Patient Story - Hugh Gerlach
Hugh Gerlach had a strep virus that went septic resulting in the loss of his hands and feet. Through it all, he never let it slow him down.Hugh Gerlach
October 23rd of 2015, and I got a strep virus and it went septic, and I ended up losing my hands and my feet.
Walter Sherwood Davis
Most of the time we're dealing with folks who have either lost the ability to move a part of their body or something that creates a functional deficit. They feel that they're now left with deficits that are going to change their life in such a negative way that there's no way out and there's no hope. I do begin to get some feel for how folks are going to deal with their injury and their disability, and the one thing I can tell you about Hugh is that right away he let me know that this was not going to limit him from living his life.
Hugh Gerlach
See, that opens ... this opens on the opposite side. It was get up and get moving because you've got things you've got to do and you've got to get out of here, and to sit around and wallow in self-pity doesn't really work well.
Walter Sherwood Davis
It doesn't mean he didn't have complications. He had all the things that all patients with us have; pain, wound healing problems, problems that develop in therapy, fatigue. But I just noticed about him that he had this just completely undying spirit and willingness to do anything to get function back.
Hugh Gerlach
I remember the first day in occupational therapy, I had just gotten my hooks and they gave me a little jar of peanut butter, one of those little tubs, a knife and crackers, and said, "Here, butter a cracker." How am I going to do that? I spent a half hour and I had peanut butter and crackers all over me, but now I can open up anything just about. Even if it was frustrating, it was still a positive experience.
Walter Sherwood Davis
He was basically, "Show me what I need to do to get the prostheses in place, and what do I do next? What kind of therapy do I need? What exercises should I be doing?"
Hugh Gerlach
Recreational therapist, her name was Peggy, she was trying to figure out different things for me to be able to accomplish. I mean, playing cards. She said use a box, turn a box upside down and use the edge of the box to hold my cards. I mean, something so simple, but she made it, "This is practical. This is something you can do easily." The guys in our town rebuilt my bike along with our welding teacher at our local community college, and they came up with a way for me to be able to stop the bike since I don't have hands. My wife took me on a wake board adventure in Virginia Beach and we go to Snowshoe and snow ski.
Walter Sherwood Davis
I mean, he's more than a glass half full guy. He's like, "No, my glass is still full." It's just a very different looking glass. So his attitude is always about, "What can I do?", not about, "What can't I do?"