His baseball was made of rubber rather than leather.

And his every throw and catch was being monitored by therapists at Methodist Rehabilitation Center.

Yet 16-year-old Jake Williams of Meridian was happily in his element as he tried out his fast ball, curve ball and slider in the Jackson hospital’s fifth floor therapy gym.

After he suffered a traumatic brain injury on Dec. 8, the Clarkdale High School standout feared he’d never return to the game he’d loved since he was a 4-year-old T-baller.

Dr. Jennifer Villacorta can’t say she ever saw herself as a medical director.

“They are usually older, and I’m still wearing headbands,” she joked.

But when she was offered the position at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, the spinal cord injury specialist decided to “step up to it.”

“After being on the front lines as a physician, I realize there is so much you can do for patients and the medical team when you have a voice. And that’s what I’m excited about.”

Jacob Long’s list of titles can be a mouthful.

He’s a doctor of physical therapy (DPT). He earned his assistive technology professional (ATP) and seating and mobility specialist (SMS) certifications from the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). And he’s a neuro clinical specialist (NCS), a distinction bestowed by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS).

“It can be hard for even me to keep all of those acronyms straight,” he said.

The Gertrude C. Ford Foundation has pledged a $1 million gift to the Wilson Research Foundation at Methodist Rehabilitation Center (MRC). The gift establishes the Gertrude C. Ford Director of Motion Analysis.   

Methodist’s motion analysis laboratory is used to assess patients’ function and outcomes of various treatments. The director’s position requires a rare set of skills that ranges from operating highly sophisticated equipment to having extensive knowledge of human movements.  

Bride or groom’s side?

At the Oct. 26 wedding of Ben Lane and Walton Fenelon, that question may pose a predicament for guests who work at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.

Ben’s father, Sam Lane, Sr., and Walton’s mother, Kelley Fenelon, are both board members of the hospital’s Wilson Research Foundation.

And what fostered their involvement was the same thing that forged a bond between Ben and Walton—the brain injury of a loved one and their subsequent recovery at MRC.

Methodist Rehabilitation Center has announced Clinical and Support Service Employees of the Quarter for its Jackson hospital and external campuses.

For the third quarter of 2019, the honorees include Kaitlin Snyder of Pearl, physical therapist for MRC’s brain injury program; Terri McKie of Ridgeland, manager of MRC’s gift shop; Elizabeth Rich of Jackson, therapy manager at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Ridgeland; and Frank Carucci of Meridian, an orthotics & prosthetics technician at Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics in Meridian.