Suzy Sexton

Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert presets Suzy Sexton of Moline with the "Rehabilitant of the Year" award Tuesday from Trinity Medical Center. Ms. Sexton, 35, learned to walk again last year after being paralyzed in a single-car accident.

ROCK ISLAND – After a car accident last year, Suzy Sexton was paralyzed from the waist down. That she was able to walk again and serve as an role model to others earned her Trinity Medical Center's “Rehabilitant of the Year” award Tuesday. Ms. Sexton, 35, of Moline, was honored by Trinity's rehabilitation staff and previous winners at a lunch at the West Campus' Jardine Auditorium. “I consider it a great honor,” she said. “It's a wonderful thing to have the rehabilitation department in our local area, because my family and friends were able to come support me. That really helped me recover.” In April 2007, Ms. Sexton was driving the 90-minute commute home from her job at Galaxy 1 in Bettendorf to Seaton, Ill. She didn't feel tired, but she fell asleep at the wheel in Taylor Ridge and her car hit a culvert going under a driveway and went airborne for nearly 50 feet.Ms. Sexton suffered a broken back and was flown to Iowa City for spinal surgery. She was put in a back brace, paralyzed from the waist down except for small movements in her feet. “It was extremely scary, but at the same time I knew I would be all right, one way or another,” Ms. Sexton remembered. It took six nurses and therapists to transfer her in and out of bed at the hospital. At Trinity West, she was in rehab two months. After being confined to a wheelchair at home, she returned as an inpatient from July through September 2007 and walked on her own for the first time that August. After rehab, she was able to walk with the aid of a walker, then a cane, and finally was able to walk on her own by last Christmas. “I was going to make it through, to support myself,” Ms. Sexton said of her intense determination. “I was way too young just to give in. The number-one thing is to believe in yourself.” “I think of her and smile,” Trinity rehabilitation nurse Mary Petersen said. “She had an amazing attitude and would often make the comment, 'Mary, things could be much worse. I am lucky.' “The entire gym would go silent. Everyone just watched Suzy, and would cheer and clap,” Ms. Petersen said of rehab sessions. “She was such an inspiration to the other patients. Even when it got tough, she always had a smile on her face.”“I knew the first day I met her she would have a great recovery because of her motivation,” said Erica Cummings, Ms. Sexton’s occupational therapist. “Nothing was going to stand in Suzy’s way.” “She just knew she was going to walk again even before we realized it was going to happen,” said Marilyn Brown, her primary nurse at Trinity. “She was a joy to work with through the good and sometimes rough times.” Ms. Sexton said the rehab staff proved invaluable to her recovery. “They went from being my nurses and my therapists, to being my friends and like family. I still think of them as family.” Ms. Sexton now works much closer to home, as a Sedona Group employee at KONE in Moline. In addition, she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in February after seven years of infertility. “We truly couldn't be happier right now,” she said. The Rehabilitant of the Year ceremony coincides with National Rehabilitation Awareness Week.“The ceremony is a celebration of hope and opportunity,” said Carol Ginneberge, Trinity rehab program coordinator. “It is an opportunity to recognize staff and to provide support and continued inspiration to the patients. Rehab is a journey, and we all strive to make the journey a success.” For 29 years, Trinity has honored patients who made amazing medical recoveries. “These patients have shown exceptional progress through their hard work and dedication,” Ms. Ginneberge said. Before presenting a plaque to Ms. Sexton, Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert praised the rehabilitants for displaying “acts of individual heroism that are an example to all of us.”