Home For The Holidays

Home for the Holidays: How One Woman’s Determination Helped Her Walk Again

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“I Knew I Was Going to Walk Out of Here”

From day one, Brenda had a mindset that surprised everyone around her.

“I kept telling people I was going to walk out of here. They looked at me like I was out of my mind,” she said. But she held onto that belief through every challenge.

After several surgical procedures on her spine and an additional procedure to fix a broken screw—she was left unable to move anything except her feet.

“I guess you would call that being paralyzed,” she reflected.

“For a long time, we thought she would need long-term care here,” said Occupational Therapist Jessica Hobbes. “But for Brenda, there was no plan B. She was going home.”

The Power of Rehabilitation Therapy

Rehabilitation is more than routines and exercises—it’s a partnership between the patient and skilled therapy professionals. Brenda embraced that partnership fully.

“When you’re in a place like this, you have to push yourself and do what they tell you to do,” she said. “You’ve got to do it for yourself. Keep the mindset that you want to do it—and that you’re going to do it. That’s what it takes.”

Her therapy team provided structured, progressive exercises designed to rebuild strength, mobility, and balance. But the true catalyst was her unshakeable determination.

Learning to Walk Again

For Brenda, the hardest step—literally—was standing up from the chair.

“That was the first step,” she said. “If I didn’t do that, I couldn’t walk at all.”

Each small milestone led to another. As she strengthened her limbs, core, and posture through tailored physical therapy, her confidence grew.

“I just wanted to do more and more,” she said. “I’ve come such a long way—it’s unbelievable.”

A Grateful Heart and a Message of Hope

Brenda credits her therapy team for helping her regain her mobility.

“Therapy has been so good to me,” she said.  “If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t be moving around.”

After more than a year of intensive work, her promise became reality.

“From the very beginning, I said, ‘I’m going to walk out of here,’” Brenda said.

And she did. Brenda walked out on her own to get home just before the holiday season.

A Rehabilitation Program That Supports Real Recovery

Whether recovering from surgery, neurological conditions, joint replacement, or traumatic injury, choosing the right health and rehab facility is essential. Friendship offers multiple levels of high-quality care at our locations:

Health & Rehab South – 5647 Starkey Road, Roanoke, VA 24018

• Short-term stays at our inpatient rehab
• Innovative therapy gym and heated therapy pool
• 24-hour skilled nursing and support for long-term care
• Activities to keep you active and engaged
• A compassionate environment that motivates and supports patients

Health & Rehab North – 367 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, VA 24012

• 24-hour skilled nursing and support for long-term care
• Specialized Alzheimer’s & memory care
• Innovative therapy gym
• Respite care
• Activities to keep you active and engaged
• A compassionate environment that motivates and supports patients