Beautiful Moments
Before going through the mentorship process, I liked the idea of physical therapy for my career, but I wasn't completely sure. This two month experience has helped me realize that physical therapy is definitely the job for me. I would love to wake up every single day and go to work at a physical therapy clinic. There is one specific experience that helped me to realize this.
When I began this mentorship, I met a young man recovering from a serious car accident, in which he shattered the entire lower half of his leg. He had already been coming to therapy for a couple of months, trying to rehabilitate his knee and ankle. He wasn't able to walk without the help of crutches or someone else. While helping him through his exercises, I realized how hard he works and how much he wants to recover and be back to normal. He is a husband and a father and he wants to be back to his job and his normal life. His unfortunate injury and his drive to recover made me recall appreciate my own life. It made me realize that I complain about things that aren't serious problems; it could always be worse.
Time went by and he was gradually able to walk on his own, jump and step. I didn't realize that e was recovering so quickly because I saw him twice a week. It wasn't till th end of my mentorship that I realized how special his rehabilitation process was. He was able to walk and jump on his own, but he hadn't tried running. The therapist suggested that he walk on the treadmill, and gradually bring the speed up into a jog. At the time, I didn't realize that he hadn't been running yet, so I set him up on the treadmill and watched him as he sped up into a light jog. As soon as he began running , his face lit up and he had the biggest smile I had ever seen. He was holding back tears as he told me, "This is the best day I've had since the accident. I never thought I would ever be able to run again."
It was the moment that I realized how much he had improved. It was this moment that made me realize that I loved physical therapy because it helped people recover and get back to their normal lives. I smiled back at him and exclaimed, "That's amazing!" I couldn't think of anything else better to say just because I was so shocked and so happy for him. I held back tears as I thought about his whole recovery process. When I began, he couldn't even walk and believed that he would never be able to ever again. At the end of my time, he was able to run on his own, and had almost full range of motion back in his ankle and knee.
It was this patient that made me ralize that physical therapy is my true calling. I would love to witness even more beautiful moments like tis one in a career. This mentorship helped me make my final career decision and changed me for the better.