Methodist Rehab

“You do what you have to do.”

That’s the attitude J. Carmen Arevalo took when he was told his leg needed to be amputated after it was crushed in an on-the-job accident.

And it’s the mantra he adhered to as he learned to walk again with an above-the-knee prosthesis from Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics in Flowood. And one he repeated as he continued to amaze his caregivers at Methodist Outpatient Therapy.

“I’ve seen very few people at any age with his type of injury do what he can do,” said his physical therapist Karen Klein.

On Aug. 16, doctors doubted Undray Love of Houlka could survive a brain-injuring ATV crash.

“They initially told me he would not make it through the night,” said his wife, Chastity. “They never gave us much hope, really. While we were in critical care, every day, every minute was life or death.”

Love ultimately endured brain surgery, a 32-day coma, a lung collapse and a serious infection. But he began an unbelievable turnaround after arriving at Methodist Rehabilitation Center on Oct. 1.

Methodist Rehabilitation Center has announced Clinical and Support Service Employees of the Quarter for its Jackson hospital and external campuses.

For the third quarter of 2020, the honorees include Pam Everett of Terry, a registered nurse at MRC’s main campus; Martha Davis of Madison, a financial counselor at MRC’s main campus; Rachel Cooley of Madison, a physical therapist at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Ridgeland; and Susan Mitchell of Terry, a billing coordinator at Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics in Flowood.

Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s gift shop may have closed, but the gifting continues.

Former gift shop manager Terri McKie recently donated nine bulging bags of stuffed animals from the store to Children’s of Mississippi at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

Located on the UMMC campus, Methodist Rehab is a next-door neighbor to Batson Children’s Hospital. So McKie said it was only fitting that Mississippi’s premier hospital for children be the chosen beneficiary of the shop’s cuddliest stock.

It’s not how Gray Spencer expected to spend his 22nd birthday—heading home to New Albany after three weeks at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.

But on April 22, he was just happy to have overcome a traumatic brain injury in the middle of a pandemic.

“I’m just really thankful,” Spencer said. “I’m blessed to have had good therapists. Without them, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Right now, he’s on a trajectory to return to college and his job as manager for the Ole Miss basketball team.

Most days, the staff at Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics in Flowood focuses on building prosthetic limbs and orthopedic braces.

Now, they’re also creating personal protective gear for workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.

It all started when Mark Adams, the CEO of Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, saw a YouTube video about a New York City hospital using 3-D printing to fashion desperately needed face shields.

While studying to be a physical therapist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s School of Health-Related Professions, Annie Campbell heard nothing but good things about Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s student program.

“I heard over and over again that it was such a great clinical experience,” Campbell said.

 So she says she jumped at the chance to enroll. And now, after 12 weeks working with and learning from the staff of MRC’s spinal cord injury program, she says it’s more than lived up to the hype.

His baseball was made of rubber rather than leather.

And his every throw and catch was being monitored by therapists at Methodist Rehabilitation Center.

Yet 16-year-old Jake Williams of Meridian was happily in his element as he tried out his fast ball, curve ball and slider in the Jackson hospital’s fifth floor therapy gym.

After he suffered a traumatic brain injury on Dec. 8, the Clarkdale High School standout feared he’d never return to the game he’d loved since he was a 4-year-old T-baller.