Leo
10-31-2003, 05:24 PM
Injured radio station manager making progress
By Joy S. Morrison - Journal Community Editor
Sarah Maberry, 6, left, watches her dad, Neil, walk during therapy at the Portneuf Medical Center. A mountain bike accident left him partly paralyzed. Scott Stevens, an occupational therapist, right, and nurse Mia Christensen assist. Journal photo by Doug Lindley
POCATELLO - Six-year-old Sarah Maberry just wants her hospitalized daddy, Neil Maberry, to come home.
Sometimes she sheds tears about it.
But Neil Maberry, general manager of Classic Rock 102 and two other Idaho radio stations, has been hospitalized nearly three months since being paralyzed below the shoulders in an Aug. 7 mountain-biking accident. He was coasting downhill on a trail on Pocatello's east bench off Satterfield Road. Even his bike helmet was cracked when he struck a gopher hole.
Neil's family, which includes his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Lena, 10, and Sarah, spend a lot of time with him at the Portneuf Medical Center Rehabilitation Center.
However, there isn't a lot for young girls to do there.
Now, Neil is considered to be making progress, his wife said.
"He's getting more strength in his legs, and more movement in his arms," she said. "It has just been very slow."
Mary said it is important for Neil to look at everything in a positive way. He went through a long period where he was sick, but currently he is "just in the business of trying to get his body strong."
Neil spends from two to fours hours a day in rehabilitation activities. This week he was put in a harness, an apparatus that suspends him over the ground. He is working on walking and bearing more weight.
Mary mentioned he enjoys having visitors.
Moving Neil to a state-of-the art spinal cord recovery center is under consideration. Suggested locations have been the Craig Hospital in Colorado and Harbor View in Seattle.
Treatment in these hospitals runs around $50,000 a month, which is a major problem. Maberry already has used up his health insurance.
However, his wife has written an appeal to Regence BlueShield of Idaho asking them to continue covering his bills. Several fund-raisers were conducted for him, and others are in the planning stage.
Maberry Benefits
- What: Two fund-raisers for the Neil Maberry family sponsored by Grace Lutheran at the church and school, 1350 Baldy Ave.
- Sunday: A spaghetti feed with silent auction from noon to 2:30 p.m. Items include a Big Sky getaway, Grand Targhee ski weekend, ISU women's basketball season tickets, Pebble Creek Ski Area season pass, a night at the Black Swan Inn, a pair of parabolic skis, tickets to the Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls.
- Nov. 6: Bake sale from 2 to 4 p.m.
- To Donate: An offering will be accepted for the Maberry family. All proceeds up to $5,000 will be matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. All checks can be made payable to Thrivent and sent directly to Grace Lutheran if you cannot attend one of the fund-raisers.
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you."
Gandolf the Gray
By Joy S. Morrison - Journal Community Editor
Sarah Maberry, 6, left, watches her dad, Neil, walk during therapy at the Portneuf Medical Center. A mountain bike accident left him partly paralyzed. Scott Stevens, an occupational therapist, right, and nurse Mia Christensen assist. Journal photo by Doug Lindley
POCATELLO - Six-year-old Sarah Maberry just wants her hospitalized daddy, Neil Maberry, to come home.
Sometimes she sheds tears about it.
But Neil Maberry, general manager of Classic Rock 102 and two other Idaho radio stations, has been hospitalized nearly three months since being paralyzed below the shoulders in an Aug. 7 mountain-biking accident. He was coasting downhill on a trail on Pocatello's east bench off Satterfield Road. Even his bike helmet was cracked when he struck a gopher hole.
Neil's family, which includes his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Lena, 10, and Sarah, spend a lot of time with him at the Portneuf Medical Center Rehabilitation Center.
However, there isn't a lot for young girls to do there.
Now, Neil is considered to be making progress, his wife said.
"He's getting more strength in his legs, and more movement in his arms," she said. "It has just been very slow."
Mary said it is important for Neil to look at everything in a positive way. He went through a long period where he was sick, but currently he is "just in the business of trying to get his body strong."
Neil spends from two to fours hours a day in rehabilitation activities. This week he was put in a harness, an apparatus that suspends him over the ground. He is working on walking and bearing more weight.
Mary mentioned he enjoys having visitors.
Moving Neil to a state-of-the art spinal cord recovery center is under consideration. Suggested locations have been the Craig Hospital in Colorado and Harbor View in Seattle.
Treatment in these hospitals runs around $50,000 a month, which is a major problem. Maberry already has used up his health insurance.
However, his wife has written an appeal to Regence BlueShield of Idaho asking them to continue covering his bills. Several fund-raisers were conducted for him, and others are in the planning stage.
Maberry Benefits
- What: Two fund-raisers for the Neil Maberry family sponsored by Grace Lutheran at the church and school, 1350 Baldy Ave.
- Sunday: A spaghetti feed with silent auction from noon to 2:30 p.m. Items include a Big Sky getaway, Grand Targhee ski weekend, ISU women's basketball season tickets, Pebble Creek Ski Area season pass, a night at the Black Swan Inn, a pair of parabolic skis, tickets to the Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls.
- Nov. 6: Bake sale from 2 to 4 p.m.
- To Donate: An offering will be accepted for the Maberry family. All proceeds up to $5,000 will be matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. All checks can be made payable to Thrivent and sent directly to Grace Lutheran if you cannot attend one of the fund-raisers.
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you."
Gandolf the Gray