Tim Strange
With a smile on his face and his wife Beverly by his side, Tim Strange, a BAPTIST HEALTH Rehabilitation Institute patient, prepared for his last session of physical therapy before going home.

Nearly six months ago, Strange was admitted to a hospital in Texarkana with life threatening injuries. Involved in an altercation where the assailant used a baseball bat and brass knuckles causing severe brain injuries, Strange was left for dead. Emergency workers revived him at the scene. Once at the hospital, surgery was required to reduce the pressure in his brain.

"Doctors told me that I should let him go, that he would never be able to function the same again, but I told them no. He was breathing on his own, and I knew he could do it," Beverly Strange said.

After several months in Texarkana and his condition only worsening, Beverly had her husband transferred to a local Little Rock hospital. There, doctors were able to further repair some of the damage and stabilized Strange to a point where he could begin rehabilitative therapy.

Strange came to BAPTIST HEALTH Rehabilitation Institute with very little functional capabilities. "He really couldn't do anything when he arrived. He needed total assistance, he couldn't sit up or talk, his legs were drawn up to his chest from the brain damage, and he wasn't able to feed or dress himself," said Kimberly Roberts, a physical therapist at BHRI.

Now, three months later, Strange has impressed everyone at the outstanding improvements he has made. "He has worked really hard. He never complains during therapy, even when it has been very painful for him. He's worked so hard to get where he is and has been so determined to get home," Roberts said.

"Everyone told me that this hospital was the best in the state, and now I believe them," said Beverly Strange. "This is where I wanted my husband to be. Dr. Vestal Smith never gave up on him. He kept running tests and fixing the problems so he could get better."

"Tim is doing wonderfully now. I worked with him when he first arrived, and he has come such a long way since then. We call him our miracle man," said Gala Norwood, an occupational therapist at BHRI.

Strange has spent the last three months in rehabilitative therapy and is really looking forward to getting home. "I'm ready to get out of this hospital bed and just be at home. It's amazing the things I used to take for granted," Strange said.

It's been a long journey for Strange, but he is finally going home and begin his life again. Once discharged, Strange will be visited by home health nurses and will eventually attend outpatient therapy.