Beyond the Body

In June, my oldest son graduated from middle school, excited about the summer ahead and the prospect of starting high school in the fall. He had a full schedule planned: skateboarding camp in the mornings, high school soccer conditioning in the afternoons, and Tae Kwon Do one evening a week. It was going to be a summer filled with friends, activities, and preparation for an exciting new chapter. 

Then, during his first week of skateboard camp, he fractured his ankle. 

Just like that, his plans disappeared. No more skateboarding. No soccer conditioning. No Tae Kwon Do. Instead, he spent the summer in a walking boot, mostly sitting inside playing PlayStation while his friends enjoyed the activities he had been looking forward to. 

But the hardest part wasn’t watching him struggle with his injury. It was watching him lose his spark. 

My son is usually funny, outgoing, and endlessly social. As the summer progressed, he became increasingly withdrawn. And when his orthopedist didn’t clear him to try out for the high school soccer team, the disappointment deepened. 

Starting high school is challenging enough. Starting high school while your friends bond over practices, games, and new friendships you’re not part of is even harder. Soccer has become the center of their social world, and my son has found himself on the outside looking in. 

His ankle was healing, but the rest of him was struggling. 

Thankfully, he’s now out of the walking boot and into a brace. With some encouragement, he’s beginning to explore basketball as a new activity. He’s doing his physical therapy exercises, attending a few weekend clinics, and practicing shooting hoops on his own after school. I’m hopeful that he’s beginning to find his way forward. 

But this experience highlighted something for me that I already knew but hadn’t fully appreciated: Healing an injury and helping a child reclaim their life are not necessarily the same thing. 

As both a mother and the Executive Director of American Friends of ALYN Hospital, I’ve found myself thinking about this distinction a great deal. 

My son’s injury is relatively minor, and his prognosis is excellent. Many of the children at ALYN face far more complex challenges, including traumatic injuries, serious illnesses, and disabilities that can fundamentally alter the course of their lives. 

For these children, physical challenges may be only part of the story. 

An injury or disability can affect a child’s ability to attend school, participate in activities, maintain friendships, or simply feel like everyone else. It can change how a child sees themselves and how they imagine their future. And for parents, watching a child struggle with these less visible losses can be just as painful as witnessing their physical challenges. 



This is why ALYN Hospital’s approach to pediatric rehabilitation is so important. 

At ALYN, rehabilitation isn’t simply about restoring movement, building strength, or teaching a child to use an assistive device. It’s about understanding the whole child and recognizing that physical, emotional, and social well-being are deeply connected. 

ALYN’s multidisciplinary teams work together to help children develop the abilities and confidence they need to participate as fully as possible in everyday life. Sometimes that means helping a child return to activities they once loved. Other times, it means finding new ways to participate, discovering different abilities, or imagining possibilities that didn’t previously seem within reach. 

And progress isn’t always measured by a medical milestone. 

It might be a child returning to a classroom. A teenager reconnecting with friends. A young person gaining the confidence to try something new. Or a family beginning to see possibilities for the future that once felt uncertain. 

My son’s ankle will heal, and I hope that, in time, the disappointment and isolation of these past few months will become a distant memory. But watching him navigate this experience has reminded me how much of childhood happens beyond the physical. 

When we talk about the extraordinary work happening at ALYN Hospital, we often celebrate the visible achievements: a first step, a new movement, or a hard-won skill. 

But behind those milestones is something even more meaningful: a child reclaiming a sense of belonging, independence, confidence, and joy. 

Because healing isn’t simply about what a child can do physically. It’s about what that child can experience, enjoy, and imagine for their future. 

And thanks to your generosity, that’s the kind of healing ALYN Hospital helps make possible every day.