Zoey’s Story

The idea of surgery can be daunting, but to 16-year-old Zoey, it felt more like a new beginning. As a child, Zoey was diagnosed with a rare condition called Krabbe disease, which caused significant tightness and spasticity throughout her legs and hips. This summer, she underwent a major, multi-level surgery at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The surgery lasted 10 hours and ultimately released her tendons and realigned her hips, knees and feet.

After spending six weeks in a cast at home, Zoey was ready to begin her road to recovery! Her family knew she needed a place to safely regain her strength and daily living skills, reach her goals and be pushed to her full potential. That’s when they came to ChildServe’s pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation program.

“We came in with the goal of maximizing Zoey’s strengths and minimizing her weaknesses,” said her mom, Amber. “We weren’t sure what that would look like in the end, but we are beyond surprised and ecstatic at the progress she has made. Before surgery, independence was not a reality for Zoey. Now we see her ability to keep moving forward and have the best chance at true independence. We are excited to see where this takes her!”