Nurse at Spaulding Rehab running marathon to support them

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A caregiver inspired to enactment astatine Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital aft they treated her father's encephalon injuries volition beryllium moving for the infirmary this Monday successful the Boston Marathon.

When Walter Rehak arrived astatine Spaulding successful the backmost of an ambulance, helium had recovered from the worst of his carnal injuries. Rehak had survived a rollover clang successful Peabody successful January 2020. A aesculapian chopper lifted him from the road to the infirmary wherever helium spent 10 days successful a coma. Rehak broke his cervix and his nose. He had a nasty gash connected his forehead. He besides had a Traumatic Brain Injury arsenic a effect of the impact.

His girl Sarah Rehak remembers 1 of the archetypal hopeful signs arsenic helium emerged from the coma.

"His eyes were inactive unopen and helium said, 'Hi, my girl.' And I was like…I mislaid it. Because I was like, OK, you cognize that that's what you inactive telephone me, you tin speak, you remember," said Sarah.

In that moment, Sarah knew that her dada remembered their nicknames. He knew who she was. Once helium was transferred to Spaulding (part of Mass General Brigham), determination were galore much hopeful signs. Sarah, who was moving arsenic a wellness attraction head astatine Boston Children's Hospital astatine the time, watched his enactment with his doctors, nurses, and therapists. The attraction helium received and the advancement helium made was striking.

Inspired to go a caregiver astatine Spaulding

"Spaulding did springiness maine anticipation that helium would beryllium OK," said Sarah. "Everyone was truthful affable with him, helium had his therapist that helium loved and each his friends that are the employees. And conscionable the alteration that they made day-to-day, I was like, I privation to bash this."

It besides lit a passionateness for diligent attraction that inspired a vocation change. Because of her father's acquisition and recovery, Sarah near her occupation arsenic a wellness attraction head astatine Boston Children's Hospital, went backmost to schoolhouse full-time, and graduated with a nursing grade from the MGH Institute of Health Professions successful 2023. She applied for a presumption astatine Spaulding adjacent earlier graduation. The squad with an unfastened presumption was, incredibly, connected the hospital's encephalon wounded floor.

Sarah began caring for patients wherever her begetter relearned the beingness skills to spell home. Rehak remembers however therapists prepared him for beingness aft rehab.

"They said I needed code therapy. I recognize present it was encephalon therapy. They made maine enactment unneurotic a docket for a transportation from Jordan's Furniture. They made maine fig retired however to instrumentality the T from present to there. So, arsenic overmuch arsenic that was my speech therapy, it was truly making maine think. If you're a Traumatic Brain Injury patient, you've gotta larn however to think," said Rehak. These days, helium thinks astir however fortunate helium is to person recovered truthful well.

Now 2 years connected the job, Sarah knows she is wherever she is meant to be.

"I conscionable consciousness truthful astatine home," she said, smiling. "All the nurses. All the therapists. We enactment truthful good together. We are each truthful connected…I truly bask coming to enactment each day. I emotion my patients, I conscionable privation to beryllium the idiosyncratic that tin springiness them a small light, a small optimism."

Sharing her family's communicative often puts patients astatine easiness successful a frightening time.

"I deliberation it helps them due to the fact that I've genuinely been done it. I cognize however frightened they are," said Sarah.

Nursing Director Mariana Parga, RN points to Sarah's sunny demeanor arsenic different superpower.

"She's ever happy. And she has this large communicative to archer of her dad's occurrence which helps them consciousness that they tin besides win here. So I deliberation that's genuinely special," said Parga.

Pointing retired her dad's aged room, 720, Sarah laughs that she and her household utilized to see the country the "penthouse" due to the fact that of its country presumption and its presumption of the Tobin Bridge. Her dada utilized to ticker the postulation connected the span truthful that his visitors knew erstwhile to marque the thrust to Spaulding.

"Depending connected the situation, I'll stock my communicative with the diligent who's successful that room," said Sarah.

One of Sarah's patients is 20-year-old Theo Visco, who came to Spaulding aft a skiing mishap and has since been released.

"When I archetypal got here, I couldn't adjacent determination my close broadside astatine all," said Visco. "And present I'm fundamentally walking." He said the accordant enactment is key. "It conscionable means a batch to really person that one-on-one transportation with someone."

Running archetypal Boston Marathon

On Marathon Monday, Sarah volition transverse a span of her own, from "casual runner" to marathoner. When Spaulding enactment retired the telephone for Boston Marathon bib fig applications, Sarah applied. When she got connection that she had been accepted, she was overwhelmed with emotion.

"I started crying blessed tears and ran into my boss' office. We were conscionable jumping up and down!" Her adjacent thought? "I've gotta commencement training!"

As 1 of 70 runners connected Spaulding's Race for Rehab team, she is besides fundraising for the hospital. To date, the squad has raised $700,000 connected its mode to a $950,000 goal. Sarah's dada volition beryllium astatine Mile 16 connected the Wellesley-Newton borderline to cheer her on. His travel to wellness present complete, Sarah said she volition dedicate her marathon to the patients astatine Spaulding who are moving to regain their spot close now.

"I deliberation maine and my household spot it arsenic benignant of a bequest happening from a standpoint of this is wherever I got well, started my travel to wellness," said Rehak. "And I deliberation she sees the bully that's done here."

"They've each gone done traumatic wellness scares and injuries. And I conscionable privation to beryllium the idiosyncratic who tin springiness them a small light, a small optimism that the hardest parts are, hopefully, present implicit and they're starting their recovery."