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Shore Rehabilitation Institute
MeridianHealth.com • 1-800-DOCTORS
Rehab Helps College Athlete
SCORE
More than 100,000 viewers
have watched the YouTube
footage of Cory Weissman
— Jackson native, Gettysburg College
basketball player, and stroke survivor
— scoring his only college point. But
few people know what it took to get
him that far.
Cory was 19 in March 2009 when his
head started to hurt and his left arm
went numb while he lifted weights.
After a stroke at age 19, athlete Cory Weissman
was paralyzed on his left side. Years of therapy
got him back on the court, and he now plans to
become an athletic trainer or physical therapist.
A
COMEBACK
from a Stroke
Doctors determined he’d had a stroke
caused by burst blood vessels in his
brain. They stopped the bleeding and
later performed surgery.
But Cory, a former star athlete
at Jackson Memorial High School,
was paralyzed on his left side.
He couldn’t walk, had short-term
memory loss, and suffered seizures.
It would take years of therapy — and
the dedication of his team at Shore
Rehabilitation Institute — before
Cory was back at the free-throw line
in front of a cheering crowd.
Team Approach and a
Passionate Coach
At Shore Rehabilitation Institute, an
acute rehabilitation facility located in
Brick and adjacent to Ocean Medical
Center, Cory worked with Priya
Sharad, P.T., who directs the outpatient
stroke program there, which is part
of Meridian Neuroscience. Although
Cory had already made substantial
progress after five weeks of inpatient
therapy, Sharad wasted no time getting
him to work. “She had me doing
one-legged squats the first
session,” Cory says. “It didn’t
take Priya long to start
kicking my behind.”
Sharad says she focused
on helping Cory stabilize
his trunk and realize how
much he was compensating for his
deficits. “He had to relearn how to
use both sides of his body,” she says.
“Recovering from stroke is a lifelong
process.”
“Priya’s an incredible therapist,”
says Cory, “but there’s also such
great teamwork at Shore Rehab.
The therapists are constantly
communicating with each other
about how to help their patients
do better.”
A Champion’s Heart,
a Dream Fulfilled
By fall 2009, Cory was ready to return
to college, where he spent three
years helping the basketball team.
Then, on February 11, 2012, with 52
seconds left in the season’s last
home game, his heroic moment
happened: His coach put him in, an
opposing player intentionally fouled
Cory, and he finally got a basket as a
college player.
While Cory remembers that day
fondly, he’s looking ahead. Although
he still walks with a slight limp, he can
run up to three miles. He graduated
from Gettysburg in December 2012
and plans to become an athletic
trainer or physical therapist.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he says.
“I have a little more trouble studying
and doing my work. But I never quit
anything in my life.” •
Restoring Your Life
Shore Rehab provides a broad spectrum of rehabilitation
services, bringing together the latest innovative equipment
with a newly opened Neuro-Rehab Technology Center. With the
expertise and care of our compassionate team, we’re committed
to restoring your life back to you. Call 732-836-4500 or visit
ShoreRehabilitationInstitute.com.
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