"Small tasks that most people take for granted are remarkable for Trevor."

Trevor Granville is living proof of the miracle of rehabilitation.

On Sept. 22, 2009, Granville, 43, of Providence, stood with his walker before a group of staff and former patients of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island at the hospital's annual patient reunion celebrating National Rehabilitation Week to haltingly describe his experience as a stroke survivor and express his gratitude to the therapists who have helped in his recovery. ...read more.

While his words were powerful, his mere presence was enough to show the magnitude of his continuing recovery, which truly is nothing short of miraculous. Just two months earlier, Granville was in a “locked-in” state. In medical terms, “locked-in syndrome” refers to a condition in which a patient is aware and awake, but cannot move or communicate due to the complete paralysis of nearly every muscle in the body except for the eyes. It is caused by damage to specific portions of the lower brain and brainstem, which controls many of the body’s involuntary functions.

Every year, it is estimated that several thousand patients will survive the kind of brain-stem stroke that causes the condition, but the prognosis is usually dim. Often survivors will remain quadriplegics for the rest of their life, unable to move or speak and sometimes dependent on a ventilator to breathe. Every once in a while though, a patient will defy the odds and medical convention. Granville is one of those fortunate few.

After undergoing intensive daily inpatient treatments with physical, occupational, and speech therapists at RHRI, Granville was discharged from the hospital to the care of his mother, Carolyn Mims, a few days after he was the featured speaker at RHRI’s annual patient reunion back in September.

Life has certainly changed since the stroke. Granville and his mother had to move to a more accessible home, and outpatient rehabilitation will probably always be part of his daily routine. He gets around with the assistance of a walker, and his speech is a bit slurred. Nonetheless, Mims marvels at the success her son has achieved when, just a few months ago, no hope seemed possible.

“I am so grateful to everyone at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island for the care he received,” she said recently, as she watched her son navigate down a few stairs with his walker and go out the front door to get the mail. “Small tasks that most people take for granted are remarkable for Trevor.”