At Regional One Health, we believe patients shouldn’t just survive a traumatic injury, they should get the chance to return to the activities they love.

Our Elvis Presley Trauma Center and Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital are built to help critically injured patients heal, regain strength, and return to independent life.

That’s exactly what happened for Mike Owens thanks to the care he received at Regional One Health and opportunities presented by Memphis’ Rollin’ Grizzlies wheelchair basketball team.

Mike Owens was a father of two young children when, as he puts it, “7 seconds changed my life.”

Two Memphis institutions – Regional One Health and the Rollin’ Grizzlies wheelchair basketball team – helped Mike find his way.

Ten years ago, Mike was fixing a flat tire when a distracted driver slammed into his friend’s truck, pinning him between the bumper and ground. He was airlifted to the Elvis Presley Trauma Center. To save his life, doctors amputated both legs below the hip.

“The last thing I remember is going into surgery,” he said. “My youngest daughter wasn’t even 1, and my oldest daughter was barely 2 years old. They were all I cared about.”

The expert care Mike received at the trauma center allowed him to survive his injuries. As he entered the rehabilitation therapy phase of his treatment, he relied on his dedicated team and his own willpower to regain his strength and independence.

Along the way, the rehab team did something that would mark a turning point in Mike’s care.

They connected them to Coach Al Greer and his Rollin’ Grizzlies.

“After an injury like that, your first thought is, ‘My life is over. I can’t do what I used to do,’” Greer said. “But then you find something like this…and it completely changes your perspective.”

It’s an experience Greer has lived personally.

When he was injured as a youth, he had never seen another person in a wheelchair. But he found a robust adaptive sports program in Virginia Beach, and the world opened up: “Seeing other people in wheelchairs leading normal lives was the most beneficial thing for me,” he said.

When Greer moved to Memphis for work, “I tried to find a basketball team and couldn’t. I kind of gave up on it. Years later I was at a Grizzlies game and they played at halftime. I rushed down and grabbed one of them and said, ‘How can I play?’”

He started playing and later took over coaching. Now, he leads a team that has finished as high as third in the nation and is starting a youth program as well. Through it all, he’s seen lives like Mike’s change for the better.

Mike was still a patient in the Regional One Health Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital when his physical therapist took him to a Rollin’ Grizzlies practice. “I love ball, and I thought, ‘How can I get back to it?’ It just kind of made me feel normal. You feel free,” Mike said.

Greer says that’s the case for many of his players. Wheelchair basketball offers cardiovascular exercise, competition, camaraderie, and a chance to be part of something bigger than yourself.

The game itself is fast and physical, with timing, rules and court dimensions similar to college hoops. Greer said anyone can practice with the team, but those who play in games must be ruled eligible by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.

“You don’t have to be in a wheelchair at all times, but you have to have a permanent lower-limb injury that would keep you from playing able-bodied basketball,” Greer explained.

His players include paraplegics, amputees, and people with chronic congenital conditions like Spina bifida. They represent various professions, ages, backgrounds, demographics.

But they have one thing in common: “We’ve all experienced trauma,” Greer said. “It’s a chance to be around folks that get it, and that’s very important. I’ve seen how deep an impact it’s had in so many people’s lives over the years. It can be truly life changing.”

Regional One Health’s Inpatient Rehabilitation team has embraced the Rollin’ Grizzlies as a way to help patients reclaim their lives by getting back to the things they love, and Greer said it’s a relationship that benefits both the players and his team.

“Mike is a big part of this team. He’s one of the best guys I know – he’s a beast on the basketball court, but he’s got a big old heart,” he said. “After being treated at Regional One Health, he came out ready to embrace the world, and that’s what he’s done.”

Indeed, Mike has big plans for the future – and he’s grateful to his basketball family and his Regional One Health family for helping make it possible.

Mike is finishing his bachelor’s degree and plans to seek a master’s in health care management. Most importantly, he cherishes time with his kids, now 12 and 14.

“It means everything to be around for them. I text them every single day, every morning, every night. I love my children and I make sure they know that,” he said. “I owe Regional One Health for that; that I can still be a dad. I’m forever grateful to them.”

Learn more about the Rollin’ Grizzles at rollingrizzlies.org or by following @rollingrizzlies on Facebook and Instagram. To support expert care at our Elvis Presley Trauma Center and Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital, visit regionalonehealthfoundation.org

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