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MRC News

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.

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

For the first quarter of 2022, the honorees include Misty Ferguson of Madison, Prospective Payment System Coordinator at MRC; Erica Jones of Madison, rehab tech at MRC; Willie Spann of Jackson, certified prosthetist/orthotist at Methodist Orthotics and Prosthetics in Flowood; and Jasmine Robinson of Canton, activities assistant at Methodist Specialty Care Center in Flowood.

Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson has named its Employees of the Year for 2021.

K.K. Ramsey of Madison was named Clinical Services Employee of the Year for Main Campus. She serves as a nurse practitioner in the hospital-based outpatient clinic in Jackson.

Mary Thomas of Jackson was named Support Services Employee of the Year for Main Campus. She serves as the hospital’s Nutrition Services Supervisor.

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.

Astride a stationary bike, strapped into a Pilates machine or sweating it out with boot camp diehards, 51-year-old Faith Martin is a model of fitness as she teaches classes at the Flowood YMCA.

So her students might be surprised by her recent appearance at a Citywide Stroke Support Group meeting at Methodist Rehabilitation Center.

It’s hard to imagine she once spent a month at the Jackson hospital, fighting to recover from a near fatal stroke.

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. 

Miller King of Greenwood had one thing running through his mind as rescuers raced to remove him from his crumpled tractor cab on Feb. 15.

“Keep breathing. You’ve got to get back to them.”

King was thinking of his wife and three kids, and whether he’d survive being hit from behind by a 1-ton, dually truck pulling a gooseneck equipment hauler.

Michael Chambless of Brandon remembers nothing of his 23 days in ICU fighting COVID.

But he does recall his brother, Danny, telling him how bad it had been. “He said he’d take a COVID booster every month to avoid having COVID like I did,” said the 60-year-old.

“The last day I was on a vent, the doctor told my sister I had a 50-50 chance. They were already making plans for my funeral.”

Ever since he lost his right leg at hip level, Michael Savage has embraced every breakthrough in the field of prosthetic limbs.

So he welcomed the chance to receive the first Ossur Next Generation Power Knee to be fitted and delivered in Mississippi.

As part of a global launch of the prosthetic knee at Methodist Orthotics and Prosthetics in Flowood, Savage praised its one-of-a-kind, built-in motor. Since he has no hip or upper leg muscles to power a prosthesis, the motor provides the force to keep him moving.

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