Beverly Hasson is a physical therapist for Redbud Physical therapy in Tahlequah, but she lives in Stilwell, where she has volunteered at the high school to work with athletes.
A native of Tennessee, she finds joy in helping people return to the lives they lived before they experienced an accident or illness.
As a child, her parents, teachers, and friends figured she would become a doctor someday, and she had the grades to get into the school of her choice. With a sharp mind and a nurturing disposition, she could have done anything in the medical field, but becoming a doctor didn’t feel right to her.
In the eighth grade, she attended a career fair, where she met a young physical therapist who changed her life. She felt inspired by his stories and his clever wit.
“He was funny and he told about funny situations that happened at work, and what he did. I thought, ‘this is medical; it sounds like me.’ I prayed about it for a few days, and I felt like the Lord was saying, ‘Yeah, this is you,’” said Hasson.
At the time, there was only one physical therapy school in the State of Tennessee, which was at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The program only admitted 32 students per year, so she had to work hard in high school to be admitted.
Hasson graduated from the program and later moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she earned a master of health care administration. She has been working as a physical therapist since 1983.
In 2013, Hasson was recruited to work at the Stilwell Memorial Hospital, where she remained until 2019.
In Stilwell, she realized there was a need in the community. She saw athletes getting hurt in competition, and she decided to help.
“I volunteered to do sports medicine coverage for Stilwell High School for four or five years there. I helped them with the athletic trainer. We did some preventative work to help them so they wouldn’t get hurt in the first place, and when they did get hurt, we’d take care of it correctly,” she said.
Hasson loves working as a physical therapist because she likes feeling the satisfaction of knowing her work has improved the lives of others.
“It’s about seeing people get back the function that they’ve lost – getting back to being able to work, getting back to being able to go fishing if that’s their hobby that they love, and getting back to being able to walk and go to the store after surgeries or sicknesses. All of the victories are what makes this job fun,” she said.
Read full article here: https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/everyday-heroes-physical-therapist-helping-young-area-athletes-heal/article_78b8018f-f99d-5b17-8d9b-bb3e6b8e7608.html
