At the end of bowling season last year, Ed was pretty disappointed. It wasn’t because the season was over or because he was unhappy with his performance. It was because his shoulder pain had gotten increasingly worse throughout the season, prompting him to schedule surgery and face the thought that he may never play his favorite game again.
“By the end of last year, I had terrific pain [in my shoulder],” says Ed. “I didn’t know if I could ever come back.”
After his surgery, Ed came to ATI in Rising Sun, Md., in hopes of rehabbing his shoulder. For about fifteen weeks, Ed visited the ATI crew, fighting through pain and strengthening his shoulder with each visit. But, rehab ended up being about more than just physical therapy; it became about building relationships with his new ATI family.
“The people are terrific,” Ed says. “They don’t treat you like a number here.”
During one session, Ed was talking with his clinician, Tom, and Tom asked him about his t-shirt. That one simple question led to some pretty amazing events.
Ed proceeded to tell Tom that the shirt was for his niece, Riley, who was born with primary pulmonary hypertension. The t-shirt was part of ongoing fundraisers for Riley to help cover her expensive medical costs. Tom immediately mentioned the ATI Foundation and helped connect Ed with Terry, the Foundation director, to see how they could help Riley.
“The Foundation ended up donating $2,000 to Riley, which was just amazing,” says Ed. “And it was all because Tom took the time to ask about my t-shirt.”
This year, Ed rejoined his bowling league and on October 26, 2012, bowled a perfect 300 game.
“At the end of last year, I didn’t know if I could play, and now I’m 13 pins up in my league compared to where I was at this time last season,” Ed says. “I couldn’t have done it without them!”