{"id":394942,"date":"2025-03-22T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=394942"},"modified":"2025-03-23T10:43:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T10:43:42","slug":"patients-assemble-for-very-special-story-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=394942","title":{"rendered":"Patients assemble for very special story hour\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of Veteran patients at the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI\/D) Center at Jefferson Barracks VA<\/a> assembled in the facility\u2019s dayroom recently for a very special story hour.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

VA recreational therapist Charlie Wright settled into a chair before the group and held up a book entitled, \u201cMr. Groundy and the Rag Tag Crew.\u201d He put a corncob pipe in his mouth and a red-white-blue knitted throw around his shoulders as if he was readying for a stage performance.\u00a0The book\u2019s author, Army Veteran and SCI patient Vickie Aldridge, was smiling from a chair nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Groundy and the Rag Tag Crew\u201d follows the adventures of a groundhog and his animal friends. With the help of their human friend, Ms. Green, the Rag Tag Crew encourages readers of all ages to join in efforts to protect the earth.<\/p>\n

This is Aldridge\u2019s second book; the first \u201cMr. Groundy,\u201d published in 2021, introduced readers to the groundhog resident of character Ms. Green\u2019s two acres in Kentucky. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Groundy and all the creatures on my land inspired me to write, to have a message about preserving nature, and I can\u2019t wait to get started again,\u201d she said, then grabbed a pen on the table next to her and, holding it up, added, \u201cNot too long ago, I couldn\u2019t even hold a pen in my hand, much less walk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In November 2024, Aldridge was blindsided by a vehicle while walking.\u00a0The next thing she remembered is waking up and being told she was being prepared for emergency surgery. \u201cI didn\u2019t even see the vehicle that hit me. The next thing I knew, I was in the emergency room. All my limbs were paralyzed,\u201d she said. \u201cI still recall the accident each night before I go to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aldridge was treated in a Kentucky hospital, where she regained movement on her left side and attributes a social worker for facilitating her transfer to Jefferson Barracks for continued rehabilitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smiling, she said, \u201cComing here was a blessing. The entire team, from Charlie to the doctors, nurses, and my physical therapists, have been amazing.\u00a0And it\u2019s been nice being with other Veterans.\u201d <\/p>\n

As a VA SCI\/D specialty referral hub for the Midwest region, the center provides world-class, quality, holistic care to Veterans with SCI\/D, aiming to support Veterans as they undergo rehabilitation to restore and maintain optimal independence and quality of life. It consists of a rehabilitation unit at Jefferson Barracks\u00a0and an acute-care ward at the John Cochran Division.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Vickie Aldridge\u2019s book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Impressed by her upbeat attitude<\/h2>\n

Katherine Stenson, MD, associate chief of staff of the Spinal Cord Injury Unit, expressed her appreciation of Aldridge\u2019s positive words about her team. \u201cI\u2019m very impressed by Veteran Aldridge\u2019s determination and consistently upbeat attitude throughout her course of rehabilitation. She has made great strides,\u201d\u00a0Stenson said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for the skill, compassion and persistence that our team brings to the table 24\/7 for Veterans admitted here.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been several months since Aldridge was home, and she looks forward to her discharge. The author has a novel in progress and is eager to return to her writing.<\/p>\n

When asked what she would advise aspiring writers, she said, \u201cNo matter if you fail to do it, just try again. Don\u2019t give up. Never. Keep trying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She held up her book with Mr. Groundy, the gentle Ms. Green, and their four animal friends on the cover. \u201cIt was scary for me, you know. Even a children\u2019s book,\u201d\u00a0 she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, oh, my gosh, is it good enough? If it does get published, it\u2019s the fear that everybody will judge you.\u00a0I don\u2019t let fear take me down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The St. Louis VA SCI\/D Center serves more than 1,300 Veterans with spinal cord injuries from Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi. It is dedicated to offering well-established, highly coordinated programs that provide acute rehabilitation and chronic lifelong comprehensive care to Veterans with SCI\/D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of Veteran patients at the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI\/D) Center at Jefferson Barracks VA assembled in the facility\u2019s dayroom recently for a very special story hour.\u00a0 \u00a0 VA recreational therapist Charlie Wright settled into a chair before the group and held up a book entitled, \u201cMr. Groundy and the Rag Tag […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":394944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,929,1274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-spinal-cord-injuries-disorders","category-visn-15"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=394942"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":394945,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394942\/revisions\/394945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/394944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=394942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=394942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=394942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}