Garrett Mendez, a rehabilitation therapy aide at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare’s newest outpatient therapy clinic in Fairfield, moves briskly through the space, setting up equipment for an incoming patient.
“You’ll get there,” he says to a patient as he passes by. “It just takes time.”
For Garrett, those words come from lived experience. He understands what it feels like when your body doesn’t move the way you expect it to, and when the future suddenly feels uncertain.
In 2005, Garrett was a 19-year-old college athlete and hockey player when a collision with the boards caused a brain stem stroke. When he regained consciousness, he was unable to see, speak, eat, move, or breathe on his own. After weeks in the ICU, he began his recovery at Gaylord Hospital.
Progress came in the form of small milestones. “I just had to have patience and faith that I would get better,” Garrett said.
Over time, Gaylord became more than the place where he rebuilt his independence, it became home. Garrett returned as a volunteer peer mentor, sharing his story and giving a “little lift and a spark” to patients navigating the same journey he once faced. He also volunteers on the Gaylord Golf Committee to plan the annual tournament that raises funds for the Gaylord Sports Association.
Now 39, Garrett works full-time at Gaylord’s Fairfield outpatient clinic, supporting people going through similar journeys. He hopes his presence reminds them that recovery is possible.
“Therapy can be exhausting,” Garrett said. “It takes dedication and persistence. But seeing their progress and seeing how far I’ve come has been therapeutic for me, too.”
For his mother, Eileen, watching Garrett work at Gaylord feels like life coming full circle.
“He is living proof you can get through anything,” she says. “As dark as things may seem in one moment, that’s not necessarily how they’ll be the next.”
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