YOON S. BYUN/GLOBE STAFF
The team of Occupational and Physical Therapists at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, MA have formed lasting relationships with the survivors of the April 15 bombings in Boston. These therapists created new paths for those most grievously injured by the attacks. The patients lives are suddenly filled with countless obstacles such as opening a water bottle with the use of only one arm or navigating a shower with the use of only one leg.
Through April, May, and into June, the path for those most seriously injured in the bombings wound from acute care hospitals across Boston to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hosptial. Here, therapists devoted three hours a day to each patient, many with severed limbs and torn psyches, painstakingly teaching them how to begin stitching their lives back together.
The therapists became coaches, urging survivors through more exercises even after fatigue lingered. They also became confidants, witnessing, along with nurses, an abyss of emotions.
According to Samantha Geary, therapist at Spaulding, “It’s a cool thing in this setting because we get to see their progress from the beginning. Some may need therapy for years, but we get to see the immediate effect.”
To read the full Boston Globe article, click here.