Laykin came to Shriners Children’s Philadelphia for outpatient therapy after sustaining a lower thoracic spinal cord injury, due to a motor vehicle accident, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.
When a child sustains a spinal cord injury, it can be overwhelming for both the patient and their family. A specialized care plan was created by Bethany Lipa M.D., director of physical medicine and rehabilitation. After her initial evaluation, it was decided that she would receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and new custom-made orthotics from our in-house Pediatric Orthotic and Prosthetic department.
Becky Suddaby MSPO, (L)CO, is a certified orthotist who worked with Laykin and her family to understand their goals and create bilateral custom ankle foot orthoses (AFO) and hip, knee, ankle, foot orthosis orthotics (HKAFO). Laykin was able to customize her color choices, which, of course, included pink. The AFOs help to provide stability to the foot and ankle for children who are learning to stand. HKAFO braces help her walk, and improved her lower limb alignment. With her custom-made braces, Laykin is now standing and able to walk with a walker.
Laykin is working hard with her therapy team to gain strength and independence in physical and occupational therapy. Currently, in physical therapy, she is working hard on transferring to and from her wheelchair and getting onto and up from the floor.
Over the summer, she completed the Therastride program. Therastride is a full body weight-supported manual treadmill training that is designed to give patients with spinal cord injuries more opportunities for movement.
At Shriners Children’s, our wrap-around care approach allows each patient and their family to work closely with their team to monitor progress and track their recovery.
“Laykin has made a lot of progress since coming to Shriners Children’s Philadelphia,” said Ashley, Laykin’s mom. “She went from only being able to stand with her braces to now walking.”
For every patient who comes through our doors with a spinal cord injury, it is our goal to make sure that children can participate in community activities and live independent and happy lives. When Laykin is not in Philadelphia for appointments, she enjoys art, cheerleading, Roblox, swimming, bike riding and softball.
Go team, go! Laykin cheers with her team under the lights.
Laykin goes for a bike ride using her adaptive bike.
Laykin in the central activity area of Shriners Children's Philadelphia.
Laykin sits in her wheelchair next to boxes of BILLY Footwear that she brought with her to a recent appointment as part of a donation from Chestnutty Bargains.
