Advanced Technology and Treatment Helps Dane Go Beyond Critical Illness and Stroke

Memorial Rehabilitation Institute helped Dane go beyond multiple critical illnesses, including a stroke. Initially, his family was told, while at another hospital system, they should contact hospice and prepare for his death. Instead they chose to bring him to Memorial Rehabilitation Institute.

Alan Novick, MD, Medical Director, Memorial Rehabilitation Institute, led the effort to help Dane through the many challenges he faced.

“Dane really needed our comprehensive team,” Novick said. “The majority of rehabilitation centers would not take Dane because he was too medically complex.”

The doctors and comprehensive team at Memorial knew they could help Dane.

“They teach you from the basics,” Dane said. “They even had to teach me how to sit up.” From that humble start, Memorial’s expert interdisciplinary rehabilitation team gradually built up the intensity of his therapy sessions.

“The positive attitude of the staff probably helped me the most,” Dane said. “No matter how bad your day was going to be, they always kept it positive.”

Memorial’s expert rehabilitation physicians, therapists and nurses utilized advanced technology and treatments to help Dane go beyond his initial limitations.

“We came here because of the Vector,” Dane said.

The Vector Gait and Safety System® is a dynamic body weight support system that can be programmed to offload a percentage of body weight, allowing free movement while suspending the patient so they cannot fall.

Despite the complexity of his condition, Dane, a retired lieutenant with the Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue, made a remarkable recovery.

“Memorial helped me go beyond my stroke; probably where most people didn’t think I could go,” Dane said.