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Patient Stories

As a national leader in rehabilitative care, Spaulding Rehabilitation helps patients find their strength every day. But it's the words and experiences of our patients that best describe what our services can really do.

Our patient stories provide a look inside the outstanding rehabilitative services available through our network of world-class providers. We invite you to read these compelling and unforgettable stories — and learn how our rehabilitative care has changed people's lives.

Don't bet against our patients' will and determination.
  • Right: Jack Smiley playing hockey; left: portrait of Jack Smiley, a fit young white man.
    At the age of 22, Jack Smiley had a stroke. And despite the fast symptom progression, he managed to skate to the sidelines and seek help. He never fell. Now, in the two years since, he is only rising to greater heights.
  • Sandy, an older man, doing a walking exercise at the parallel bars with his physical therapist.
    When Sandy Maisel's legs went numb last summer, he feared he would never walk again. But when he arrived at Spaulding Rehabilitation after successful spinal surgery at Mass General Hospital, Sandy says his Spaulding team "changed my attitude toward what was going on in my life."
  • John Haase and three of his teammates in tennis clothes on a tennis court, holding up awards.
    When his shoulder pain became unmanageable, John turned to Spaulding Rehabilitation to get him back in the game.
  • Priya cradles her swaddled baby.
    Surviving a life-changing illness or injury gives you perspective — and often, a new purpose. Learn about Priya's journey.
  • Paul sits on a rock with his cocker spaniel, Ellie, in his lap, and a marsh in the background.
    When Paul Gentile felt faint and nauseated on a hike, it started a chain of events that led to a heart procedure and a recovery at Spaulding Cape Cod. Paul was scared, confused, and worried about the impact his condition would have on his life. But he knew he was in the best place at Spaulding.
  • Comfort poses in the library, looking strong and healthy.
    After Comfort Nwaoha experienced a stroke, she came to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital unable to walk, move her dominant hand, or speak clearly. Learn how Spaulding gave her the stepping stones to her recovery.

Gifts to Spaulding support our patients and families as they build new futures. Throughout Spaulding’s history, we have improved the lives of thousands of people. Together, and with your generous donations, we will continue to discover and deliver the best care possible — today and tomorrow.

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  • Patient Story

    Meet Tim: From Stroke Survivor to Marathon Runner

    Winter 2022 In October 2019, Tim Rafferty entered the gym, like he did most days. An active lifestyle was core to who he was — he loved running, snowboarding, bike riding and CrossFit. But that day at the gym, his life would change forever. Tim experienced a hemorrhagic stroke that resulted in paralysis of his left side. He was rushed to acute care, where the prognosis was grim. He was told it was unlikely he’d ever regain movement in his left side. It was a heartbreaking time for the 36-year-old and his family. But then Tim was admitted to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where he met Dan, Elise and Pauline – three people he would spend the next year of his life with. People who would restore Tim’s hope and help him achieve previously unimaginable goals. “They were with me every step of the way,” Tim says. “Seeing other patients working so hard to achieve their goals, and seeing the clinicians matching that effort, made me inspired and determined in my own recovery.” After his time as an inpatient at Spaulding, Tim was walking very cautiously and slowly, with a cane for support. He told Dan about his goal to return to his active lifestyle, listing his favorite

  • Patient Story

    Meet Sarah: Honoring Mom with a Marathon

    Spring 2022 Sarah Taft decided to run the 126th Boston Marathon on Spaulding’s Race for Rehab team for one main reason: to honor her mother, Terry. After contracting a viral brain infection in the fall of 2019, Terry spent six weeks inpatient at Spaulding Boston. The virus had significantly impaired her motor function, memory and comprehension; however, members of her Spaulding care team were determined to find ways to bring Terry back. While Sarah was never a runner before this year, her mother completed three Boston Marathons before having four kids. Early in Terry’s time at Spaulding, she was struggling to engage with her care team and become active again. Sarah remembers one day when Terry’s physical therapist, Gauge, persisted in chatting with an unresponsive Terry. Gauge commented on Terry’s sneakers, a blue pair of Brooks that she had been wearing for years, and how he heard they were a great brand to run in. All of a sudden, Terry perked up and said, “Well, I ran three marathons, did you know that?” Gauge was then able to use this interest to keep motivating Terry through her recovery. “My mom always told me that you have to stop focusing on the little stuff and

  • Patient Story

    Meet Robert Lewis, Jr. | A Spaulding Story of Strength

    COVID-19 survivor and Spaulding patient Robert Lewis, Jr. shares his journey: from diagnosis with the novel coronavirus through his rehabilitation at Spaulding Hospital Cambridge—and what it means to him to be back at work at the community outreach organization he founded in Boston. My COVID-19 Recovery—As Told by Robert Lewis, Jr. I’m not sure how I expected to feel when I turned 60 years old last spring, but I didn’t anticipate a trip to the emergency department. I certainly didn’t expect to be sedated, intubated, and wake up 12 days later. But on March 22—my 60th birthday— that’s what happened. It was the beginning of my COVID-19 journey. It was an intense and frightening time. When I was moved to Spaulding Hospital Cambridge for rehabilitation after three weeks of acute care, I had to relearn…everything: how to breathe without an oxygen tank; how to walk; how to touch my nose and tie my sneakers. I had to get my strength back. What struck me about Spaulding was the incredible treatment that I—and my family—received from everyone there, from the moment I arrived until I walked out just one week later. There’s a culture of love and compassion and excellence that radiates from every person. Trust

  • Patient Story

    Conozca a Larry

    Read this story in English. Otoño 2021 La vida puede cambiar en un instante, generalmente cuando menos lo esperas. Larry Dicara estaba haciendo su caminata diaria con un querido amigo, respetando el distanciamiento social cuando fue atropellado por una camioneta que viajaba a 60 millas por hora. El conductor había sufrido un infarto y se salió de la carretera hacia la acera. Larry fue trasladado de urgencia a cuidados intensivos, habiendo sufrido un grave traumatismo que incluía lesión cerebral, laceración del bazo e hígado y fracturas en el brazo, el pie, la pelvis y la columna vertebral. Sus médicos no esperaban que volviera a caminar. Ahí es donde Spaulding entró. Larry pasó más de cuatro meses rehabilitándose en múltiples ubicaciones de Spaulding durante la pandemia de COVID-19, y el generoso apoyo de los donantes ayudó a mantenerlo a él y a su equipo de atención a salvo. Las donaciones nos permitieron comprar equipo de terapia adicional para crear gimnasios temporales en cada unidad en Spaulding Brighton, permitiendo así a los médicos tratar a pacientes como Larry más cerca de sus habitaciones para reducir cualquier posible transmisión de virus. Después de semanas de terapias intensivas y ejercicios donde no ponía peso en sus pies, Larry finalmente obtuvo luz

  • Patient Story

    Meet Pierce

    Para leer esta historia en español, visite nuestra página en el Internet. Who was by your side when you achieved a major goal? For Pierce Scroggins, it was his Spaulding physical therapist Eric, who ran with Pierce as he completed a 5K race in his hometown of Pembroke, MA. It was an important milestone for 25-year-old Pierce, who had lost all ability to move, speak, or eat just two years before. Our donor community was with Pierce, too. Gifts to Spaulding provides resources and support to help patients like Pierce achieve their goals. In 2018, just after Pierce graduated college with a mechanical engineering degree, a severe headache uncovered an extremely rare, cancerous tumor at his brain stem. He spent the next eight months in hospitals, including Spaulding Cambridge and Boston, undergoing multiple brain surgeries and chemotherapy. Pierce was determined to get better. He relearned to walk. He went home. And then the cancer came back. Suddenly, Pierce had a new goal: get strong enough to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant and subsequent proton radiation. He achieved that critical milestone with the help of his Spaulding outpatient therapy team and then began the work to get back to his pre-cancer activities. “In addition to running a

  • Patient Story

    Meet Nick

    Spring 2023 Nick’s Boston Marathon journey began 10 years ago when he was a freshman at Boston College. The day before the race, he was inspired to be on the start line and managed to secure a bib through a club on campus. The next day, he found himself on a school bus en route to the start line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, having never completed a run longer than six miles. Despite his lack of preparation, adrenaline carried Nick through the first 13 miles past the Wellesley Scream Tunnel. His run slowed to a power-walk on his way up Heartbreak Hill, but he was determined to reach his classmates on BC’s campus at Mile 21. The euphoric stretch of high-fives and cheers from fellow BC Eagles carried Nick through miles 20 and 22, and before he knew it, he was approaching the final mile into Copley Square. As he approached the final stretch on Boylston St., excitement quickly turned to confusion when he saw a cloud of smoke and heard what sounded like fireworks behind the finish line. Nick was only a few hundred feet from the second explosion before he was stopped in his tracks and curled up on

  • Patient Story

    Conozca a Matt: Un viaje de sanación y esperanza para el futuro

    Read this story in English. Primavera 2022 Gracias a Spaulding, pacientes como Matt Fitzgerald tienen una segunda oportunidad en la vida. En el Día de los Padres de 2019, Matt conducía para visitar a su familia en Rhode Island y experimentó un terrible accidente automovilístico. Lanzado fuera de su vehículo, Matt sufrió lesiones graves, incluyendo ruptura en la columna. Estaba paralizado de la cintura para abajo y le dijeron que podía morir por complicaciones significativas de una herida quirúrgica masiva. Matt estaba decidido a vivir. Se transfirió al Hospital General de Massachusetts (Massachusetts General Hospital) para recibir atención aguda continua, luego vino al Hospital Spaulding de Cambridge para comenzar su largo viaje de recuperación. Matt pasó más de dos años sanándose en Spaulding Cambridge y Spaulding Brighton. “Hice amigos y familia para toda la vida en Spaulding”, dijo Matt. Las conexiones ayudaron en su proceso de curación, que fue extenso. Las cirugías que extrajeron el tejido necrosado de su cuerpo lo dejaron con una herida que necesitó atención continua hospitalizado para sanar. Al mismo tiempo, Matt necesitaba terapia física y ocupacional para tratar su lesión en la médula espinal. Fue un proceso equilibrado lento y delicado, complicado aún más por la pandemia de COVID-19. Con el tiempo, la

  • Patient Story

    Meet Matt: A Journey of Healing, and Hope for the Future

    Leer esta historia en español. Spring 2022 Because of Spaulding, patients like Matt Fitzgerald have a second chance at life. On Father’s Day 2019, Matt was driving to visit family in Rhode Island and experienced a terrible car accident. Thrown from his vehicle, Matt sustained extensive injuries—including severing his spine. He was paralyzed from the waist down and was told he could die from significant complications from a massive surgical wound. Matt was determined to live. He was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital for continued acute care, then came to Spaulding Hospital Cambridge to begin his long journey of recovery. Matt spent more than two years healing at Spaulding Cambridge and Spaulding Brighton. “I made friends and family for life at Spaulding,” says Matt, which aided his extensive healing. Surgeries to remove necrotic tissue from his body left him with a wound that needed continuous inpatient care to heal. At the same time, Matt needed physical and occupational therapy to address his spinal cord injury. It was a slow, delicate balance, made more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In time, Matt’s wound healed and he was able to head home. He is now focused on returning to his everyday life and activities with support from Spaulding

  • Patient Story

    Meet Martha and the “Spaulding Sisters”

    The self-titled “Spaulding Sisters” made the most of 2020. The group of women met at Spaulding Boston over the past several years, bonding over their shared love of aquatic therapy. When the COVID-19 pandemic closed our community water fitness classes, the Sisters came together to support each other and their health in a whole new way. The ladies are avid participants in the Spaulding Adaptive Sports Program’s virtual classes (launched in response to the pandemic), “meeting” several times a week to exercise virtually together from the safety of their homes. They are among the more than 1,000 participants who have benefitted from virtual classes like yoga, boxing, exercise for stroke and TBI, dance with Parkinson’s, and more. In 2020, donations were used to pivot Spaulding adaptive sports programming to be entirely virtual—supporting the health and wellness of an even broader community, when so many were isolated and unable to participate in their regular fitness and community activities. Martha Starr, “Spaulding Sister,” patient, and volunteer, says the virtual programs have been a true lifesaver in 2020. And so have the Sisters’ weekly Friday Zoom calls to check in on one another. They share resources and coping strategies, discuss their conditions, and laugh together. Martha

  • Patient Story

    Meet Lola

    Leer esta historia en español. Fall 2021 It was the first snowfall of the season, and Lola Remy was cozy at home with a homemade Haitian hot cocoa and a list of online shopping to do. By the end of the day, the 40-year-old lawyer and fitness instructor would be in the hospital experiencing seizures from a stroke. Lola using a Lokomat machine. After six seizures, Lola woke up with a feeding tube and helmet, a piece of her skull removed during emergency brain surgery. She would need to relearn how to swallow, talk, and walk. Her first test came when she moved from acute care to Spaulding Cambridge and was asked to sit up for 20 minutes, which the fitness fanatic called “the hardest thing ever.” Lola made excellent progress in Cambridge and continued to improve upon transfer to Spaulding Boston. When her discharge date finally arrived, she was excited but apprehensive. Staff facilitated virtual sessions with her family to help everyone prepare for Lola to return home. “The Spaulding staff is so amazing,” says Lola. “They start out as strangers, but offer such incredible care, compassion, and kindness. I hope every day that I’m contributing to the world in the way that they are.” With ongoing

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