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Bill Harding |
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L-R: Kelly Hunt, Bill Harding, Regina Ackart-Baird, and Joslyn French.This team works together in helping Bill achieve his goals. |
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Circled: “Wild Bill” Harding posing for a picture at a past race. |
Imagine yourself 65 years old, an excellent and experienced runner, winner of a variety of races and events, well-known in sports circles in Galveston,Texas and beyond.You always run at the front of the pack and you often win.You run short road races, middle distances, marathons, and ultra marathons.You run the gym at the University of Texas Medical School.You are a Race Director.You have coached running for years.You have competed in Japan and Mexico and your goal is to be the best 65 year old runner in the United States.You are “Wild Bill” Harding and you climb into bed one night feeling very short of breath and particularly fatigued.
Bill awoke towards dawn that fateful day barely able to move or breath and dialed 911.The last thing he remembers is the paramedics arriving and putting him in the ambulance. Although Bill was an extraordinary athlete in prime condition, he was struck down in a matter of mere hours by Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. He was paralyzed and had to be intubated and put on a respirator to breathe.
Three years later,Wild Bill’s life is more crazy than it is wild. He has been in five hospitals and two nursing homes trying to regain his mobility and strength. He left Texas and came to the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain.After two years on the vent, the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain got Bill off the breathing apparatus in two months. He then came to stay in Danielson with his niece, and after a year of excellent care and physical therapy with Day Kimball HomeCare, BIll found a trio of women at Day Kimball Hospital’s Rehabilitation Services Clinic at Green Hollow who have made all the difference. Kelly Hunt, Joslyn French, and Regina Ackart-Baird have been working with Bill, assisting him in the slow battle to regain the life he loved. Bill’s goals have shifted. Now he hopes to regain 90% of his former function and would be absolutely thrilled to be able to run a mile. Bill says of Kelly, Joslyn, and Regina, “no one has given me as much encouragement as these people have.”
Joslyn, a Physical Therapist, is working with Bill on his flexibility and strength. Her time with him has a very functional emphasis. She is helping him learn to stand up from a sitting position, transfer in and out of bed, be able to lay on his stomach and together, they work on his gait. Joslyn says, “Bill has incredible drive and is one of the most motivated people I have ever met.”
Regina is an Occupational Therapist and is working with Bill on ways to take care of himself, given that his jaw is still paralyzed and his arms are not entirely cooperative yet. She is helping him to re-learn how do basic things like eat, use a tissue, push up his glasses, or scratch an itch. Regina says simply, “Bill has a lot of heart.”
Kelly, a Physical Therapy assistant, is the cheerleader, class clown, and
wise guy of the group. She keeps Bill laughing and his spirits
high. Kelly
pays very close attention to Bill’s moods and watches for signs of frustration
or discouragement. Kelly is also a fellow runner and there has
been great joy for both Kelly and Bill in sharing this common passion.
Bill has even been coaching Kelly as she prepares for her first
marathon. Bill says “Kelly keeps my mind off the pain” and Kelly says,“He is a motivation to me. Now I have to do the marathon.Yesterday,
he had me doing track work. I love working with somebody who wants
to work.”
Bill wants to recover and rehabilitate enough to return to Texas. Although that milestone is still a ways off, he says, “I don’t feel improvement every day, but a whisker better every week.” This quiet, uncomplaining, and optimistic man has had a fascinating life. His achievements are endless. Bill is a Vietnam vet, helicopter pilot, one of the first life flight pilots in the country, gym manager, coach, athlete, and marathoner, to name a few.
Watching him work to the point of utter exhaustion, with sweat pouring off his brow, you realize that this recovery is undoubtedly the hardest thing he has ever done, but you feel certain that with the continued skilled intervention and devoted support of his rehab team, he will succeed. It isn’t hard to believe that he will help Kelly to run her marathon and that he himself will run a mile with her.When that momentous time comes, Bill will once again be at“the front of the pack.”
Only in this race Wild Bill’s victory won’t be measured in hours, minutes, or seconds, but in grit and guts, in character and courage, and in determination and dedication.
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