Bev Kearney: thankful for therapists

AUSTIN - Bev Kearney thinks her young team can win the Division I national title this season. They may not be favored to finish in the top spot, but the University of Texas women’s track coach has always believed in what may seem impossible. Her competitive spirit will not allow her to lose at anything she does.

“I remember being in the hospital and they said -- you can't go home until you can tie your shoe by yourself,” said Bev Kearney. “It might have taken me thirty minutes to tie that doggone shoe lace, but I tied that shoe lace to go home.”

Kearney was in the hospital recovering from a horrible automobile accident she barely survived in December 2002. She was going to Walt Disney World in Florida with friends. When the driver nodded off for a brief moment, the SUV flipped and rolled several times. Two were killed and three were injured.

Doctors told Kearney her prognosis was not good. She would likely never walk again. For Kearney, not walking was not an option. She had a team to coach, a career to continue and many passions to pursue.

“I never really understood the components of paralysis,” said Kearney. “I thought that meant when the pain goes away you're alright. It never dawned on me that paralysis actually meant you can't move.”

Kearney spent three months at St. David’s Rehabilitation Center in Austin trying to regain the use of her legs. Therapy there continued on an outpatient basis for about six more months. She still goes in to St. David’s occasionally for treatment and to see the medical professionals she credits with putting up with her when she wanted to try innovative therapies.

Kearney went back to St. David’s nearly seven years after the accident to mark the facility’s twentieth anniversary. She joined other patients in thanking doctors, nurses and therapists for how their time and talent helped changed her life. Former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd was also at the event to recognize the anniversary. He had a cycling accident in 2005 that almost killed him.

During the celebration, St. David’s Rehab Center showed off its high tech equipment used in therapy. Four-legged therapy was also demonstrated as therapy dogs and their role in rehab were recognized. With its clinics around Central Texas, St. David’s Rehabilitation Center handles 45-thousand visits a year.

For Kearney, the medical team at St. David’s Rehab was a perfect fit. She recalls how nurses came into her hospital room just before midnight on Valentines Day to sing her Al Green’s song Let’s Stay Together. They had been practicing in a closet in between shifts for days. She also has vivid memories of her St. David’s team at the Texas Relays on the University of Texas campus in Austin cheering her on as she stood on her two feet for the first time since her accident.

“Three of my nurses, doctors -- everybody came out here to the Texas Relays in front of 20-some-odd thousand or more fans -- and television cameras and media and watched me stand, “ said Kearney. “They believed in me enough to take the chance. I could have actually busted my butt and fell down trying to stand up!”

Most of all Kearney remembers her therapy team standing strongly behind her personal decisions in the treatment process. When she wanted to try something considered impossible for someone in her condition, they supported her. Taking that chance on her, she says, has allowed her to be back on her feet today.

“If they told me I had a 10-percent chance of walking, I'm going for it,” said Kearney. “If they give me a 10-percent chance of living or overcoming any type of illness, go for it, but be in a place where somebody is willing to take the chance on that 10-percent with you.”