Following a devastating injury in November 2013, 52-year-old Katie Lovell of Morris, Illinois feared that her dream of competing in track and field\u00a0at the Special Olympics had been shattered along with her leg.\u00a0 After slipping on some water, she needed surgery to repair her fractured femur, which included a rod, plate and screws.\u00a0 As she lay in her hospital bed, she dreamt of the Special Olympics that were a mere six months away.<\/p>\n
When she entered ATI’s Morris clinic for the first time with her walker to begin treatments, she was met by her therapist David James.\u00a0 Together, with some faith, hard work and dedication, they set a goal for Katie not only to return to work, but get her to the podium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to progress Katie to weight bearing activity very slowly.\u00a0 She always responded to therapy well, but at times, she would get down because of the injury.\u00a0 She was unable to work and thought that competing in the Special Olympics for this year was out,\u201d said David. \u201cI said to her \u2018Katie, I\u2019m not sure if you are going to compete, but let\u2019s make it a goal to be able to.\u2019\u00a0 From then on, she started having a more positive attitude (not that it was ever bad) and we started to focus on functional tasks for the Olympics, as well as returning her to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lot of hard work and months later, Katie\u2019s dream was realized.\u00a0 In May of 2014, she competed in the Special Olympic regionals.\u00a0 Her gold medal wins in the 4X100M and 400M relays qualified her for State in June, where she finished first in the 4X100M and second in the 400M.<\/p>\n
A few weeks after the regional Olympics, David recalled a teary eyed Katie who came to visit the clinic with two gold medals around her neck.\u00a0 \u201cShe was tearful because she was so proud . . . and so was I. She stated that she did not have any pain, and that in just a few weeks, she was going to be competing at State! Following State, she returned to see us with her gold and silver medals.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t have been more proud of her as a person, and for her dedication as a patient.\u00a0 Through faith and hard work, ANYTHING is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Katie, she is looking forward to future competitions. \u201cI will be training for bowling, golf and track,\u201d says Katie. \u201cMy leg is great and I thank David for all the time he spent with me, not only to go back to work, but to get back to the Olympics. David believed in me and I knew I could come back with God\u2019s help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following a devastating injury in November 2013, 52-year-old Katie Lovell of Morris, Illinois feared that her dream of competing in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-physical-therapy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n