The last thing Kerry Glover remembers is driving home from a work appointment in his Toyota Camry on Interstate 83 in York. After that, he remembers waking up in WellSpan York Hospital.
“I still have a piece of glass in the back of my head. I rub it twice a day,” says Glover. “Just a reminder of the crash.”
The 36-year-old Columbia resident doesn’t remember the details of the car crash, but his loved-ones tell him it was bad. What he does remember is the pain in recovery.
“Anything I tried to move, it was so much pain,” he says. “I went from running around 100 miles a minute between work and coaching, to a nurse changing me and my family feeding me. It hit me hard."
The varsity basketball coach for Columbia Borough Senior High School was down but he wasn’t out.
Due to the trauma of the automobile crash, Glover had several fractures along his spinal column. The back injury along with a fractured pelvis and ribs required intensive monitoring and surgery to stabilize his spine. After successful neurosurgery with Grant Sorkin M.D. at WellSpan York Hospital, Glover was already on the road to recovery.
WellSpan York Hospital offers comprehensive care for back and spine injuries including stenosis, herniated disks and sciatica. For more conditions treated at the hospital, visit www.WellSpan.org/Spine.
“I’ve never broken a bone or had any surgeries in my entire life, and then this,” Glover recalls.
Eleven days after arriving at WellSpan York Hospital, Glover was ready to begin the next phase of his care: physical rehabilitation at WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital in York. He remembers one of the first things his therapist said to him when he arrived at that hospital.
“They told me: ‘It’s time to start your comeback story,’” he says. “They whooped my behind [in rehabilitation], but it was worth it.”
“Obviously the physical therapy is important, but also important is the discussion of how his body responded to those movements early on,” explains Jenny Reimold, physical therapist at WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital. “His progress at inpatient rehabilitation helps us evaluate his needs and develop a plan of care that’s right for him.”
Glover coaches his son, Kerry Glover Jr., on the boys basketball team. Even though he was missing the beginning of the season, his goal was clear: to get back on that court.
“My son is like a breath of fresh air for me,” he says, holding back emotions. “For me to not be able to interact with him has been tough.”
Day-by-day, Glover grew stronger, and on Oct. 27, he was discharged from the hospital. Still, his outpatient physical therapy continued with multiple visits a week to the Apple Hill health campus hospital’s therapy gym.
“He’s certainly come a long way,” says Reimold. “Not just his movements, which is an obvious measure, but also alleviating his pain.”
WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital offers state-of-the-art advanced orthopedic, spine and neurological surgery procedures, as well as both inpatient and specialized outpatient rehabilitation services. Since opening in 2012 the hospital has been honored with numerous awards and accreditations. To learn more, visit www.WellSpan.org/WSRH.
While he continues his outpatient rehabilitation, Glover returned to basketball practice the first week in December and was back to work in January. He’s grateful for the progress he’s made but knows that without the support of his team of family, friends and caregivers, the recovery may not have been possible – a fitting mindset for a coach.
“I would always tell my players to ‘make it count’ every time they are on that court,” he says. “Now I can live every day what I tell my players.”
