Strokes happen to children too. In fact, 7% of the patients receiving care on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital suffered from a stroke. In December 2010, 12-year-old Kaylee became one of them.

Kaylee remembers the day like it was yesterday. She started having pain in her legs and lower body. After only a few hours, she couldn’t walk, move, or feel her legs. She was taken to a local emergency room and immediately transported by air to Nationwide Children’s Hospital where she learned that she had suffered a spinal cord infarction (stroke).

Kaylee remained at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for three months. “Throughout my stay at Nationwide Children’s, I met many amazing nurses, doctors, volunteers, and patients. My rehabilitation was intense, and I spent every day working with a physical therapist on balance, transferring, stretches . . . ,” says Kaylee. “I also worked with an occupational therapist to relearn everyday activities such as maneuvering around a kitchen, how to use my wheelchair on different surfaces, and little things I once took for granted. My stay at Rehab was also filled with school work, massage therapy, recreational therapy, and exploring the hospital,” she adds.

Because Nationwide Children’s Hospital is a leading pediatric medical institution and the third largest children’s hospital in the nation, our Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit is able to offer a complete continuum of care all under one roof. Patients have direct access to a range of medical specialties including, but not limited to, Critical Care, Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Radiology and Pulmonary Medicine.

She will never be the same as she was before that fateful day in December, 2010. But, now, five years later, 17-year-old Kaylee will tell you that she is living a successful life as a T12 incomplete paraplegic. “It was hard to adjust, and sometimes I would get aggravated at things I had to try harder to do, but perseverance and support pushed me through. I am now an All-Ohio state track and field athlete, I compete in pageants, and I speak to several schools on positivity and diversity,” says Kaylee. Her todays are bright, and she has hope for an even brighter tomorrow. “I think in the future there might be a way for people like me to be able to walk again,” she says.

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• Name: Kaylee H.Kaylee Hurley
• Condition(s): Stroke
• Age at Treatment: 17 years

Strokes happen to children too. In fact, 7% of the patients receiving care on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital suffered from a stroke. In December 2010, 12-year-old Kaylee became one of them.

Kaylee remembers the day like it was yesterday. She started having pain in her legs and lower body. After only a few hours, she couldn’t walk, move, or feel her legs. She was taken to a local emergency room and immediately transported by air to Nationwide Children’s Hospital where she learned that she had suffered a spinal cord infarction (stroke).

Kaylee remained at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for three months. “Throughout my stay at Nationwide Children’s, I met many amazing nurses, doctors, volunteers, and patients. My rehabilitation was intense, and I spent every day working with a physical therapist on balance, transferring, stretches . . . ,” says Kaylee. “I also worked with an occupational therapist to relearn everyday activities such as maneuvering around a kitchen, how to use my wheelchair on different surfaces, and little things I once took for granted. My stay at Rehab was also filled with school work, massage therapy, recreational therapy, and exploring the hospital,” she adds.

Because Nationwide Children’s Hospital is a leading pediatric medical institution and the third largest children’s hospital in the nation, our Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit is able to offer a complete continuum of care all under one roof. Patients have direct access to a range of medical specialties including, but not limited to, Critical Care, Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Radiology and Pulmonary Medicine.

She will never be the same as she was before that fateful day in December, 2010. But, now, five years later, 17-year-old Kaylee will tell you that she is living a successful life as a T12 incomplete paraplegic. “It was hard to adjust, and sometimes I would get aggravated at things I had to try harder to do, but perseverance and support pushed me through. I am now an All-Ohio state track and field athlete, I compete in pageants, and I speak to several schools on positivity and diversity,” says Kaylee. Her todays are bright, and she has hope for an even brighter tomorrow. “I think in the future there might be a way for people like me to be able to walk again,” she says.