RIDGELAND, Miss.—When Hattiesburg’s Carlos Ladner rolled across the finish line in Saturday’s Heatwave Triathlon, it marked the first time one of Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s disabled triathlon teams had completed the Ridgeland event.
Ladner, 21, raced a wheelchair over the event’s final 6.2 mile segment in 42:19 to give his team an overall time of 2:52:10. Before Heatwave, Ladner finished second overall in the prestigious Gum Tree 10K race held in May in Tupelo.
JACKSON, Miss.—Lynn Goff’s back pain was so severe he couldn't walk 15 feet without his legs going numb. But a procedure being performed at Methodist Rehabilitation Center has helped Goff, 35, of Clinton, go back to work and countless others like him do battle with back pain.
It’s called transforaminal epidural steroid injection and works for about 80 percent of patients, said Dr. Jeff Summers, MRC pain management specialist.
RIDGELAND, Miss.—When Tupelo resident Randy Lavender looks out over the water this Saturday and prepares to race in Ridgeland’s Heatwave Triathlon, he may feel a little more nervous than the other few hundred competitors.
Lavender, who lost the use of his legs in a motorcycle accident 16 years ago, will have to rely on his arms alone to pull him through the half-mile reservoir swim before he tags off to Josh Sharpe of Jackson who will ride a hand cycle over the 24.8 mile bike course.
JACKSON, Miss.—Imagine football in bumper cars with the intensity cranked all the way up and you have an idea of how quadriplegics play rugby.
It’s two teams with four athletes apiece in specialized wheelchairs slamming into each other working to get a volleyball down a basketball court and across the goal line.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says Scott Davis, 38, of Ovett, a member of the Jackson Jags quad rugby team, which is sponsored by Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.
TUPELO, Miss.—The annual conference of the United Methodist Church today passed a resolution honoring Earl R. Wilson for visionary leadership, inspiration and motivation in founding Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson in 1975.
Wilson, who also served as chairman of the board of trustees at MRC for 25 years, died of a stroke on September 25, 2000.
The resolution, from the conference’s health and welfare ministries committee, also recognizes the naming of MRC as one of America’s best hospitals by U.S. News and World Report as one of Wilson’s many accomplishments.
JACKSON, Miss.—When Linda Lewis arrived at work one January morning last year, she complained to her co-workers of a splitting headache throbbing at the top of her head. It was a headache that wouldn’t go away for days.
“The next Tuesday, I almost blacked out in the shower, it hurt so bad,” the Clinton resident recalled.
After treatment at a local hospital, Lewis learned she had a cerebral aneurysm and would need rehabilitation to reclaim her life.
JACKSON, Miss.—Like most folks, Marshall Magee didn’t know a lot about stroke until he experienced it firsthand.
More than a year later and after countless hours of therapy at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, the 54 year-old president and general manager of Proteus Communications (radio stations Arrow 94.7 and WVIV 93.9) is back at his desk. But he’ll be the first to tell you, it wasn’t easy. A stroke is nothing to play around with.
JACKSON, Miss.—Heredity, poor diets and unhealthy habits combine to make stroke a major health risk in Mississippi. It is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the state. Awareness of warning signs, advances in drug treatments and comprehensive rehabilitation are essential to preventing or recovering from a stroke.
JACKSON, Miss.—Imagine football in bumper cars with the intensity cranked all the way up and you have an idea of how quadriplegics play rugby.
It’s two teams with four athletes apiece in specialized wheelchairs slamming into each other working to get a volleyball down a basketball court and across the goal line.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says Scott Davis, 38, of Ovett, a member of the Jackson Jags quad rugby team, which is sponsored by Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.
JACKSON, Miss.—On the second floor of Methodist Rehabilitation Center near it’s Atrium Mall, Charlie Carmichael and Lucy Millsaps have been hanging paintings and drawings since 8:30 a.m. It’s now 1 p.m.
They are preparing for the 13th annual Goodwill Art Exhibit that is held each year at the Jackson hospital. A reception for the artists and the public is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 6. The art will remain on display at MRC for the public to see until June 11.