormuth
Meredith Mansfield Durrett,
realtor
Debbie and stephen goot
shannon and nick hinson
virginia M. Jackson
John and sherry lundeen
Dr. and Mrs. samuel D. Murray, Jr.
valerie and scott sikes
elizabeth haverty smith
Dr. kyle a. smith
Wesley D. snapp
amy lee story
carol v. and James D. thompson
teresa and tom Watters
kara and trey Weatherly
THE EVENING COUlD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBlE WITHOUT THE DElECTABlE
PlATES PROVIDED By:
Aria — Chef Gerry Klaskala: turkish marinated chicken thighs with shredded napa slaw
1 Kept: Deviled quail eggs with bacon and jalapeño jams over arugula
Bistro Niko — Chef Gary Donlick: lamb sausage with garbanzo chard cassoulet
Coast — Chef Quentin Donnaud: gumbo and rice, a dill potato salad, field and crowder
peas salad
Davio’s — Sous Chef Carlos Tavarez: gnocchi in bolognese sauce
Kevin Rathbun Steak — Chef Kevin Rathbun: his grandmother’s fried springer Mountain
farms chicken in a spicy honey sauce
Nan — Chef Nan Niymokul: green springer Mountain farms chicken curry and stir-fried
long beans over jasmine rice
Petite Auberge — Chef Michael Gropp: variety of delicious passed appetizers for the viP
reception
Seasons 52: assortment of single shot desserts
The Shed at Glenwood — Chef Todd Richards: chicken liver paté with pickled
watermelon rind
Tuk Tuk Thai Food loft — Chef Dee Dee Niyomkul: cilantro springer Mountain farms
chicken wings
Atlanta Invitational Golf Tournament Benefits
Shepherd Center’s Assistive Technology Program
On April 23, 2013 at the Piedmont Driving
Club, BB&T along with ADP presented the
Atlanta Invitational, a fundraising golf tournament
benefiting Shepherd Center’s Assistive
Technology Program. BB&T’s Jordan Kiel,
who serves on the Shepherd Center Advisory
Board, and ADP’s Richard Primm chaired the
tournament, which raised more than $74,000
for the program.
Tournament Sponsor
bb&t reserved
Presenting Sponsor
aDP
Reception Sponsor
shaifer griffin, llc
Golf Cart Sponsor
Whitaker oil
Drink Cart Sponsor
Womble carlyle
sandridge & rice
Putting Contest Sponsor
troutman sanders llP
19th Hole Sponsor
covington investments
PlasMet
scott & stringfellow
shepherd center
smith & howard
Warbird consulting
Hole Sponsor
alpha insulation & Waterproofing
b2b Workforce
brian Moore
Wealth Management
Drug transport
elab solutions
fado Pubs
glenn lockaby — state farm
Foursome
arrow exterminators
intersect group
clear channel
Jordan kiel
concessions international
Piedmont national
J. christopher’s
re Primm
Mcgriff seibels & Williams
World logo
Jim ellis audi
Shepherd Center Launches a New Volunteer
Group for Teens
BY kATE BARNES
1
2
1. Caty and Carson
Lindauer, co-chairs. 2.
Kelley Simoneaux
On July 31, teens and parents attended the launch
of Shepherd Center’s newest volunteer group, the
Young Shepherds. The program is a student-led
volunteer group designed for Atlanta high school
students who want to become advocates for
Shepherd Center.
The mission of Young Shepherds is to promote
education and awareness of spinal cord and brain
injuries and prevent injury among adolescents.
Members of the Young Shepherds receive the
opportunity to engage with patients through teenspecific activities and support Shepherd Center
through volunteer opportunities, fundraising
events and special service projects. Proceeds
support Shepherd Center’s adolescent patient
program, which works to provide patients a
healthy, productive lifestyle with the highest level
of functioning and independence possible.
During the kickoff event, Scott Sikes, executive
director of the Shepherd Center Foundation,
welcomed guests and provided a few facts
about the hospital and injury prevention. He
introduced former patient Kelley Simoneaux to
share her “Shepherd Story” with the teens. Kelley
described her life after having sustained an
injury and reminded teens of the importance of
automobile safety.
Doug Lindauer, a member of the Board of
Directors, shared how he became involved with
Shepherd Center and discussed the formation of
the Young Shepherds. Doug introduced his two
high school-aged daughters, who assisted in
forming the vision of the Young Shepherds. Sisters
Caty and Carson Lindauer are the co-chairs for
the inaugural year and have plans to include two
activities in the 2013-2014 year.
The first Young Shepherds event was a football
tailgating and game viewing party with patients
at Shepherd Center on Sept. 7. Students watched
the Georgia versus South Carolina football game
and served refreshments to patients. Plans are
now under way for the group’s springtime event.
For more information about the program,
contact Kate Barnes at 404-350-7614 or
[email protected]. Shepherd Center
will accept new member applications through
Nov. 1, 2013.
Derby Day Plans Get Under Way as Junior Committee
Holds its First Meeting for 2013-14
After presenting photo collages from
Derby Day 2013 to Co-Chairs Wesley
Snapp and Catherine Skeen, Joe
Bricker started the meeting by
introducing this year’s Executive Board.
In addition to the traditional positions,
the chairs added some new positions
including Internal Communications and
Intramural co-chairs to help match
members to different recreation leagues
Derby Day 2013 raised nearly
$90,000 for the Recreation
Therapy Program at Shepherd
Center. In preparation for the
event’s 32nd year, Co-Chairs
Joe Bricker and Joe Mays have
already started planning next
year’s event with some exciting
changes.
Next year’s event will be
held at Chastain Horse Park in
The Executive Committee of the Junior Committee enjoys an
the Buckhead area of Atlanta.
outing to an Atlanta Braves game this past summer.
Derby Day Co-Chair Joe Bricker
is excited about the change.
around Atlanta. Numerous Junior
“Bringing the event in town will really
Committee members play in softball,
boost attendance,” he says. “Chastain
kickball and volleyball leagues around
already has some great features that will
the city, and connecting with those
enhance the Derby Day experience.”
teams is a natural fit.
The decision to move the 2014 event
Junior Committee members attend
inside Atlanta’s perimeter highway is
monthly meetings from September to
just one surprise Junior Committee
April in preparation for Derby Day. This
members learned at their first meeting
year will be no different as committee
in September.
JUNIOR COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE
BOARD 2013-2014
Co-Chairs
Joe bricker and Joe Mays
Auction Co-Chairs
chris Mcshane, kalen Dalrymple
and Diana Prickett
Beverage Co-Chairs
Duvall brumby, chris forenza
and Matthew Moore
Field Ops Co-Chairs
adam Diamond, christopher owes
and Michael holt
Food Co-Chairs
Mia Pilato and samuel Posnock
Intramural Sports Co-Chair
Midd read
Internal Communications Co-Chairs
Warren Mullis and caroline tanner
Membership Co-Chairs
Jackie gibson and todd lindsey
Public Relations Co-Chairs
laura benson and henri hollis
Sponsorship Co-Chairs
claire bovat and allison Dick
members will work together in making
this year’s event the marquee Derby
Day party inside Atlanta’s city limits.
Membership will be open through
January 2014.
For more information about Derby
Day or to join Junior Committee, contact
Cara Roxland at 404-350-7778 or by
email [email protected].
Shepherd Center Auxiliary Announces Pecans Fundraiser
BY MIDGE TRACY
The Shepherd Center Auxiliary’s
annual holiday fundraiser, Pecans on
Peachtree, runs from Nov. 11 to Dec. 24.
This is the 30th year for the fundraiser,
which has raised more than $1.6
million for patient-related programs and
Auxiliary operations since 1982.
All of the fundraiser’s delicious
pecan and nut varieties will be
available again this year online at
www.PecansOnPeachtree.org or
at the hospital.
Selections this year include an
assortment of glazed pecans, sweet and
salty pecans and cinnamon almonds for
the nut lover who prefers a sweet without
chocolate. Back by popular demand is a
larger tin of the Holiday Trio, which was
the top seller last year.
The Auxiliary is busy signing up
volunteers to work the sales tables inside
Shepherd Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
weekdays and to host “Pecan Parties” in
their homes or businesses. If you would
like to volunteer, receive a brochure or
place an order, call 404-367-1322 or visit
the website.
h
HONORARIUMS
Honorees are listed first in bold print followed by the names of those making gifts in their
honor. This list reflects gifts made to Shepherd Center between May 1, 2013 and July 31, 2013.
rolando a. alexander — “thanks
for adolescent night.”
Dr. David F. Apple, Jr.
mary ardagna’s 80th Birthday
Mrs. Charles W. Sprott
Cyndae a. arrendale’s Birthday
Mr. and Mrs. Dean Melcher
Mr. and Mrs. J. Harold Shepherd
myrtice B. atrice’s 60th Birthday
lee and gil Bachman’s
63rd wedding anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Victor L. Cohen
Mr. and Mrs. Max Diamond
mary tyler Baird
Mr. William F. Baird
Betty f. Barge’s 90th Birthday
marla j. Bennett
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Bennett
sue ellen Bennett
Mr. and Mrs. Harry S. Girtman
karen l. Bibb
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Bibb, Jr.
Peter Brookner
Mr. and Mrs. Adam Brookner
eula C. Carlos
Ms. Theodora Campbell
julius Carnes
Ms. Alice C. Ingram
david Carter
Distinctive Dentistry
james m. Caswell’s Birthday
warren Cleary — “thanks for
adolescent night.”
tyler a. Condon
CDH Construction, Inc.
Betsy B. Cozine
Mr. and Mrs. Sam D. Hummel
shayla Croft
Mr. David Gravley
Zurich American Insurance Company
kimberly donaldson —
“excellent job performance.”
emily f. driver
Dr. John Fletcher
Catherine m. dugger
Ms. Julie Reese
Mrs. Jill S. Workman
Patricia C. duncan —
“thanks for asIa 40th
anniversary participation.”
whitney johnson —
emily’s dad
Ms. Janet M. Habansky
mike jones —
scott elliott
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald H. Elliott
norman l. estroff’s Birthday
Mrs. Barbara H. Smith
frank findley
Ms. Jane S. Greenberger and
Mr. P. Douglas Wexler
alec fraser
shannon garrett
Mr. Keith Hicks
tina and josh gess
Ms. Michelle R. Weil
savannah glover
Ms. Georgia Knight
matthew P. godwin
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Godwin, Jr.
mr. and mrs. william m. grigsby’s
50th wedding anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. White, Jr.
emily hampton
Ms. Janet D. Patton
Cindy hartley —
Cindy hartley — “thanks for
Caroline g. hazel
Ms. Karen A. Moschetto
Kappa Kappa Gamma
mike jones — new fellow
deborah mcglawn —
dan miears — for a book
well written!
Ms. Cheryl A. Linden
keith jordan
Mr. John F. Powers
sasheenie moodley
Dr. and Mrs. Dhesan Moodley
lorraine and william kaliher
Ms. Jo Carter
greg morgan’s recovery
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Morgan
dr. harriette elizabeth king
Ms. Mary Thomas King
dr. herndon murray —
nathan klein
Mr. Daniel Hartmann
kip kramer —
michelle o. lamb
Piedmont Division, Inc.
matthew lambdin
Ms. Deanna Niemasz
jason langdon
Mrs. Anita Langdon
Bryan lawrence
Dr. Jan A. Levy
Bill lee
Mr. Wilson Lee
nathan f. leota
Mrs. Charlotte Wilen
sandra helling’s mother
Colonel and Mrs. Eric R. Helling
kemp heumann
Mrs. Marylee Schmidt
donald P. leslie, m.d.
Jewish Communal Fund
ann hillis
Mrs. Glenda Rice and Mr. Ed Reed
shirley and roland l’heureux
Mrs. Cheryl Price
Cheryl hodges
Mrs. Glenda Rice and Mr. Ed Reed
Cheryl a. linden — “thanks for
john e. Isbell III
Ms. Anne M. Isbell
Constance mcCullough-walden —
“thanks for adolescent night.”
donald jordan
Mr. Gary J. Knight
donald P. leslie, m.d. —
lesley m. hudson —
Brett martin’s recovery
Mr. and Mrs. Chadrick T. Martin
Benjamin r. lippincott
Akira Mizutani
dr. stephen macciocchi’s
retirement
sally nunnally
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence D. McGee
sally and mckee nunnally
Mrs. Jean Astrop
Mrs. Laurie B. Harris
amanda Parks’ recovery
Mr. and Mrs. Casey Jackson
libby Pearce’s Birthday
Mrs. Virginia Roe
jeffrey reiff
Kim L. Reiff & Sons
Cody reyes’ recovery
Mr. Ronald R. Reyes
sandy reynolds — “great job!
enjoy retirement!”
robin roberts
Ms. Trina Sylvester
joey sands
Mrs. Patricia M. Karras
taylor scott
Mrs. Cortney Scott
ronald t. seel — new fellow
alana shepherd’s Birthday
Ms. Mary B. Bickers
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Caswell, Jr.
Mr. James A. Curtis
alana and harold shepherd
Mr. John A. Taylor
james h. shepherd
1
mary eloise shepherd
Ms. Mary B. Bickers
rebecca s. shepherd’s Birthday
Bickers Consulting Group, LLC
2
shepherd Center staff
Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie L. O’Rear
Mr. and Mrs. Robert I. Werner
3
kelley B. simoneaux
Mr. and Mrs. Bradly J. Atkin
Catherine skeen
The Cathedral of St. Philip
thomas sloope’s recovery
Mr. and Mrs. Casey Jackson
Philip e. smith
Mr. and Mrs. Russell Smith
Christopher l. snell
Ms. Gloria A. Johnson
karen e. spiegel
Mr. and Mrs. Neil R. Johnson
1.-3. Several former players from the University of Georgia’s
baseball team — including former Shepherd Center patient
Chance Veazey (shown in photo 2) — worked with UGA
baseball coach Scott Stricklin and UGA baseball alum
Matthew Woods to teach about 50 youngsters at a one-day
baseball camp in Atlanta on Aug. 24. Proceeds from the
event benefited Shepherd Center.
michael w. stephens
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey W. Hahn
jeanna a. suggs
Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. James
4
kelli summers — acceptance to
medical school
Ms. Glenda G. Simcox
dr. keith tansey —
meg throckmorton’s recovery
Ms. Carolyn Augustine
gary r. ulicny —
5
Photos by chris lakos anD Jakob croWDer
u.s. soldiers
Ms. Pam Dobies
6
Chance Veazey’s recovery
Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Hardy
florence werner’s Birthday
Mrs. Esther Gordon
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Gross
Mrs. Gloria Muroff and Mr. Al Cohen
jeff werner’s recovery
Mrs. Esther Gordon
Christine Willis — Congratulations!
Jane Woodruff
Mr. and Mrs. Charlie and
Lynne N. D’Huyvetter
4. Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, back left, and
four of his players, left to right, David Carpenter, Gerald
Laird, Paul Maholm and Alex Wood visit with Shepherd
Center therapy dog Frosty and nurse Rebecca McWalters. 5.
Neville Cameron of Grayson, Ga., enjoys the Braves’ visit. 6.
Braves pitcher Alex Wood visits with patient Holly Parker of
Rock Hill, S.C.
m
MEMORIALS
Deceased friends of Shepherd Center are listed first in bold print followed by the names of
those making gifts in their memory. This list reflects gifts made to Shepherd Center between
May 1, 2013 and July 31, 2013.
james C. alban
Mrs. Joan Woodall
gussie freundlich
Mr. and Mrs. Murray Freundlich
Pen lynbrook
Ms. Phyllis Brooks
laura and karl anschutz
Mrs. Roberta Gorham
Ms. Cheryl A. Linden
mr. jimmy green
Mr. and Mrs. James H. Shepherd, Jr.
Cindy manderson
Thomas Financial Group I, LLC
emily hanahan
Mrs. Reginald Heinitsh
angie fitts marshall
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Beaty, Jr.
Mr. William H. Capitan
Credence Sunday School Class
Mrs. Joyce Easterlin
Mr. and Mrs. John Emens
Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Evans II
Mr. and Mrs. James E. Fitts
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Flatt
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Gay and Family
Mr. and Mrs. John A. Maxwell
Mr. Dean Melcher
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Moor, Jr.
Mr. Dennis W. Pike
Mr. James H. Purks III
Dr. and Mrs. Louis A. Riccardi
Ms. Mary Beth Rogers
The Shepherd Center Auxiliary
Mr. and Mrs. Dell B. Sikes
Mrs. Elizabeth H. Smith
Mrs. Shirley A. Strickland
Mr. and Mrs. William W. Teegarden
Mr. and Mrs. Terrence M. Tracy
Mr. and Mrs. Frank W. Virgin
Mr. and Mrs. Barney B. Whitaker III
asher Benator
Mrs. Sam Arogeti
Mr. and Mrs. Victor L. Cohen
rev. roy Benjamin
Charles e. “Chick” Brandes
Mr. Irvin M. Massey, Jr.
Bobby Bridges
Mr. John Anschutz
Mr. and Mrs. Werner Anschutz
Mr. and Mrs. Herb Carson
Mr. and Mrs. Cloyce E. Wren, Jr.
Charles hargrove
Mr. and Mrs. Larry C. Hargrove
margaret m. haverty
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Cowart
Mr. and Mrs. George S. Williams
Peggy d. hayes
Ms. Joanne Hayes
albert “Bert” holler
Mr. and Mrs. Joel K. Isenberg
Charles j. Brooke
Ms. Sylvia C. Murray
roberta r. hosker
Ms. Sarah L. Hosker
Bruce e. Bryant
Mr. Elliot F. Coplin
Ms. Raye H. Coplin
frank w. “Billy” hulse IV
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Gordon, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Holcombe T. Green, Jr.
robert Bush
Mrs. Joan Woodall
william hunt
Bank of Atlanta
rev. Clifford Caldwell
Mr. and Mrs. Ben L. O’Callaghan, Sr.
myrtle and glenn Icard
Mr. Mulkey McMichael
william h. Cameron, usmC
Mr. and Mrs. Phil Allen
alan r. johnson
Mrs. Mathilda R. Johnson
dana Carr
Ms. Audrey Lampman
amy C. jones
Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Rigg
elise Chalmers
Mr. and Mrs. Donald C. Chapman, Jr.
edgar l. joyal
Mrs. Gail Joyal
Cwo3 Cornell Chao
Mr. Joseph Adriano
james ovid keene
Mr. and Mrs. James D. Schloss
horace Cheatham
Mrs. Evelyn Cheatham
Bette keeton
Mr. and Mrs. C. Richard Hoskinson
john k. Coggins III
Mrs. Joan Woodall
thomas h. knight
Ms. Patricia B. Anderson
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Collins
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen P. Mack
Bryan Cox
Mr. and Mrs. Terry J. Cox
judge john B. Crawley
Public Strategy Associates
walter h. kondo
Mrs. Anja Kondo
nancy dodgson
Mr. and Mrs. James Rice
sam l. large
Mr. and Mrs. Gene L. Peitso
derek n. dyer
Ms. Meghan J. Gauntt
gladys g. lippincott
Mr. and Mrs. William Lippincott
Mr. Dean Melcher
Mrs. Patty L. Miller
joshua fannon
Ms. Sue Slagle
Virginia s. freeman
Center for Applications of
Psychological Type, Inc.
Lake Capri Woman’s Club
Col. Ira l. “Ike” livingston
LTC (R) Eugene G. Gatwood
shannon m. lord
olivia martin
Mrs. Jaquelin P. Adams
Mrs. Kathryn Adams
Mr. and Mrs. Howard E. Alley
Mrs. Elizabeth Armsby
Ms. Leslie G. Armsby
Mr. and Mrs. John I. Bell, Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. William D. Bush
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Clymer
Dr. and Mrs. Franklin R. Croker
Mrs. Anne Dann
First Lady Sandra Deal
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Flournoy
Mr. and Mrs. Matt Griffith
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Hallford
Mrs. Winifred G. Klein
Mrs. Margie Kulman
Dr. and Mrs. David E. Loberg
Mr. and Mrs. James R. McAuliffe
Ms. Jane F. Pendergast
Ms. Ann A. Saleeby
Mr. and Mrs. Vic Serafy
Mr. and Mrs. William A. Storey
Ms. Nancy W. Zarovsky
Ms. Raye H. Coplin
Mr. and Mrs. John Costello
Mrs. Suzanne Elizabeth Dansby
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel I. DuBose
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Goot
Mr. and Mrs. Robert V. Hardeman
Dr. and Mrs. David G. Jones
Mr. and Mrs. David E. Kent
Mrs. Thomas E. Martin, Jr.
Mr. Dean Melcher
Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Mollenkopf
Mr. Emory A. Schwall
SunTrust Bank
Mr. Donnie Tarrell
Mr. and Mrs. James D. Thompson
Ed Voyles Automotive
Mr. and Mrs. James B. Voyles
Mr. and Mrs. Tony L. White
jack mcdonough, jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar J. Forio, Jr.
Clyde mcgrady
justice a. meeks
Mr. and Mrs. Bobby G. Meeks
Stage Road Barbershop
Mr. Samuel Tinker
Ms. Carolyn Wilson
Vance C. miller
Dr. and Mrs. Carter Smith, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce B. Wilson
walter m. mitchell
Billy P. mixon
louise moss
Mr. and Mrs. Bud S. Moss
Patrick mullen, m.d.
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Mullen
Brittany d. murphy
Mr. Kenneth G. Owens
Irene e. murphy
Mr. and Mrs. Steven Back
rob o’malley
Mrs. Mary C. O’Malley
robert B. ormsby
Mrs. Frank C. Bowen, Jr.
Patricia Benton matthews
mrs. Carolyn reynolds Parker
Betty joe Beard mays
Ms. Mary B. Johnson
Chester “Pete” Perry
Mrs. Joan Woodall
henry f. mcCamish, jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Jarrett L. Davis III
teri m. Phillips
Ms. and Mrs. Tranum Fitzpatrick
Thomas Financial Group I, LLC
ruth d. mcdonald
Mrs. Jean Astrop
Mr. Elliot F. Coplin
william l. Pierce
Mrs. Marilyn S. Evans
Shepherd Center to Benefit from Partnership
Between Buckhead Coalition and Gas South
Mark Sweatman, Shepherd Center’s statistician and business intelligence
analyst, is embarking on a long journey that will take him more than 120 miles
on foot. Mark and his lifelong friend Angela will be walking from Shepherd
Center in Atlanta, Ga., to Birmingham, Ala., to increase awareness about
amputees and to raise money for Limbs for Life, an organization that provides
prosthetic care to people who cannot afford it. Mark, a below-knee amputee, has
overcome multiple “amputations” and has recently published a book detailing
his journey with adversity. You can learn more about Mark’s journey with
adversity as well his Limbs for Life walk at www.amputatedYetWhole.com.
jenny Pomeroy
alton I. reddick
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Henderson
dr. and mrs. john j. riordan
Mr. John F. Riordan
samuel j. ripps
Concierge Services of Atlanta, Inc.
floyd roos
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Kassel
ann san souci
sam s. singer III
Mrs. Ann Singer
ProJect rollWay Photos by Meg Porter.
Carl j. smith
Mr. and Mrs. William O. Foster
larry smith
mae snelling
Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Luck
jon s. stewart
Mrs. Diane Y. Stewart
rob stockard
Mr. and Mrs. Richard P. Perry
Chris stone
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Pitts III
gloria stone
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Bennett, Jr.
Mrs. Robert J. Howard
Mr. and Mrs. Dean Melcher
glen a. tharp
Ms. Ruby B. Graves
wayne thompson
jack thrower
Ms. Emily S. Cade
Shepherd Center’s rehabilitation programs for teens
who sustain a spinal cord or brain injury in sports-related
accidents will benefit from a new fundraising partnership
between the Buckhead Coalition and Gas South.
Residents and businesses in the Buckhead community
of Atlanta that select Gas South as their natural gas provider
are eligible for a discount off Gas South’s published rates for
as long as they remain customers. And Gas South will waive
its $60 connection fee for establishing service at a new
residence.
The Buckhead Coalition will serve as a pass-through of
Gas South commissions that will benefit Shepherd Center.
Initially, the organizations expect that the hospital will receive
$5,000, and that amount will increase annually based on
program participation.
Gas South and the Buckhead Coalition hope funding for
Shepherd Center through this program will eventually reach
$25,000 a year. Buckhead Coalition founding president Sam
Massell, a former mayor of Atlanta, spearheaded efforts to
establish the program.
To enroll, Buckhead residents and businesses can
visit www.gas-south.com/buckhead and sign up using the
promo code “BUCKHEAD” or call 1-855-281-1688.
1
3
james tiller
Ms. Emmy Conlon
u.s. marines and sailors who
gave the ultimate sacrifice
Ms. Janet Phillips
henry Bannon utz, jr.
Mr. Cornelius C. Parrish
dorothy e. watkins
Mr. Jennings E. Watkins
elmer weinthaler
Mr. and Mrs. Ken Meyer
tom withorn, sr.
Mrs. Jeane S. Withorn
2
samuel wolff
Ms. Linda T. Banks
jay woodruff
J.W. & Ethel I. Woodruff
Foundation Inc.
john “Bart” woodruff
J.W. & Ethel I. Woodruff
Foundation Inc.
Mrs. Elizabeth W. Owens
Virginia wooten
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne H. Arden
Mr. & Mrs. Phillip M. Larkins
1. Former patient Warren Cleary, 30,
of Vinings, Ga., participates in
Shepherd Center’s Project Rollway
fashion show fundraiser. 2., 3. Sherri
Butts, 19, of Rex, Ga., enjoys modeling
at the event, which raised funds for
Shepherd’s Spinal Cord Injury Program
for adolescents.
doug worful
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Lore
Mr. George Prattas
Non-Proﬁt Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Atlanta, GA
Permit No. 1703
ADDRESS SERVICE REqUESTED
Scan this QR code with your smart phone or go to
ShepherdCenterMagazine.org to view more photos and content.
Project Rollway Raises Money
for Shepherd Center Teens with
Spinal Cord Injury
Shepherd Center’s Spinal Cord Injury
Program for adolescents hosted Project
Rollway, a fashion show fundraiser on
July 25. More than 20 patients and staff
members modeled, rolling and strutting
their styles down the runway in the Shepherd
Center Gym, raising nearly $3,000 for the
teen program. Staff members credit speech
therapist Hannah Helton, SLP, with the
idea to host a fashion show. Shown here,
Summer Long, 21, of Silverstreet, S.C.,
participates in the show.
Photo by Meg Porter
for More pHotoS, See page 33.

Former patients injured in pedestrian accidents

Transcription

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