Mary Free Bed Hosts 4th Annual Mary & Brite Celebration
This week, the team at Mary Free Bed brought the joy of the holiday season to patients in rehabilitation. The fourth annual Mary & Brite holiday event returned to the Main Campus in Grand Rapids for patients and their families. Inspired by the Christmas Lite Show at LMCU Ballpark, patients were invited to walk or […]
Co-workers who both had strokes reunite during rehabilitation
Mary Free Bed may not seem an obvious choice of location for a reunion of friends, but two co-workers found themselves going through rehabilitation together. Ricky Belton was getting ready for work at Ranir on March 16 when he started having balance issues. He went to work anyway, but his condition grew worse. Co-workers took […]
Mary Free Bed rises to the ‘Git Up’ challenge
“The Git Up” is sliding its way across the country this summer, and Mary Free Bed has accepted the “two-step then cowboy boogie” challenge. Blanco Brown’s country-infused rap song lassoed the top spot on music charts, while the line-dance ditty ignited a viral dance challenge across social media. From police officers to celebrities to daddy-daughter […]
Teen injured in snowplow accident makes great strides
Loren Kroll said she was going to miss her team at Mary Free Bed when she graduated Aug. 4. The teenager, who was struck by a snowplow in January while waiting for the school bus, was critically injured and hospitalized for five months before coming to Mary Free Bed in May for rehabilitation. Loren sustained […]
Ballroom dancing class helps Kathy feel ‘new’ and ‘normal’
Kathy Robinson is no wallflower. The 62-year-old retired school teacher loves to kayak, do yoga and dance. And despite her 2011 diagnosis of secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis, Kathy still does all three. Kathy is enrolled in Wheelchair & Adaptive Sports’ (WAS) new Ballroom Dancing course, which promote participants’ physical, social and emotional well-being. “Sometimes I can […]
Music is medicine’ at mini music fest for patients [Video]
Creativity, teamwork and initiative recently helped a music-loving patient experience a bit of the summer festival life she’s been missing while at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. When physical therapy assistant Diane Capen discovered that inpatient Angelique Scott was bummed about not being able to attend live musical performances this summer, Diane asked her daughter […]
A Community Band Member gets a Second Chance through Recreational Therapy
Research shows that recreational therapy restores a sense of purpose and enjoyment to a patient. David Robrahn is no exception. On September 11, 2012, David clipped the back of a moving car with his motorcycle. After arriving at the hospital, doctors realized he sustained several serious injuries including, a broken right hand, a broken knee, […]
Baclofen Pump and Therapists Help Taylor Make a Comeback After Brain Hemorrhage
It’s been 11 years since 19-year-old Taylor Cunningham suffered an AVM rupture, which caused a hemorrhage in her brain and left Taylor unable to walk. Just a young girl at the time, Taylor had to undergo several surgeries. Yet it was the severe spasticity that caused Taylor the most pain, a constant presence in her […]