From Horseback Riding to Wheelchair and Back

Katerina
Posting #4
Health
From Horseback Riding to Wheelchair and Back
By: Kristen Greco
Publisher: CNN
Date: 5/9/12
Length: 1022

Kristen Greco has been riding since age four and she never thought she would stop but on March 7, 2010 she became paralyzed from the waist down. Turns out she had a ruptured disk which bruised her spinal cord. This was a rare condition for a child or teenager. A surgeon successfully decompress her spine but that did not cure her paralysis. For nine weeks, Kristen went through exhausting physical therapy trying to rebuild muscle strength and nervous system connections. At Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program, in Port Deposit, Maryland, Kristen started to pick up riding. Due to her surgery, Kristen wasn't able to ride at the time, but she made sure to keep it in the back of her mind.
Seven months after her accident, Kristen considered riding again. Freedom Hills offers a unique program called hippotherapy. It is a form of physical therapy using the characteristic movements of a horse to help a patient increase trunk strength and control, balance and overall posture strength and endurance. The most difficult part was getting on the horse but after that, everything was fine. Kristen recalls: "for my first ride, someone led the horse and two people walked on either side of me for support.  I was hooked on horses again! And I began riding twice a week.  I never imagined how much you could miss by simply not being able to control the lower half of your body, never mind a horse.  I had never noticed how much I took for granted." Kristen continued to ride for five months before something amazing happened. I was at Kennedy Krieger for an evaluation of my recovery, and was able to move her legs for the first time! She believe this small portion of recovery was brought about by the unique combination of innovative activity-based restorative therapy and the therapeutic horseback riding.
Now, a year and a half later, at the age of 16, Kristen rides independently and competes year-round and wins along with being a volunteer at Freedom Hills. Kristen loves being able to share her passion and show people, that riding as a para-equestrian isn’t much different from riding as an able-bodied person. She also continues her rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger. Kristen says: "looking ahead, two of my goals are walking across the stage at my high school graduation from North East High School in North East, Maryland, as well as competing in the U.S. Paralympics for para-dressage. I would also like to help and encourage others to live an active life in their wheelchairs.  There are so many activities for people with disabilities including basketball, tennis, skiing, and archery. Having a spinal cord injury doesn’t have to mean an end to the hobbies and sports that you love; it just means having a view from a different angle."

Post by: Krystal Greco - Special to CNN Filed under: Human Factor