Through the rehabilitative therapy program, young patients of Sparrow Hospital with serious health conditions take golf lessons over the summer at The First Tee of Mid-Michigan’s Sycamore Learning Center, with an outing planned for August.
Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich., launched its Pediatric Rehab Adaptive Therapy Program on June 13, in which patients who are recovering from strokes, have cerebral palsy, or other serious health conditions take golf lessons over the summer, with an outing planned for August, the Lansing State Journal reported.
Olivia Polo, 8, has a congenital heart defect and had three open-heart surgeries before she was three, and she suffered a stroke the day after her fourth birthday. But on Monday, she brought excitement to her practice swings at The First Tee of Mid-Michigan’s Sycamore Learning Center, the Journal reported.
“They thought she would enjoy this,” said Olivia’s mother, Rashae Polo. “She was enthusiastic about it right from the start.”
More patients are expected to be active in the program as it gets rolling, Sparrow officials said.
“We wanted to get them moving, get them out in the community, get them doing something that more typically normal kids might do,” said Jennifer Deibel, who manages the pediatric rehab unit at Sparrow. “We tried to integrate a dance class into therapy, and this was the next idea to just grow that idea and get the kids out into the community more.”
The program is being funded by the Sparrow Foundation and a grant from the Capital Area Community Foundation, the Journal reported.
Taylor Tew, 12, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to use her left hand, was hitting the ball consistently with a smooth, one-handed swing. When she was very young, doctors said she would never be able to walk or talk or show any emotion, said her mother, Tammy Huisker. But Taylor has blown right past that prognosis and now walks on her own, the Journal reported.
“She has one heck of swing with that right arm,” said Huisker’s husband, Andy Huisker.
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