Charles' story
Charles Schembri, 42, from Long Island, New York, was a devoted husband and father of four with a successful career in banking. He loved spending time with his wife Irene and their children, Benjamin, Abigail, and twins Andrew and Jack. Charles was busy, but happy.
“Life was full, busy and meaningful, centered around family, career and enjoying the little things,” said Charles.
Everything changed during a business trip to Austin, Texas. Charles was riding an e-scooter, something he had done many times before, when he struck a defect in the bike lane. He was thrown forward and struck his head on the pavement. Taken by ambulance to Ascension Del Seton Medical Center, Charles underwent an emergency craniotomy, a lifesaving procedure that removed part of the skull, to relieve pressure from swelling in the brain.
Over the next three months, Charles faced multiple medical complications and an uphill battle. He experienced lung, kidney and liver failure. He was on a ventilator to breathe and required a feeding tube for nutrition. Then he went into cardiac arrest followed by a bacterial infection. Doctors began to talk to Irene about palliative care to provide pain and symptom relief, but she insisted Charles just needed a little more time.
“She was right, after undergoing dialysis for several weeks my kidneys returned to normal,” said Charles. “My liver and lungs healed, too.”
After three months of hospitalization in Texas, Charles was beginning to turn a corner but still unable to walk, care for himself or communicate clearly.
As the next step in his recovery, Charles was flown to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation - West Orange where he began a three-month rehabilitation program. He arrived feeling discouraged, unsure of what therapy would involve. “I knew I had to follow the process to get better,” Charles said. His primary goal was to regain independence, walk, care for himself and return to the life he had before the accident.
Initially, Charles was withdrawn and unmotivated. He missed Irene and his children and was fearful he would not get better. With four young children at home to care for, Charles needed to make significant progress to safely return home. Otherwise, he would need to go to the next level of care until he was ready, something neither he or Irene wanted.
Charles worked closely with a physician-led multidisciplinary team at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation who created a treatment plan to meet his goals of independence. At the time of admission, he was able to sit upright, but hadn’t yet stood. His physical therapy team immediately began to work on improving Charles’ tolerance for upright positioning by using a standing frame. A robotic exo-skeleton was used to move his legs and retrain his gait safely. As his strength increased, therapists introduced a body weight support system which allowed him to walk with support while moving his legs independently.
Meanwhile, occupational therapy focused on building strength and independence in daily activities. Charles started at a wheelchair level, reaching for objects on the floor to engage his muscles. As he progressed, he practiced sitting balance while reaching outside his base of support and advanced to quadruped exercises (done on all fours) on a mat to strengthen multiple muscle groups simultaneously. As he got stronger, Charles learned how to bathe, dress, use the toilet and feed himself.
To address communication and cognitive challenges, Charles’ speech therapy sessions worked on language comprehension and expression. Initially, Charles had a tracheostomy, a small tube in the neck that fit to a respirator, and a feeding tube to supplement his diet. He also experienced apraxia of speech, meaning that he knew what he wanted to say but couldn’t coordinate his muscles to create the word.
At first, he used a picture communication board to express basic needs. His therapist used phonemic (individual sounds in words) and phonological (sound patterns) exercises, visual aids and biofeedback (such as mirrors and voice recordings) to improve motor speech and language skills. By the time Charles left Kessler, he could engage in complex conversations regarding his health care, complete simple writing and reading tasks and his verbal reasoning skills had improved.
“It is because of the amazing therapists at Kessler I was pushed to progress towards my goals,” said Charles. “Their dedication to my therapy and caring ways towards me helped me make tremendous progress – I am very grateful for this.”
Charles credited his progress to his family and friends’ support as well. “My family and friends advocated for me and supported every step of my recovery,” he said. “They pushed me to do the best I could and showed me all the things I am capable of achieving.”
By discharge, Charles had regained independence and confidence. He could walk with a walker and a cane, climb stairs, speak more clearly and perform daily activities, like cooking and showering, on his own. He planned to continue outpatient speech, physical and occupational therapy and looked forward to spending each day with his family.
Reflecting on his journey, Charles said, “The therapists I worked with were extremely caring and devoted to my success. They each taught me all the things I needed to do in order to be the person I was before the accident.”
“Life was full, busy and meaningful, centered around family, career and enjoying the little things,” said Charles.
Everything changed during a business trip to Austin, Texas. Charles was riding an e-scooter, something he had done many times before, when he struck a defect in the bike lane. He was thrown forward and struck his head on the pavement. Taken by ambulance to Ascension Del Seton Medical Center, Charles underwent an emergency craniotomy, a lifesaving procedure that removed part of the skull, to relieve pressure from swelling in the brain.
Over the next three months, Charles faced multiple medical complications and an uphill battle. He experienced lung, kidney and liver failure. He was on a ventilator to breathe and required a feeding tube for nutrition. Then he went into cardiac arrest followed by a bacterial infection. Doctors began to talk to Irene about palliative care to provide pain and symptom relief, but she insisted Charles just needed a little more time.
“She was right, after undergoing dialysis for several weeks my kidneys returned to normal,” said Charles. “My liver and lungs healed, too.”
After three months of hospitalization in Texas, Charles was beginning to turn a corner but still unable to walk, care for himself or communicate clearly.
As the next step in his recovery, Charles was flown to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation - West Orange where he began a three-month rehabilitation program. He arrived feeling discouraged, unsure of what therapy would involve. “I knew I had to follow the process to get better,” Charles said. His primary goal was to regain independence, walk, care for himself and return to the life he had before the accident.
Initially, Charles was withdrawn and unmotivated. He missed Irene and his children and was fearful he would not get better. With four young children at home to care for, Charles needed to make significant progress to safely return home. Otherwise, he would need to go to the next level of care until he was ready, something neither he or Irene wanted.
Charles worked closely with a physician-led multidisciplinary team at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation who created a treatment plan to meet his goals of independence. At the time of admission, he was able to sit upright, but hadn’t yet stood. His physical therapy team immediately began to work on improving Charles’ tolerance for upright positioning by using a standing frame. A robotic exo-skeleton was used to move his legs and retrain his gait safely. As his strength increased, therapists introduced a body weight support system which allowed him to walk with support while moving his legs independently.Meanwhile, occupational therapy focused on building strength and independence in daily activities. Charles started at a wheelchair level, reaching for objects on the floor to engage his muscles. As he progressed, he practiced sitting balance while reaching outside his base of support and advanced to quadruped exercises (done on all fours) on a mat to strengthen multiple muscle groups simultaneously. As he got stronger, Charles learned how to bathe, dress, use the toilet and feed himself.
To address communication and cognitive challenges, Charles’ speech therapy sessions worked on language comprehension and expression. Initially, Charles had a tracheostomy, a small tube in the neck that fit to a respirator, and a feeding tube to supplement his diet. He also experienced apraxia of speech, meaning that he knew what he wanted to say but couldn’t coordinate his muscles to create the word.
At first, he used a picture communication board to express basic needs. His therapist used phonemic (individual sounds in words) and phonological (sound patterns) exercises, visual aids and biofeedback (such as mirrors and voice recordings) to improve motor speech and language skills. By the time Charles left Kessler, he could engage in complex conversations regarding his health care, complete simple writing and reading tasks and his verbal reasoning skills had improved.
“It is because of the amazing therapists at Kessler I was pushed to progress towards my goals,” said Charles. “Their dedication to my therapy and caring ways towards me helped me make tremendous progress – I am very grateful for this.”
Charles credited his progress to his family and friends’ support as well. “My family and friends advocated for me and supported every step of my recovery,” he said. “They pushed me to do the best I could and showed me all the things I am capable of achieving.”
By discharge, Charles had regained independence and confidence. He could walk with a walker and a cane, climb stairs, speak more clearly and perform daily activities, like cooking and showering, on his own. He planned to continue outpatient speech, physical and occupational therapy and looked forward to spending each day with his family.
Reflecting on his journey, Charles said, “The therapists I worked with were extremely caring and devoted to my success. They each taught me all the things I needed to do in order to be the person I was before the accident.”