One Step at a Time: Linda’s Journey Back to Walking

When Linda Carter arrived for her first physical therapy appointment at Ozarks Healthcare, she came in a wheelchair.
She had no idea how quickly that would change.

On April 21, Linda was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident near Gainesville. She was airlifted to a trauma center in Springfield with two severe open fractures. Doctors ultimately had to amputate her left leg below the knee, while her right ankle required three surgeries.

For weeks, Linda could not put weight on her right leg. When she was finally cleared to begin weight-bearing, she knew physical therapy would be an important part of learning how to move forward - literally.

Her surgeon recommended a physical therapy program in Springfield, but Linda was told she would have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment.

“I was like, well, what do you mean? Can I just go to Ozarks Healthcare?” Linda said. “I know that they have good PT there and I can probably get in a lot faster.”

She was seen at Ozarks Healthcare the very next day.

Approximately 10 weeks after her accident, Linda began working with Ozarks Healthcare’s Physical Therapy Department. At that first appointment, she was nervous. Her right ankle was still painful and swollen, she did not yet have her prosthetic, and even standing for 30 seconds to try on a pair of shoes had been difficult.

“I was coming in in a wheelchair because I can’t walk,” Linda recalled. “I was kind of nervous.”

Her therapy began with the basics - using a walker, working in the parallel bars, shifting her weight and building strength in her right leg. Once she received her prosthetic, Linda began learning an entirely new way to walk.

And then something remarkable happened.

After only a few sessions, Linda was walking.

When she returned to her prosthetist about a week later, he looked around the room and asked, “Where’s your wheelchair?”

“I said, ‘I walked,’” Linda said.

Her progress has continued ever since.

Linda now attends physical therapy twice a week, working not only on walking but also on balance, strength and the skills needed to safely recover when she loses her balance. Because a prosthetic does not respond exactly like a natural leg, those skills are essential to her independence and safety.

“I’ve done the important part of learning to walk,” Linda said. “But it’s also important to learn how to catch yourself and balance yourself.”

Before her accident, Linda was active. She enjoyed riding her bike and playing pickleball. While she isn't back to all of those activities just yet, she is getting closer.

For now, she can walk throughout most of the day and no longer relies on her wheelchair the way she once did.

Her family and friends have watched the transformation, too.

“We haven’t seen somebody for maybe a week or two, and then they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ because it’s really only been a couple of months that

I’ve even been upright,” she said.

Linda credits her progress to determination, hard work and the care she has received throughout her recovery - including the Ozarks Healthcare Physical Therapy team.

“It’s just so nice to be able to have such quality care so closely,” Linda said. “I was able to come in and get really the best treatment I could have gotten anywhere.”

Linda’s journey isn’t finished. There are still goals to reach, activities to return to and new skills to master.

But she’s no longer looking at recovery from a wheelchair.

She’s walking toward what comes next - one step at a time.