Life can change in an instant. This is something Stephen Hallgren and Gerry Auel know firsthand. The couple was excited to participate in the Mid South 50-mile bike race with their children in Stillwater on March 15, 2024. Fifteen miles into the race, Steve crashed into the gravel and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“We were so fortunate because there were medical personnel behind us. I don’t even know their names, but they jumped into action immediately. That’s partly what saved Steve’s life,” Gerry said.
After being airlifted to OU Health, Steve faced a long road of recovery ahead. He spent several months between the ICU and acute care before being discharged to Westhaven Nursing and Rehab in Stillwater to build the skills needed for inpatient rehab at Stillwater Medical Center. After a month of receiving physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy at Stillwater Medical, he was strong enough to return home and continue rehab at Total Health.
“There’s a lot of things you do naturally without even thinking about them. After waking up, I was starting from zero. To be a whole person, I needed help doing things physically, but I also needed help intellectually. That’s why language therapy was so important,” Steve said.
Speech-language pathologists, commonly known as SLPs, specialize in evaluating, diagnosing and treating communication and swallowing disorders. Their services address a wide range of issues, including speech sound production, language development, fluency, voice disorders and cognitive-communication challenges. By tailoring treatment plans to individual needs, SLPs play a crucial role in enhancing a patient’s quality of life and supporting their overall health and well-being.
Steve is an emeritus professor of forest ecology at Oklahoma State University. He’s always had a passion for nature and the learning process itself. So, the SLPs he worked with, incorporated that into his treatment by bringing in different leaves for him to identify and relating speech exercises to subjects he loves to explore.
“Therapists are really special people,” Gerry said. “They have patience and perseverance and the patient they are working with must meet that. The reason Steve’s sitting here today is because he made the effort, and he was surrounded by a great team.”
Steve said the accident has been devastating. He’s often frustrated by what he’s no longer able to do but remains grateful for the team of support surrounding him through it all. Gerry has been his constant companion, and his children were present for his months-long hospital stay. Likewise, each therapist he’s worked with has given him the care and resources he needed to progress to where he is today.
“Being able to speak is vital. Hearing Steve speak again is something I wasn’t sure of when I saw him laying on the ground after the accident,” Gerry said. “You surprise yourself with what you’re able to do when you’re stretched the way we have been this past year.”
The couple is thankful to the SLPs who worked directly with them including Kay Headrick and Donita Tefft at the Rehab Center at Stillwater Medical and Kaye Aulgur at Total Health Rehab. They appreciate the way each therapist took a special interest in him and found truly creative ways to help him progress.
SLPs work with a wide range of patients. Their interventions can improve a patient’s ability to communicate effectively, eat and drink safely, and regain independence in daily activities. Total Health recently hired an additional SLP to increase its capacity for care. If you or someone you know needs speech therapy, call 405-624-6594 to schedule.
