Understanding SCI
Pediatric Spinal Cord Injuries
How to Find the Right Wheelchair
People Living With SCI
Voices of Experience Series
Facing Disability Blog
"Mother Nature Wants to Kill You"
GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONE—NO, REALLY!
"Reasonable Accommodations" For All – Not Just Me
Voters With Disabilities Face Greater Health Risks During COVID-19
Dealing With Kind Offers – "Take Two"
"Quadriplegia" or "Tetraplegia"
Things That Don't Work When You Are Paralyzed…Besides the Obvious
Spinal Cord Injury: A Wife's Perspective
19 states are cracking down on fake service dogs
New Challenge to Guinness World Record
Intimate Photos of Wheelchair Users Cast Sex in a New Light
THE DOWNSIDE OF "THE UPSIDE"
accessibility accident ADA adaptive adaptive equipment Adaptive technology Americans with Disabilities Act Ben Mattlin caregiver Cerebral Palsy challenges children Disability Disability advocacy Disability Inclusion disability rights Disabled discrimination employment family feelings inclusive design independence kids Love marriage mother Occupational therapy Paralysis paralyzed Paraplegia parents post-injury progress Quadriplegia Rehabilitation sci sex Spinal Cord Injury spinal muscular atrophy sports support Tetraplegia Travel wheelchair
MEET JAMES SHEPHERD – By Thea Flaum
You've probably heard of the Shepherd Center in Atlanta if you've been living with spinal cord injury for a while. It's been recognized as a national leader in spinal cord injury rehabilitation for decades.
What you probably don't realize is that the Shepherd family, which founded it in 1975, still regard it as "a family institution" and that they see themselves as "a family taking care of families."
Their mission began with a spinal cord injury to James Shepherd in 1973. He was 24-years-old and just out of college at the time. It left him with quadriplegia. The family looked for a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta, but there was nothing for him. So James spent six months in intensive rehabilitation at Craig Hospital in Denver. At the end, he was able to walk while using a cane and a leg brace. (These days, he uses a wheelchair.)
Back home in Atlanta, James, and his parents, Harold and Alana Shepherd, were frustrated by the lack of rehabilitation care options in the Southeast. They didn't just shake their heads. In fact, they hurled themselves headlong into the daunting task of creating a rehabilitation center from scratch.
They started small—with a six-bed unit operating out of a leased space in a local hospital. Today, the Shepherd Center is a large, multi-building hospital campus with 152 beds and 1,400 employees. They care for almost 1,000 inpatients per year and thousands more in outpatient programs. Their therapy gyms and treatment rooms are state-of the-art-facilities which offer innovative rehabilitation programs for both spinal cord injury and brain injury that are rated among the best in the nation. They conduct about 50 major research projects every year. Shepherd was a founding sponsor of the Paralympics.
Shepherd even has a residential center that provides free temporary housing for families of patients, so they can be near them during rehabilitation. It's there because they "know the importance of including families in the rehabilitation process," says James Shepherd.
That's because his family lived it themselves. And they are still living it.
The Shepherd family remains at the heart of the massive fund-raising and community-support efforts that have built the Center. James is the chairman of the Board. His mother and father continue to raise funds and welcome new patients even today. In fact, the family eats lunch together in the Shepherd cafeteria almost every single day, greeting patients and employees who stop at their table.
James is a thoughtful man with a dry sense of humor. For example, he says: "In some ways, my injury was a gift. It spared me the shallow women of the world. I never bought dinner for someone who didn't care about me as a person." Click to watch all his videos.
Here's how James Shepherd sums it up today:
"The biggest reward is being able to touch the people who come through here. The facility is magnificent; the community has supported us in a grand way. But the ability to touch lives, and have them share with you what that meant to them."
Thea Flaum is president of the Hill Foundation, and the founder of FacingDisability.com
One response to "MEET JAMES SHEPHERD – By Thea Flaum"
Betty Young says:
The Shepherd Center was a God-send to our family after my husbands accident almost 2 years ago. He is a quadriplegic after his accident. He spent a month in ICU and 2 more on the rehab floor. Then returned for 2 separate month long stays after additional surgeries last year. This year he has undergone additional surgeries on his arms to correct positioning and maximize his function with occupational therapy twice a week at Shepherd. The Shepherd Center continues to be the leading choice to give him (us) the best possible long term options. We are thankful for numerous medical professionals (at Northeast GA MC in Gainesville GA) for lobbying to get him admitted to Shepherd as well as all of the staff at Shepherd (Dr, nursing, therapy, and support staff) for everything you have done for and meant to our family along this journey. As a spouse and primary caregiver I am so greatful for all they thought me and everything they have done for us.
SCI Medical Experts
info@facingdisability.com
FacingDisability.com is an informational and support website for families facing spinal cord injuries. The website does not provide medical advice, recommend or endorse health care products or services, or control the information found on external websites. The Hill Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) private operating foundation established by Robert Hill and Thea Flaum.
737 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1560 , Chicago, IL 60611.
© 2011 – 2021 Hill Foundation for Families Living With Disabilities
Photography by Rona Talcott
Website by Mobile Marketing LLC
Understanding Spinal Cord Injury
Personal Experience Videos
Donate to support families facing spinal cord injuries