I arrived here 21 days ago, unable to walk or use my legs from the waist down. I am 56 years old and the doctors had nothing but a slim idea of what was wrong with me, thus this has been a difficult time.
I served 22 years in the Army and losing my total independence at this point in my life, felt like I was losing everything. Every time Zach came on shift and was my caregiver, he was nothing short of an inspiration to fight to get the use of my legs back; to work through the pain that I was having, mentally and physically. I was not only fighting to get the use of my legs back, but I suffer from depression and PTSD, and we all know how much the brain/mental ability can mess with the ability to overcome obstacles.
Zach taught me powerful and inspirational sayings to keep me positive and stay motivated to keep me focused on where I wanted to go in my life and what I needed to do to reach those goals. That helped to keep me in the right state of mind, which is a large part of my recovery process. After 22 years of service and being a senior Non-Commissioned Officer, I made it a point to recognize those I led when I saw them not only do their job but going above and beyond doing their job, making a huge impact on our working environment; by showing their leadership skills to others to encourage them to always do their best, not just get by. Definitely an asset to the Nursing Department.