United Helpers: Offering Therapy for Everyone (w/video)

CANTON – When Sara Day-Schulz and her husband Ted left Boston and headed back home following an operation on their daughter Ruthy’s legs, they knew they would be in need of physical therapy.

What they didn’t know was how hard it would be to find a provider for their young daughter, who was only three at the time.

“I remember driving back from Boston and we were on the cell phone trying to find physical therapy providers in St. Lawrence County. There were several, and I don’t remember how many we called, who said, ‘We’re sorry, we just don’t take pediatrics,’” Mr. Schulz said. “United Helpers was someone willing to take on pediatrics and they were really great to work with.”

Ruthy was born with a larger than normal meniscus in each of her legs.

“Her menisci were too big for her knees, so they had to trim them up, because they were causing a lot of pain,” said Physical Therapy Assistant Stacie Jessmer.

Mrs. Jessmer worked with Ruthy for three months and helped transform a young girl in a wheelchair to a young girl who could ride her bike and run around in the yard with her sister.

“She went three times a week for two months and then after a follow-up visit in Boston they recommended another month of therapy,” Mrs. Schulz said.

Mrs. Jessmer detailed the progress Ruthy was able to make, noting now you would never even know Ruthy had surgery on her legs.

“When Ruthy first came to me she was in bilateral leg braces so she couldn’t bend her legs. Any exercises we did she had to keep her legs in the immobilizers. By the end of the therapy, she was able to bend, she was able to ride her bike again and she was able to do her everyday things,” Mrs. Jessmer said. “Ruthy’s biggest goal was her sister dances and plays basketball and soccer. Ruthy was hoping to do those things and now she’s able to.”

While the therapy wasn’t always fun, Mrs. Schulz said Mrs. Jessmer worked with her daughter in a way that truly got the best out of her.

“Her favorite line she would always say to Miss Stacie is, ‘This is not the fun stuff.’ She did a lot of her working exercises first and then they would do games and things like that,” she said. “I think that really helped Ruthy get as far as she did. Now she calls her knees her, “super knees.’”

For more information on therapy services for people of all ages contact Maplewood in Canton at (315) 386-4541 or RiverLedge in Ogdensburg at (315) 393-0730.