Shaniqueka “Shay” Hunt of Morton did high fives to celebrate her achievements in Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s therapy gym.

And there was a whole lot of clapping going on during her month there. The 19-year-old nursing student wowed everyone with her comeback from a crippling stroke.

“It’s pretty incredible to see how much progress she has been able to make,” said Skylar Menist, an occupational therapist at the Jackson hospital. “At first, she was like a newborn baby. We had to put a neck brace on her so she could hold her head up.”

At 6-foot-9 and 400-plus pounds, Robert Carter of Jackson looks invincible.

But back in November, diabetes complications almost did him in. He was just starting to heal from a diabetic foot ulcer when he fell asleep near a space heater and burned the foot.

An infection followed that threatened to be fatal. So when doctors proposed a below-knee amputation of his left leg, “I decided to let them take it,” he said. “I was scared for my life.”

As John Day browsed the booths at a Pearl Health Fair, his curved spine and shuffling steps caught the eye of Amy Burge.

As a physical therapist at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Flowood, Burge recognized the telltale signs of scoliosis.

When Day took a seat in her booth to rest, she told the 68-year-old about a therapy that addresses the pain and physical limitations associated with the sideways curvature of his spine. Known as the Schroth Method for Scoliosis, the approach prioritizes muscle symmetry, breathing and posture awareness.

Before a December aneurysm led to two strokes, Angela South of Madison felt she could handle almost anything.

“I’ve always been able to spin four or five plates at a time,” said the 59-year-old former travel specialist for Vertex Aerospace in Madison. “I was leading the charge to get everyone up to speed on new software, and I was on a plane every other weekend.”

Now, it’s as if her whole life has been grounded and she doesn’t know how to cope.

“She tells me she wants to go to bed because she doesn’t want dark thoughts,” said her son, Lee Wilkins.

Wallace Strickland began driving a tractor at age 10.

So at age 74, it seemed rookie mistakes were surely behind him.

Then came May 3, the day he admittedly “went stupid.”  While driving downhill on his 450-acre Decatur farm, he lost control of the tractor as it sped up. He clipped a tree and the 8,800-pound vehicle tipped over on top of him.

Trapped underneath, Strickland worried he wouldn’t be rescued.

“I was in a place where I don’t usually have cell service, and I was allowed to make three phone calls. That’s divine intervention,” he said.

Mark Adams, CEO of Methodist Rehabilitation Center, has announced he’ll retire on July 10 after 33 years at the Jackson hospital.

Adams came to Methodist Rehab in 1989 as chief operating officer and was named CEO in 1993. During his tenure, MRC developed an internationally recognized research program, a long-term, residential care facility for young adults with severe disabilities and a vocational and community reintegration program for people with brain and spinal cord injuries.

Reece Barham keeps stats for the Hartfield Academy baseball team, and he loves it.

So when a looming leg surgery threatened to keep him out of the dugout, the then 13-year-old handled the challenge like a major leaguer.

As soon as he finished the 2020-2021 school year, he underwent surgery. Then he took a no-excuses approach to his rehabilitation at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Flowood.

Kendarious Greenwood had been hospitalized for a month. Thirty long days in the hospital were taking a toll on the Canton native. Greenwood felt like the walls of his hospital room were starting to close in on him. The 24-year-old National Guardsman’s body was broken, weak and struggling to fight infection. He wanted to see more progress, and there was just one thing in his way—his left leg.