For a seasoned cyclist like Robert Tierce, riding the 60-some-odd miles from his Ridgeland home to Kosciusko may not sound like a Herculean task.
“I used to ride a road bike anywhere from 60 to 70 miles a time, no problem,” he said.
But now, it is quite a feat. Nearly two years ago his right leg was completely paralyzed by a spinal cord injury from a gunshot wound.
Tierce made the jaunt using a recumbent bicycle, which places the rider in a reclining position.
On June 10, The Bike Crossing of Ridgeland will host its 6th annual Mayhem Century Ride, a benefit for Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s Wilson Research Foundation.
“This is a charity ride for a great cause, and it’s for cyclists of all levels,” said Linda Bartley, co-owner of The Bike Crossing.
Riders may choose from four distance options: 25, 50, 62 or 100 miles through the beautiful countryside of Madison County past Lake Cavalier, Lake Lorman, Mt. Leopard, Flora and beyond depending on the chosen distance.
Annette Young of Jackson has a heart of gold, say her former coworkers at Wal-Mart in Clinton.
“If anyone fell on hard luck, she’d say: We’ve got to get out on the sidewalk and raise some money,” said Wal-Mart manager Eddie Robinson. “If you needed something done, she was always the one to go to. And it takes a very special person to be thinking of someone else no matter what they’re going through.”
Travis Minor was living with major knee pain. Yet he was against getting a manmade joint.
“I was resistant because I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. And I didn’t personally know anyone who had gotten one,” said the 67-year-old Brandon retiree.
“The last straw was my doctor said that steroid shots weren’t going to alleviate the situation, and I’d have to have surgery. At that point, I needed a full knee replacement.”
Tony Hayes of Jackson nearly missed the April ceremony where he was named 2017 Tech of the Year by the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Technologists.
Spring storms stretched a two-hour flight to Washington, D.C. into a 12-hour slog through three out-of-the-way airports.
But Hayes was determined not to miss the recognition. Kudos can be hard to come by in his profession. He literally gets on people’s nerves for a living.
In June 2015, Nancy Smith of Jackson had to undergo a complete hip disarticulation to save her life. It’s an amputation of the entire leg through the hip joint, one of the rarest.
Taylor Hankins, a certified prosthetist at Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics in Flowood, has only seen three in his career.
Dr. Keith Tansey has a thing for hats.
A bowler, a top hat, a cowboy hat and even an Indian headdress are part of a collection that gets bigger every time he visits a new city for a medical conference.
Tansey travels to Albuquerque in late April to assume the presidency of the American Spinal Injury Association—the premier North American organization in the field of SCI care, education and research.
Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s spinal cord injury support group plans to hold a future meeting at Playtime, a restaurant/arcade that opened last April in Clinton.
But it’s not just for the fun, food and games. The group also wants to show support for one of its most dedicated members.
Playtime owner Sancho Johnson, 44, is a spinal cord injury survivor who joined the support group after he was injured in 2009.
Most people do it all day without thinking.
They open their mouths to talk, to eat, to yawn, to laugh, to sneeze and more. It’s all made possible by a pair of ball and socket joints that move the mouth open and shut on demand.
But what if those essential joints eroded, locking the mouth shut?
It’s the scenario Taylor Brown of Brandon has lived with for most of her seven years.
Only 4 percent of all Boy Scouts make it to Eagle, the highest rank. It’s an honor even more significant for four young black men from Jackson. Only 1 percent of black Scouts reach Eagle.
“It’s been like reaching the end of the road on a long journey,” said Brent Price.
Price, Deshuntez Williams, Marcello Williams and Jerion Keyes are all scouts from Troop 401, sponsored by Methodist Rehabilitation Center, a Jackson inpatient rehabilitation hospital. The four were presented their Eagle at a Court of Honor held at the hospital on Dec. 17.