You know what time it is, the end of a month brings us another unbelievable story to share with you – and September is no exception! We are so proud to announce that Joann Pechacek is our September Client of the Month!
Every great story always have an obstacle or adversity to overcome. That couldn’t be more true for Joann’s journey…
Not too long ago Joann was enjoying her regular life when in the blink of an eye, everything changed. (A little warning, it is quite an intense story). While driving home from work one morning, she was sitting in traffic when another vehicle slammed into the rear of her car. That vehicle was traveling close to 80 MPH when it collided with Joann’s car. Needless to say, her life changed dramatically that day.
From the accident Joann sustained countless injuries, including 4 which are considered fatal each by themselves. Those injuries included breaking all of her ribs on the right side of her body (over 30 fractures in them), her lungs were punctured, suffered a brain injury, had a symptom called “hangman’s fracture” of the neck, her T5 vertebrae was fractured in 2 places, and she ruptured her pulmonary artery. She spent over a month in the hospital and followed that with a year and a half of physical therapy and speech therapy.
During one point in her journey, her doctors told her that the best possible scenario is if she ends up in a nursing home being taken care of for the rest of her life. That was the best case scenario in their eyes; but she never gave up…
At the end of February Joann came to Pro Fitness looking for help. Her PT had run out and she knew that she had to keep working or her body wouldn’t fully recover. After recently moving to the area she decided to train with Darron Lattomus to improve her function and increase her quality of life. Being that she now has 2 12″ metal rods in her back, 4 titanium plated ribs, and one functioning lung her goals initially were relatively modest compared to most. But she was bound and determined to improve her cardiovascular system, better her breathing, increase strength to support her body, loosen up her back from all the surgeries, and to put on weight. Essentially she wanted her freedom back.
On her very first day she weighed 106lbs and today she is 120lbs. This summer Joann was able to kayak, hike, go for long walks, travel at will, enjoy anything and everything she wanted to and handled all of life’s curve balls. She regained the freedom she had lost from the accident. Going forward she looks to keep building muscle and improving her cardiovascular endurance. She knows it is an uphill battle, but she is up to the task…
Lastly, Joann wanted to share a few words:
“I cannot thank Darron & Pro Fitness enough for everything they have done for me. At one point I had a very poor outlook on my future but they have helped me get my life back. They were so welcoming and have become like an extended family to me. I can’t stress to you how important it is to work with such a knowledgeable trainer to recover from ANYTHING! Any person going through a tough time or has any condition – needs a trainer to make sure you are on the right recovery path. So thank you to Darron, Pro Fitness, and everyone here who makes it feel like a family. And never, ever give up.”
PS… Her original doctors from her accident recently checked in with her and told her, “It is nothing short of a miracle seeing you now and hearing of all the things you have been able to accomplish since that day…”