We’ve helped thousands of people return home as independent and prepared for the future as possible

“Nobody wants to be in this situation, but if you have to be, Craig is definitely the place to recover.”

“As soon as I arrived at Craig, I felt like I had entered heaven. Everything felt so safe. I knew it would be okay.”

“For me to come to Craig, I considered it to be a real blessing and a great opportunity.”

“There is no question that we wouldn’t be where we are today without Craig and the unwavering support we received.” – Jacob’s mom, Jody

“Everyone at Craig showed me that life was not over after a spinal cord injury.”

“[Craig] had such a warm atmosphere and I could see all of those people, all of the therapists, all of the doctors. They just wanted the best for you.”

“Being at Craig was a great experience for me. The staff helped me adjust to my new life and accept my new reality.”

“I have had the opportunity to learn that joy can come from suffering and that empathy leads to happiness. Wisdom begins with ‘I can.’ These lessons did not come easily.”

“Craig is a powerful place, and the staff at Craig are wonderful.”

“Everybody finds their own strengths and weaknesses. [Craig is] just the place to make things happen and move forward with your life.”

“Just wonderful.” – Danielle on her experience with the Craig Hospital Aphasia Therapy (CHAT) Program.

“Craig was like Disney boot camp. The hospital was a well-oiled machine with a very kind and helpful culture. I considered it to be the best of humanity at the worst time of my life. I remember feeling so thankful to be in an energetic, optimistic and encouraging place.”

“Not only did my therapists integrate dogs into all of my therapies, but Meyer and Sully helped motivate me to push myself and forced me out of my room and into the Craig community.”

“Craig helps normalize what you are going through. The entire staff truly cares and gives you the tools to be independent. They work hard to set you up for success.”

“Being at Craig is like being in a home with really nice people who treat me like a queen.”

“The professionals at Craig cared not only for me, but took care of my family. It meant so much to my wife, Cecilia, and me. Craig is the best rehabilitation hospital in the world for people with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. I thank everyone who has cared for me throughout these past 50 years.”

“My support system is great. Not everyone has that. It has been a lifesaver to say the least,” says Adam. “you can overcome any setback in life. You just can’t be afraid to try.”

“[Having my family together] was a huge component in my healing. I had those tangible people there loving me and supporting me and giving me a reason to recover.”

“I try and do as much as I can. I wouldn’t be where I am without the team at Craig. The facility, the people and the overall support have really helped focus my future in adaptive sports. I’ve been an active volunteer in Craig’s Therapeutic Recreation Department and will continue to give back as much as possible.”

“After experiencing a traumatic injury myself, I want to use my knowledge of psychology to help individuals who endure traumatic events as well as similar injuries as myself,” Alex says. “I’m excited to return to school and happy to be home. I’m doing well and am grateful for the support of my family and friends throughout this experience.”

“I was always being pushed, and it was always positive. They treated each patient based on their individual needs and never used a canned therapy plan.”

“The team at Craig is incredible. Their positive energy got me through the darkest days of my life,” Ben says. “They motivated me to never stop pursuing my dreams, always encouraging me to think outside the box when it came to my injuries.”

“I looked for inspirational quotes and landed on one by Mary Davis that says, ‘The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.’ It exactly described how I was feeling. I was so grateful for my family, the doctors, the nurses and my technicians at Craig.”

“The staff has seen it all. They’d say, ‘Okay, you have a C6 spinal cord injury. This is how it will work.’ That ability to empathize and understand so quickly—that’s the power of Craig. You build strong connections with staff and peers.”

“If you’re injured or even if you just know an injured person, it’s an amazingly uplifting function to come to. It’s amazing how happy and excited injured people can be to just be alive.”

“Every day, my physical therapist would start our session by saying, ‘Hey, I want you to try this. What do you think?’ I decided I would never say no.”

“If you want to do something, you’ve got to give it your all.”

“It wasn’t until I joined Instagram and Craig put out my story via a blog that more and more people started following me within the spinal cord (SCI) community. I didn’t want to feel I was getting favorable treatment,” Brett said. “I want the bar to be much higher! But I do like putting process videos out there to show people I paint with a mouth stick.”

“The entire hospital is filled with families whose lives were also turned upside down. We have met many of these families and have shared our stories of simultaneously dealing with hope and unimaginable stress.” – Bryan’s dad, Jeff

“When I entered high school, I was sure that football would be my legacy,” he says. “My time at Craig — as a patient, a volunteer, and an intern — has given me a new kind of passion and a way to engage.”

“I refuse to let this injury define what I am able to do. A Craig psychologist told me to turn my spinal cord injury into a challenge rather than let it be a defeat. I took those words to heart.”

“I hope this class starts new patients on the journey or the path towards the independence and activities that reengage them in the community. It’s one way I can help people along.”

“The Community Reintegration program gave me the opportunity to go back to work in a well-supported manner,” says Deverie. “It feels amazing to be back.”

“I’ve never seen so many positive people in one organization in my life. They never told me I couldn’t do something,” Don says.

“When you’re at your lowest point and you don’t think anything is possible, and then all of a sudden, it’s, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ – that’s empowering lives and that’s what Craig does.”

”The list of people that touched my life at Craig is extensive – from occupational therapy to physical therapy to speech therapy to psychology – and who can forget the therapeutic recreation? Such fun – along with incredible tech and nursing staff as well as doctors – all combined into a great system that allowed me, as well as my family, to change a horrific accident into a positive experience.”

“I came to Craig very unsure about my future, not knowing how I could live my life. The amazing people at Craig gave me the confidence and skills I needed to be independent and move forward.”

“The surgery was a huge milestone for me,” Jason says. “I woke up almost completely pain-free and immediately said, ‘I’m going back to school.’ It was a very clear decision and all I have done since then — tennis, tutoring, earning my biomedical engineering degree — was possible because of that decision.”

“I got back to my life, albeit at a much slower pace,” Jenny says. “My sons, now 3-years-old and 8-months-old, certainly keep me busy! I’ve been an active volunteer in Craig’s Therapeutic Recreation Department since my accident… I cannot speak more highly of all the people I met at Craig. Craig and everyone there will always be so near and dear to my heart.”

“I was relieved when they told me I had a head injury! A cloud was lifted and the Craig team worked with me on ways to compensate, including setting up daily calendars and reminders, returning to work skills, and volunteering. I eventually got a job with Circuit City where I worked until I turned 59.”

“The key is to get back to some type of work where you re-engage with society. For some that work could be volunteering or raising children, but no matter what your injury level is, there is meaningful work to be found. It isn’t easy and there are lots of hurdles, but the mental and physical benefits are tremendous.”

“It felt good to be surrounded by them again. They have been my family since I met them in January. It means so much that they support me and they have my back.” (Note: better quote about Craig could be derived from video, since the only quote in the article was able his football teammates)

“Whatever I wanted to master, Craig therapists helped me do it. If one technique didn’t work, they’d strategize another way to do it. They even helped me learn how to transfer into my saddle and relearn how to swing my rope,” Kayla says.

“They told me they would help me with whatever was possible since there is no playbook for TBI recovery. There were times when I was so frustrated and wanted to quit. But you can’t.”

“My treatment was at Craig Hospital for the aphasia. The people is caring, compassionate and inspiring. I love my speech department and my doctors!”

“I’m really back to a fairly normal life. Just from a seated position.”

“There are tools out there to use, and there are people who are crushing it and having a good time. They are still able to play outside and have a sense of adventure with whatever disability they may have. It has been so good for me to know for those hard days.”

“It’s weird to say you like a hospital, but Craig made me better. I can never lose sight of it — it’s a special place for me.”

“Every day is a gift, and with a little perspective, you realize that whatever challenge you are facing is something that you can overcome.”

“Other places, it just didn’t sound like I was going to be working as hard and I didn’t want that. Craig was going to give me the best chance, that’s why we came.”

“Before, you always take life for granted, but then you have an accident like this, and you’re pretty darn lucky to be waking up. I thank God every day. I’ll be involved in Craig all my life.”

“More than anything, I wanted to run again. The Alter-G zero-gravity treadmill helped me do that, as did the staff at Craig who were phenomenal. Their continual positivity helped push me forward. They never let me get stuck, or stressed. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Craig and the support of my family.”

“People get hurt accidentally all the time, and Craig is able to help them find meaning and purpose in spite of the new condition they find themselves in.”

“I realized I couldn’t just roll back into work as I had expected. I needed my Community Reintegration counselor’s guidance and expertise in order to be successful in my transition.”

uld ride his bike down the hall while I was learning how to navigate my wheelchair,” recalls Carley. “The way Craig approached my injury shaped how my son views my disability. He was involved in everything while I was at Craig, even swimming, therapeutic recreation and the NeuroRecovery Network sessions. It made a huge difference.”

“I am very fortunate to have recovered, yet I don’t think of it as a recovery. I think of it as growth. Craig allowed me to grow into myself. The accident almost became the method in which I achieved self-acceptance, and not a terrible experience. I now live in the present as much as possible, because no one can see the future, and the past is over. The present is all we have. Every, every day. Thank you, Craig.”

“There isn’t something that I can’t do, it’s just going to look a little different.”

“When I first arrived, I was in pretty bad shape. I’m convinced it was the environment and the team that helped me feel more like myself again. The joy of meeting and interacting with everyone overshadowed any pain I felt.”

“Most of my goals had to do with learning how to do the small things, because I figured learning how to do the small things would lead into learning how to do the bigger things.”

“I couldn’t have asked for better integrated care; my therapists were motivating and empathetic, and made the work fun. The morale of the entire staff at Craig inspired me.”

“I was nervous to come home, but I knew that I had learned all I could possibly learn through Craig’s specialized level of care. It truly prepared me to return home to a life of independence.”

“We met with the entire [Craig] team and that’s when I knew: this is going to work. They’re going to identify every single issue and we’re going to work on all of them, every possible perspective.”

“At Craig, you have the resources, you have people who are trying to get you back to whatever your sense of normal is.”

“Soldering is like welding with finesse. It makes me feel better that I can still do something artistic.”

“My accident put a lot in perspective. You don’t get to pick your tragedy. Plus, it’s not your highest point that defines you, it’s how you recover from your lowest point.”

“When I got to Craig, I was able to get into a wheelchair and we immediately started working, getting me stronger.”

“Instead of trying to get back to exactly who I was and what I was doing before the accident, I’m trying to be kinder to myself, be present, and allow myself to be productive in a new way.”

“I’ve left behind my wheelchair and my walking sticks, because of Craig. When I went back home to Arkansas, I was able to graduate with my class, walking to accept my diploma.”

“I hadn’t had great experiences with doctors in the past. But at Craig, everyone genuinely wanted to push me to the next level.”

“If [therapeutic recreation at Craig] got me out of my room, I was in. My favorite activity was archery. And going to game night and seeing all the adaptive video games was really eye-opening and cool to see. I also did the adaptive driving program at Craig.”

“We had a lot of fun as patients together. I got really close to my roommate, and I enjoyed joking with everyone and even pranking the staff. It was an emotionally taxing time, so to offer levity with laughter was critical.”

“I hear colors. So I tried my art again and now I paint songs. Music is awesome. All music is good now, but live music is so good. Now my art is new again and more free.”

“I got to Craig and I was so scared, and Kelly [Megan’s nurse] started talking to me — ‘how are you doing?’ — I can’t remember what Kelly was saying, but it made me calm and [feel] that I have a friend.”

“You never really want to be in the hospital, but my time at Craig was as good as it possibly could have been thanks to the people. Everyone on that team was so kind and patient with me.”

“I would not be where I am today if it were not for Craig. I’ll never be able to thank them enough for their exceptional care.”

“There’s a reason I’m in medical school, and that reason is very much Craig. I don’t know what type of medicine I will one day practice, but as a person living with spinal cord injury, I’ve definitely been in the ‘patient role,’ and I look forward to being able to use that experience to positively impact and engage with my future patients.”

“It’s always fun pushing myself and having that adrenaline rush. I’ve always loved that.”

“I can imagine using computer science to create a website that people could use to talk with others in a similar situation. It’s something that really helped me at Craig Hospital—connecting with people my age with spinal cord injuries.”

“[My speech therapist Deb] is great. She knew just how to relate to me.”

“These injuries are catastrophic and you feel like you can’t move forward. You’ve got to redefine that mindset.”

“Every one of the people [who supported me] were invaluable in giving me the confidence and the motivation to work hard with what was, and work toward what could be.”

“It was a blessing to have been helped, and it’s a blessing to give help to others,” he says. “I feel like people should give what they can, even if it’s only a small amount.”

“One of the biggest shocks to me was, when I got into the therapy rooms and I saw the other people and what they were doing, that motivated me. You become friends with these people. These people become your family.”

“The people here, they push me, and I love it because I know it’s going to get me to home base.”

“I now have the confidence that almost anything I encounter will pale in comparison to what it took to overcome my injury.”

“…I felt like part of my life came back. I remember feeling a sense of relief and freedom. It was honestly the best day since I got sick. For the first time in a year, I could actually do something without the help of others.”