Chelsea Perry

BUTLER TWP— Nineteen months after suffering a ruptured aneurysm and subsequent stroke, Chelsea Perry has returned to Butler County Community College.

The former Butler High and BC3 softball pitcher still holds out hope of returning to the game as a player. If not, she plans to coach a youth team or two.

"I'll be back in the game somehow," she said.

Because of her remarkable recovery, Perry was named one of five recipients of the second annual Rex Newton M.D. Rehab Champions Award at HealthSouth Harmarville Rehabilitation Hospital.

The award, presented in conjunction with National Rehabilitation Week, will be given to Perry during a luncheon at the hospital Thursday.

"The concept of this project is to award patients who have faced stiff challenges and come through with great suc cess,"said Ann Ciotoli, public relations coordinator of HealthSouth Metropolitan Hospitals of Pittsburgh. "Chelsea was nominated by our brain injuries treatment team.

"We treat anywhere from 300 to 400 people for brain injuries each year, so she really stood out in this case."

Perry suffered her brain aneurysm on March 7, 2006. She was a BC3 student preparing for the upcoming softball season at the time.

Doctors feared she wouldn't survive. Instead, Perry returned home May 27 and has been making steady progress through rehabilitation ever since.

Perry works out at the Butler Family YMCAonce a week, reports for therapy at Armstrong Hospital twice a week and rides a stationary bike 10 miles every day.

She still wears a brace on her left ankle for support, but is walking on her own. She also has limited use of her left arm.

"(The doctors) haven't told me anything yet,"Perry said of her long-term recovery. "But my goal is to return to 100 percent. I just go day by day.

"You can't put a timetable on it. You can't rush things. I have to be patient, and patience is something I've never had."

Monica Perry has empathy for the struggles her daughter has gone through.

"This has been a difficult road for her," she said. "She's worked so hard to get to this point. Now she's working on strengthening that ankle. I'm so proud of the way she's handled everything and fought back."

Along with going to school, Perry is looking for a part-time job. She hopes to return to the Butler Health and Fitness Club, where she worked before being hospitalized.

"I'm taking my life back,"she said. "Iliked working with the people there and I want to play softball again. I watched some of the Butler (high school) games last spring. I haven't seen the college team play. ... I don't really know any of the players on the team anymore.

"My left arm hasn't gotten much better. It's not very functional right now. I can only move my arm in certain ways, but I'll keep working on it."

In receiving this award, Perry admitted she hasn't thought much about the example she might be setting for patients facing similar obstacles.

"I never thought of that part of it — you just have to work hard. It takes time and you can't get angry with yourself,"she said.

Other recipients of the Rehab Champions Award include Terry Stairs, a Boy Scout leader from Latrobe who sustained a spinal cord injury, North Hills resident Debbie Kresen, who suffered a stroke while working as a speech pathologist for children with disabilities, and North Hills resident Ron Smith, who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.

National Rehabilitation Week is Sept. 16 to 22 and was established in 1976 to create awareness of people with disabilities and the effects of rehabilitation. More than 7,000 organizations nationwide hold programs in conjunction with it.