‘Miracle Patient’ Shares Story of Recovery During National Rehabilitation Awareness Week

The odds weren't in Jerry Crose's favor when he suffered an aneurysm in December of 2019.

The Shelby native waited hours before going to the hospital after first feeling a sharp, shooting pain in his chest at work that day. He says he began pouring out sweat, but after a few minutes, the pain went away and he continued working.

Crose left work early that day and decided to go to OhioHealth Shelby Hospital after his pain returned. After a CT scan and vitals check, Crose was told he would be life-flighted to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital for emergency surgery. 

He ended up in a ten-day coma after suffering three different seizures and significant blood loss during surgery. When he woke up, he was paralyzed on his left side and had severe bed sores. He asked to return to Shelby Hospital to begin rehabilitation.

“To me, that's what started my healing process,” said Crose. “The staff here works in good, close contact with you.”

Crose spent two weeks at Shelby Hospital in the Transitional Care Program before getting transferred to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital's Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit.

“Shelby and Mansfield made me feel like I was wanted and cared for,” said Crose. “When they treat you like that, it makes a difference.”

After rigorous physical therapy and treatment, Crose's motor skills returned on his left side. He was able to walk out of the hospital after spending two months there.

Following Crose's release, physical therapists worked with him in his home. He would also return to Shelby and Mansfield Hospitals often. 

“Some of them called me a miracle patient,” said Crose. “A couple months after I got out, there was a physical therapist who worked with me who saw me walking into physical therapy. He joked, ‘I thought I’d seen a ghost.'”

In the following years, Crose continued to work with physical therapists at both hospitals. While it was taxing physically, it was also a hard time for him mentally.

“There were definitely days where I didn't want to go,” said Crose. “But I had people who said ‘that’s not how you get better. You can't sit around and feel sorry for yourself.'”

That support and encouragement did wonders for Crose. After shifting his mindset, Crose continued to improve dramatically. Today, he's able to walk around his house without a cane, and uses a cane to get around outside.  He says he couldn't have done it without the rehabilitation programs and caring therapists at both hospitals. Now, he's sharing his story in the hopes of encouraging others facing uphill battles during their recoveries. 

“I'm walking again, and I didn't do it alone,” said Crose. “It took many people inside and outside this (Shelby) Hospital who cared enough to work with me.”