Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation Gets an Aspiring Ironman Back on His Feet
Denny Snyder ran competitively in high school and college. He continued to run long after graduation. In his 40s, Denny started participating in the occasional triathlon, adding cycling and swimming to his long runs. The exercise gave Denny the energy he needed to keep up with his six kids, all younger than 18 and within eight years of each other. At age 51, Denny set his sights on a bigger goal – a half Ironman, or Ironman 70.3. The competition includes a 1.2-mile swim, a 13.1-mile run and a 56-mile bike ride.
A month before the race, in September 2021, Denny was out for a training ride on his bike in Mount Airy, Maryland. Just two miles from calling it a day, Denny turned into an intersection at the same time as a dump truck. The vehicle knocked Denny down, his hand crushed under the bike, before running over both of his legs.
“I had a compound fracture in my left ankle, and I broke my left femur and my tibia just below the knee,” Denny said. “On my right side, I had a compound fracture in my femur just above my knee. And my right hand was crushed.”
A Community of Healing
Following his accident, Denny spent a week in the trauma unit of a Baltimore hospital. Because he could use only one limb out of four, his providers recommended he move to a skilled nursing facility until he healed further. But Denny was determined that his lack of mobility wasn’t going to slow him down, and he pushed for admission to post-acute inpatient rehabilitation. A friend told Denny to contact Rob Grange, vice president and Post-Acute Care Services administrator at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation White Oak, who recommended Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation Rockville, which was closer to Denny’s family. At first, COVID-19 protocols made Denny’s experience difficult – his wife could come visit him but not his kids.
“I started off a little discouraged, because rehab is hard enough, and now this made it even harder,” Denny said.
But it didn’t take long for Denny to realize he was right where he needed to be. Between his busy days of physical therapy and occupational therapy and interaction with the staff, Denny’s spirit was restored – and his commitment to getting better, quickly, was unchanged.
“It really tells you what kind of person Denny is,” Rob said. “He listens, works hard and is disciplined. He would joke, ‘I thought I was training for a triathlon, but I was training for rehab.’”
The Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation Difference
Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation offers post-acute inpatient rehabilitation at two locations to help bridge patients’ needs as they transition from acute hospital care to the home. It was the first facility to be CARF certified in four specialty areas, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, stroke, and amputation or other limb loss.
“On top of significant medical needs, these patients have functional impairments and mobility issues,” Rob said. “Whether retraining their body, helping them learn how to move with adaptive equipment or training family members on how to manage at home, we help patients learn to adjust.”
Most patients stay in inpatient rehab for approximately two weeks, depending on their needs, seeing physical therapists, occupational therapists and, if necessary, speech-language pathologists. Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation utilizes a multidisciplinary approach. Patients see a mixture of rehab physicians, internal medicine providers and physiatrists almost daily during their stay. Therapeutic recreation is also provided to help patients engage in meaningful activities, such as art.
“We are in the top quartile of functional improvement,” Rob says. “Patients who come here progress better than patients with similar injuries at 75% of other rehab hospitals. Our patients get better quickly, and that’s value in today’s healthcare world.”
Back to Training for a Triathlon
After three weeks in Rockville, Denny was ready to go home.
“The therapists were wonderful,” Denny said. “One of the things that made a big difference was how they helped me to manage expectations.”
When Denny got discouraged by his slow progress, the therapists would point out small successes, such as how the range of motion in his leg had improved by five degrees.
“That really motivated me,” Denny said. “The healing process does take time, and that was something they helped me learn.”
Eight months after his accident, Denny was able to run again. By the time one year had passed, Denny, was back to training for that half Ironman, which he successfully completed in October.
“While the therapists, nurses and physicians at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation have excellent medical training, the emotional support they provided is what really made an impact,” Denny said.
That is the Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation difference, Rob said.
“It takes a team to inspire patients,” Rob said. “We take pride in hiring people who build connections with the patients we serve, who inspire them to rise up and recover.”
