Empowering Rich

After his stroke, Richard (Rich) Arnold had to revisit the basics. Rebuilding his foundation so he could learn to walk again seemed overwhelming to Rich, especially since he had always been used to diving straight into things.

“I knew it would be a long process to reach my goals and walk again. I knew there would be all these different steps to do but it’s like putting a puzzle together,” said Rich. “I had to lay the foundation first. I have to admit that my nature was never to lay a foundation first, a lot of stuff I would just do [without preparation].”

Richard came to Turnstone for the first time about a year ago after hearing about it from his friends. An avid Indiana University basketball fan and former Project Designer at Navistar, Rich was suddenly put on an unexpected path due to his stroke. On his first day visiting Turnstone, Rich remembered feeling anxious and a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size of the building—little did he know what opportunities and milestones were waiting inside for him to accomplish.

Once he got to know his physical therapist and occupational therapist, he felt more comfortable at Turnstone and more motivated to work towards his goals.

“My physical therapist (PT) helped me feel more comfortable here. He gave me a good exercise program for home so I can prepare and come back and do a good job with him. He is excellent in PT. My occupational therapist has been good as well and always helps us [Rich and his wife] out with any questions,” said Rich with a smile.

Rich found himself wanting to return to Turnstone more than any other therapy he had been to in the past. Uplifted by the staff and filled with hope, he was dedicated to putting in the work and maintaining the positive attitude necessary to make strides.

“Before Turnstone, I think I took some things for granted. I took my health for granted. After I had my stroke, my faith in God had to come into play more and I had to take everything day by day and one minute at a time,” said Rich. “I didn’t know that there was someone up there [God] controlling things for me. I just liked to jump up and do something. A lot of times I didn’t realize what went into that. I knew you had to practice. For example, I love basketball and I knew you had to practice, practice, practice, and train, train, train to be a good player, but it didn’t carry over or hit me in other things like it should have.”

Like a basketball star, Rich has been practicing and staying committed to laying his foundation. With his PT’s guidance, he has been able to use the recumbent bike machines to increase his strength and balance. He proudly shared his recent accomplishment of completing a mile at level five in under 20 minutes on this machine.

An even larger goal for Rich was learning to walk. He has been learning to take steps and Turnstone has given him the tools he needs to make progress. Rich put a lot of effort at Turnstone and at home to be able to take steps.

“Today was a big milestone because I was able to walk to the storage room, which was my PT’s goal for me,” said Rich.

In celebrating these highlights of his recovery journey, Rich remains humble. He continues to work hard in therapy at Turnstone and challenges himself to go further.

“I am grateful for my support system at Turnstone. It’s been a great experience and it has strengthened my faith in God as well. I am very humbled to be at Turnstone and feel blessed to be here,” said Rich.