Central Texans in rehab celebrate their progress as local hospital marks National Rehabilitation Awareness Week

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Central Texans who ended up in rehabilitation for a myriad of reasons, including disease, stroke, brain aneurisms, amputations and spinal cord injuries got a chance to celebrate how far they’ve come since leaving the hospital as Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest in Waco hosted a rehab reunion party.

More than 100 people, including former patients and their caregivers, turned out for the gathering in the parking lot of the hospital to mark National Rehabilitation Awareness Week.

“The rehab reunion is an opportunity for patients to come back after they’ve discharged from rehab and show us all the progress that they’ve made,” said Director of Rehab Servies Trevor Carlson.

Carlson said the Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Center spent the past week, not only celebrating staff for their hard work but, spreading awareness about the benefits of rehab and celebrating patients’ successes.

The staff was gifted with meals and goody bags throughout the week while the reunion was for the patients, many who spent days or even weeks recovering there.

The reunion gave the staff a chance to see how far the patients have come since being discharged.

“Many times, as therapists and nurses we don’t get a chance to see all the progress they’ve made on their own. So, inviting them back is a fun way to see all those amazing gains and celebrate their success together,” Carlson said.

One of the highlights of the rehab party was the dunk tank.

“Rehab can be hard at times,” Carlson said. “Our physicians, our nurses, our therapists often ask patients to do more to work on exercises, stretching, balance or do things more independently so we introduced the dunk tank this year, which was an opportunity to kind of pay it back and dunk their favorite staff member.”

This was the fifth year for the rehab reunion and Carlson says they plan to have another celebration next September.

COPYRIGHT 2022. KWTX TV. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.