Arizona teen with cerebral palsy using zero-gravity physical therapy following surgery
PHOENIX - An Arizona teenager with cerebral palsy is using a new type of zero-gravity technology to recover after extensive surgery.
Charlie Duffy has gone through numerous surgeries to try to heal the left side of her body. Physical therapy is a tough process, but she does it because she’s trying to get back to 100% and get back on the softball field.
"I remember I was the last out of the game, and I was running to first base and I just started crying. My coaches gave me a hug and the umpire came over and we all just kind of cried together," Duffy said.
The 15-year-old hasn’t played in a softball game for more than six months, and it’s safe to say it’s going to be awhile until she plays again.
"In May, I had my femur cut in half and rotated. I had a plate put in my leg. I had my Achilles, hamstring, and abductor cut and lengthened," Duffy said.
The recovery is painful and extensive, but this time around, her physical therapist is using a zero-gravity robot to speed up the healing process.
"It is a dynamic body weight support system, so I can set at whatever percentage of body weight that we need to work at, and the trolley will move along the track with her to give her that support and balance that she needs and as she progresses through her rehabilitation, then I can decrease that body weight some more," says her physical therapist, Atalie Ho Lem.
Lem says there’s nothing else quite like it, allowing Duffy to push her own body as far as she can without fear of ever falling.
Duffy is willing to try anything to get her back on the softball field where she belongs.
"I definitely think when I get back to the softball field it’s going to be a long road to get back to where I was before. I call it like, 100% Charlie, so that’s definitely hard mentally. I think once I’m done with PT, it’ll be a long while, but I think I’ll be back and better," she said.
Duffy hopes to be back on the field in January, hopefully at a college in Arizona, she says.