Pictured is AlterG Physical Therapist of the Month Raj Thangamuthu, DPT, along with JeriLynn Draper, whose recovery from injuries after a car accident was helped along by Thangamuthu and the use of the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill. JeriLynn’s husband, Ronald Lee Draper, nominated Thangamuthu for the award.
AlterG, maker of the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill, announces that Raj Thangamuthu, DPT, is the winner of its third annual Physical Therapist of the Month contest.
Thangamuthu, CEO of Empower Physical Therapy and Fitness, located in Clinton Township, Mich, was nominated for the award by Captain Ronald Lee Draper (Ret), Pap, OG, on behalf of Draper’s wife, JeriLynn, who experienced major injuries requiring a long and complex recovery following a car accident in 2013.
Among her injuries were compound fractures and lost bone fragments in both femurs and fractures in her pelvis, foot, ankle, tibia, ribs, spine, forearms, right hand, head and face. In addition, she endured a massive ischemic stroke that caused temporary paralysis of all of her limbs and loss of sight and hearing. During this time, she was placed in an induced coma for approximately 5 months and lost her right leg below the knee as the result of complications in the ICU, according to a media release from AlterG.
Draper notes in his nomination that JeriLynn began to improve when she started working with Thangamuthu.
“It was about Jeri’s third therapy session with Raj when he put her on the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill. With only a fraction of her weight on her legs, my wife walked on her own (with a prosthetic on one leg) for the first time since the accident,” Draper writes.
Following multiple surgeries and extensive rehabilitation, JeriLynn continues to improve, and she has been able to resume many of her prior life activities. Thangamuthu was integral to this progress, the Drapers state in the release.
“Raj invests in an outstanding staff and leading-edge rehabilitation technology to help patients regain as much function as possible. Thanks to his desire to improve the lives of his patients, Raj exemplifies the very best in humanity. It was a no-brainer for Jeri and I to nominate Raj for AlterG’s PT Month contest, and we are proud that he was selected as the winner,” they share.
“We are proud to recognize Raj Thangamuthu as this year’s winner. Raj is an outstanding of example of the many dedicated and experienced clinicians across the country who help millions of people get back their mobility and get back their life. At AlterG we strive to provide the best rehabilitation and exercise technology available, but we recognize that none of it would be possible without the dedication and talent of the therapists that are helping people every day,” says Gabe Griego, vice president of marketing at Fremong, Calif-based AlterG, in the release.
The Physical Therapist of the Month contest aims to celebrate the role that physical therapists play in people’s lives, and it is held in conjunction with the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) National Physical Therapy Month. The campaign for 2016 focused on APTA’s public awareness campaign #ChoosePT, to reinforce physical therapy as a safe, non-opioid alternative to manage pain, the release states.
[Source: AlterG]
