JACKSON, Miss.—Tommie Wells awoke one night to find his right side felt numb, a strange sensation that he blamed on his diabetes medication.
The former Greenville police officer never imagined it was a stroke—he was only 34.
Given that most strokes do strike the elderly, Wells’ surprise was understandable. But he has since learned that it’s not just retirees who wind up in stroke rehab.
JACKSON, Miss.—Slow down. Buckle your seatbelt. Drive defensively.
A row of warning signs remind Terry High School students to drive safely, but Jonathan Knight hardly needs the reinforcement. Every day the 16-year-old deals with the fallout from a Sept. 13 car wreck that collapsed both his lungs, damaged one kidney, broke his collarbone and severely bruised his brain.
He can’t play his favorite sport; doctors say baseball is too risky for a traumatic brain injury survivor. And he has found that class work isn’t the breeze it used to be.
FLOWOOD, Miss.—A mere three months after doctors amputated his right leg, Patrick Schoolar returned to Noxapater High School determined to embrace all the demands of being defensive coordinator for a winning high school football team.
JACKSON—Methodist Rehabilitation Center encourages summer travelers to stay healthy and keep cool during the upcoming summer months.
“The period between May and August is known as the trauma season because of the increased number of injuries that occur,” said Dr. Rahul Vohra, medical director at Methodist Rehab. “Traumatic injuries peak during the summer months when families tend to travel more and because children are out of school and aren’t supervised as much.”
GULFPORT—Staff from Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson will share strategies to help brain injury survivors adjust to life outside the health care setting during a seminar May 20 and 21 at Gulfport Memorial Hospital’s Center for Neuroscience and Restorative Medicine.
JACKSON—Methodist Rehabilitation Center has been recognized by the Public Relations Association of Mississippi for excellence in the field of public relations.
The Jackson hospital received the association’s top honor, its Best of Show Award, at its annual meeting in Jackson. Methodist also received two PRism Awards, five certificates of excellence and one certificate of achievement.
JACKSON, Miss.—Each year, thousands of babies suffer serious injury or death from Shaken Baby Syndrome, a tragic form of child abuse in which the perpetrator, usually a parent or caregiver, shakes a child so violently that it causes significant brain injury or even death.
As a part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month this April, Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s statewide safety and injury prevention program, Think First, is striving to stop the abuse of this preventable tragedy.
JACKSON, Miss.—Physicians and staff at Methodist Rehabilitation Center are encouraging parents and children to wear appropriate safety gear when riding bicycles, scooters, roller blades or skateboards.
“Parents must remember that a helmet is a necessity, not an accessory for bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller skates or in-line skates,” said Dr. Rahul Vohra, the Jackson hospital’s medical director. “And children who are outside riding bikes should always wear reflective clothing or stickers or use bike reflectors.”
JACKSON—Children can get into things fast and parents need to be prepared.
That is the message Lauren Fairburn at Methodist Rehabilitation Center wants people to remember during National Poison Prevention Week, March 20-26.
“A child is poisoned every 30 seconds in the United States,” said Fairburn, coordinator of Think First, the Jackson hospital’s statewide safety and injury prevention program. “Parents and caregivers should be especially cautious around children under age 6—who are the victims of 60 percent of all poisonings.”
JACKSON, Miss.—Ameristar Casino Vicksburg General Manager Ray Neilsen today joined with the company’s employees to donate more than $114,000 to Methodist Rehabilitation Center. The money will be used to help fund the Jackson hospital’s patient care fund, sports programs for the physically challenged and its research program.