Rehab of a different sort

PART of the rehab involves JM being taught how to balance himself out, learn how and when to move his feet and how to correctly shift his weight.

After a major surfing accident put the life of JM Quiblat, multimedia artist, performer and surfer, in critical condition on 4 October 2018, his “miraculous” recovery recently gave light to a journey to recovery not everyone notices in light of a national concern for rising drug addiction.

“Rehab,” or rehabilitation, in health parlance, means “the action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after illness.” The erm also applies to those recovering from imprisonment and drug addiction.

In JM’s case, he hit his head, lost consciousness and was barely breathing when his friends brought him to shore and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before taking him to a hospital.

While the CPR extended his life, JM fell into a coma and experienced a seizure. His family was told he suffered from Status Epilepticus, a continuous state of seizure with a very high mortality rate.

Most of those who suffer from this condition do not recover because the longer time of the seizure, the heavier it could take a toll on the brain. He had to be paralyzed by doctors by inducing hypothermia, so his brain would not get further damaged.

The following hours determined if he would live or die. His family prepared for the worst. But then a miracle against overwhelming odds happened.

JM must undergo intensive rehabilitation before he can go back to surfing.

After few months and a couple of operations, JM woke up from coma and underwent physical therapies to get fully recovered from the accident.

At first, the sessions were intended to at least make him move and, somehow, live a normal life. But JM showed great progress — standing and balancing were just some of things he immediately achieved after some sessions.

JM and his mom, Jocelyn, learned about Sante Fitness Lab (SFL), a premier one-stop fitness center offering holistic training programs, as well as innovative recovery and sports rehabilitation.

According to Rheysonn Cornilla, JM’s coach and physical therapist at SFL, among JM’s concerns were his troubles with sudden and vigorous maneuvers. He was missing movement components because of his severe brain injury. Somehow, the trauma made him forget the basics in moving some parts of his body; his legs, in particular, and athletic activity would be impossible to do.

To solve JM’s motion problems, an intricate program was readied for him so he can be reminded of even the small details lost due to his coma.

“We assessed JM based on his needs, and we tied it up with his goals. He wants to go back surfing but with his current state, it would be impossible. To achieve the difficult tasks, we needed to reintegrate him the basic pieces — the little steps that all adds up to accomplish more complex movements. The program for his goal will teach him to balance himself out, learn how and when to move his feet, and how to correctly shift his weight. These things were lost due to brain injury,” coach Rheysonn added.

Since JM’s recovery program is tailored-fit to his needs, every session also entails an evaluation to prepare for the next one. This set up ensure that JM slowly regains what he had lost.

For JM’s mom, SFL somehow answered her prayers. “I call them the ‘Eagle Eye.’ By just looking at JM, they can point out what my son needs to relearn. It is only in SFL that I learned that movement requires particularity — that when you can move normally, you will not realize it since it is all-natural to you. I am grateful for JM’s progress. After three sessions, he can already walk; after the fourth, he started running!” she added.

JM is still undergoing the rehabilitation program, and there is no definite time as to when he will regain all his motor skills. But, to surf again, as he said, is his current goal.

“I’m not a pro surfer. I just love the ocean. As Filipinos, we’re living in an island nation so, I think it’s important for us to have a relationship with the ocean. I couldn’t find enough words to thank God, as well as all of the people who got involved in giving me my second life. Soon, with the help of SFL, I will be back in the water, riding the waves,” JM said.