No parent would fathom the thought of their child being seriously injured; injured in a way that would effect them for the rest of their lives: Especially not an injury such as a spinal cord injury (SCI) that resulted in their child becoming a quadriplegic. But this is exactly the reality Liza Perla-Reidel, and her daughter Amanda, live with, every day.

Amanda was injured in a car accident on prom night in April 2007; she suffered a C6-C7 SCI (where the brain looses communication with the spinal cord nerves, resulting in loss of sensation and movement below this level of the injury). Overnight, Amanda went from a thriving teen to not being able to walk, stand, lift her arms or have control over her bowels and bladder.

Despite this diagnosis, Perla-Reidel was not accepting that her 18 year-old daughter, would never walk or have an independent lifestyle. Thus beginning their journey to finding resources...and recovery.

Amanda was accepted to the world-renowned ProjectWalk, an exercise-based recovery center, located in Carlsbad California. After a few fundraisers and two trips to ProjectWalk, Amanda’s mom was even more determined than ever; she knew her daughter could regain her independence if she continued on the regimen she began there.

She also understood that Amanda was not alone in this journey: Every year, over 11,000 new SCI’s occur in the United States alone. Many of these injured people were under 40; in fact the average age of SCI’s is 40.2 years. More so, she knew from watching Amanda and others, what they need is “recovery, hope, encouragement and a reason to wake up everyday.”

Perla-Reidel made a decision: It was up to her to ensure Amanda’s, and many other SCI patient’s recovery, continued. In 2008, this motivated mother founded Step it Up Recovery Center, Inc. (SiU), a 501c (3) non-profit organization, that opened its doors in May (2009) in Sanford, Florida.

Step it Up is modeled after ProjectWalk, in fact, says Perla-Reidel, “Project Walk has been a great help in the start-up and success of Step It Up. They are not only a business model but a referral source; they put our press release on their website promoting us as a certified provider location. We are their only certified provider location in the southeastern United States, which is so needed. Many people cannot afford to go across the country to continue their progress.”

In fact, SiU is one of only ten, certified Project Walk® facilities in the world. SiU facilitates The Dardzinski Method ™, which includes five (5) phases of recovery. This program “attempts to re-educate and reorganize the damaged nervous system through appropriate physical stimulation.” This method of pushing recovery is how many of those coming through the doors of SiU (and the other provider locations) are successfully regaining their independence.

Step it Up offers three recovery program options:

1) Trial Visit: During this week the staff at SiU will educate clients on the therapy method and how someone with an SCI can recover. Clients will be exposed to the SiU staff and the physical/mental demands of the program. Sending clients home with an understanding of all aspects of recovery and what it takes to be successful.

2) In-house Program: This is the perfect program for those who live within driving distance, or plan to relocate to be closer to the facility. This is not a six-month, one or two year program. This program is dedicated to pushing clients as hard as possible to recover as much as possible, however long it takes. This is program has the highest success rate with SiU clients.

3) Home Program: This is for clients who can’t relocate in order to utilize the facility. It is designed to maintain the nervous system and through repetitions, improve it. The Trial Visit is required to obtain a Home-Based program.

Several Step it Up clients have indeed relocated to Sanford, or nearby, in order to continue their push to recovery. The average client is aged 20-35, but Perla-Reidel says, “we do have several clients in their sixties.” She continued, “Most of our clients have been in automobile accidents, but we are seeing a rise in diving (water) related as well.”

Being the Founder of Step it Up, Perla-Reidel, acts not only as the face of the organization, but also the Facility Director, researcher (mostly exercise physiology), financial officer and oversees daily operations as well as the client base. This on top of caring for Amanda, which includes: bathing, dressing, transporting her and just being ‘mom’.

Perla-Reidel says the biggest hurdle she faced after deciding to open the facility was building her contacts within the media and with clients. “Once we got one media outlet to cover us and were able to build up relationships with clients, things got much easier. Then multiple media outlets were open to covering our story and client referrals were easier to come by.”

The Sanford and Maitland Chamber of Commerce, the local Rotary and Men’s Club have all been generous in their support and funding of needed equipment.

Step it Up’s staff currently consists of two full time trainers who hold degrees in Exercise Physiology and/or Health Science. When asked what the current goals for SiU are, she listed several, including being able to send the trainers for retraining, which ideally should happen every six months. Also on her wish list is a Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike, which is really expensive.

One long-term goal for Step It Up, as a non-profit, is to be able to set up a scholarship fund to help incur the cost of attending to those financially burdened.

As the annual number of spinal cord injuries climb, recovery facilities such as Step it Up are a definite need for those who desire to live as normal a life possible. It takes people like Liza Perla-Reidel, who have the heart, and in her case reason, to do something to enable people to defeat their own odds and ensuring that option exists. It is people like Perla-Reidel who make this world a better, more accessible, place.

Please think before you dive, unbuckle your seatbelt or handle a gun...as they could result in paralysis and a lifetime of expensive but necessary care, in order have a life at all.

For more information on SCI’s, organizations who provide resources for those living with SCI’s or to donate to their efforts, please click on the links embedded in the article or clicking on the links below:

http://www.stepituprecovery.org

http://www.projectwalk.org/index.htm

http://www.darrellgwynnfoundation.org/it-could-happen-to-you.htm

https://www.nscisc.uab.edu/login.aspx

http://www.sci-recovery.org/

http://www.sci-info-pages.com/

Photos provided by L. Perla-Reidel