Wow, wow, wow, what a story! Eladio Valdez shares his running journey from being a runner himself to his journey as a coach today. He shares what it is like to be in the shoes of his runners. Eladio would describe himself as the “Unofficial mayor of the running community.” Take a listen to hear more about Eladio’s story. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jABckld5zI&t=2287s

Everyone meet Susan. Susan is an inspiring woman; she has a family of four with two daughters. Today on the Freedom Stories Podcast Coach Megan and Susan discuss the story of how she decided to donate her kidney. She talks about the nudges that were pushing her to donate to somebody. Susan listened to the nudge and she donated her kidney to a stranger. HOW COOL!! After a season of recovery, Susan is now an active member in the group fitness classes here at Freedom Physical Therapy and Training Center. 

Konlynn goes to the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, KS. She will graduate in the Spring of 2024 with a Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Physical Therapy. Konlynn is also on the track team and where she throws the javelin. Konlynn has a sister and two stepbrothers. In this podcast, she talks about her childhood up to high school which helped mold her into who she is. She talks about her injuries that helped her perceiver and helped her get where she is today with her education and her future dreams and goals. Then Konlynn spoke on how important her grandmother has impacted her journey today. Take a listen to learn more about Konlynn. 

Farm. Faith. Family. Flowers. What connects these four words? The answer is this week's guest, Lorrie! Lorrie is from KS and grew up on a farm. She has a husband of 40 years this year and four wonderful sons. Her family even owns Family Tree Nursery. Lorrie and Coach Megan discuss her faith journey, stories from the farm, and choosing the right choices in your life that fit your family. Lorrie is an active member of the Freedom Physical Therapy and Training Center group fitness classes. She lives by the words “I can” and constantly challenges the social norms of life to keep things fun! Join us for a candid conversation with Megan and Lorrie.

This month, we have our very own, Donny Dequine, sharing his story. Dr. Donny Dequine, PT, DPT, CSCS is an Azusa Pacific University grad. Dr. Donny (Don) was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area where he developed his passion for all sports, but found a unique love for the game of soccer. At the age of 17, he had a snowboarding accident that left him nearly paralyzed. Due to emergency surgery, relentless rehab, his amazing family, and God’s grace, Dr. Donny was not only able to return to soccer, but received a scholarship to Azusa Pacific University. There he found success on and off the field boasting back-to-back NAIA National Championship Final appearances while graduating cum-laude in 3 years with a degree in Psychology.

His love for sports followed him after graduation as he began training athletes at Performax Training Center while also running the Sports Ministry at his church. During this time, Dr. Donny’s passion for helping people greatly surpassed his educational ability to do so and that kept him up at night. This deep longing to know more birthed his 5 year journey of obtaining his Doctorate in Physical Therapy. After graduating, Dr. Donny spent a year studying under Dr. Chris Powers at the University of Southern California researching and developing tools for identifying and treating movement dysfunction in the running athlete. Since, he has worked with hundreds of professional, collegiate, high school, and avid runners from all over the country.

Roger is a 63 year old male who served as a parametric and now educates other first responders at Johnson County Community College. He has a wife and two children and three grandchildren. Roger worked for 34 years and retired in 2019 as a parametric. His body started to get worn down over the years. Roger finished a certificate on helping with mental health for all the first responders on duty. Roger has incorporated what he learned from this certificate into his daily life; he strives to make himself physically strong, so his brain can be mentally strong. He wants to bring awareness to mental health because being paramedics can be a very heavy job. He loves the phrase “stop the stigma” where he wants to bring awareness that these feelings are valid and normal. Roger brings to light some of the struggles that these heroes are dealing with. 

Dr. Timothy Mahoney, PT, DPT, OCS, was born and raised in Kansas City, KS. He has two sisters and a brother, who were raised in a faith family, living a very active nature. Dr. Tim recalls playing sports after sports in high school: baseball, basketball, and football. He got a scholarship to play baseball at Rockhurst University as an undergrad. He talked about not knowing what he wanted to do in his future. His parents had a significant influence on his path. His mom was a physical therapy assistant, and his dad was a firefighter; both of his parents designed careers centered around people, which Tim knew he wanted to experience. He continued to learn more about fitness and exercise, leading him to the University of St. Mary’s for PT school. Dr. Tim loved to meet people where they are at and help them out physically, emotionally, and spiritually! Dr. Tim is excited to spread physical therapy to everyone while spreading God’s love to everyone he meets. He strives to make fitness sustainable for everyone. 

Dr. Emmie Witham, PT, DPT, is a University of Kansas grad for undergrad and PT school. Dr. Emmie is originally from Iowa City, IA, and she grew up in a big family of four kids. Dr. Emmie had parents who were in medicine. Her dad worked at the University of Iowa hospital, and her mom was a pediatrician. Both of her parents came for healthcare, and they urged her toward physical therapy since Emmie craved medicine's personal/relational side. Dr. Emmie also ran through high school and college and got her fair share of physical therapy. The relational aspect is unique to physical therapy and is a big highlight for her. Dr. Emmie specializes in pelvic floor therapy and has gained certification so that she can help women who need help! The clinic has redone the treatment room to help Dr. Emmie treat and support women in a safe, confidential space. Being a young female athlete, she learned about pelvic floor therapy and wanted to know how to treat it! Dr. Emmie has been a student and has recently transitioned to the work field. She is excited to spread physical therapy to everyone while spreading God's love to everyone she meets.

Show Notes:

Phyllis is a 74 year old woman who is from Oskaloosa, KS and worked as a dental hygienist for fifty two years. She is a widow with three beautiful girls. Phyllis leads a bible study for women to get closer to God, and she even writes them! She is a people person. In eighth grade, she got in a serious car accident and ended up with a full leg cast on her body. She healed up, but as she has gotten older, her body is in pain. She was a part of PT for years with multiple surgeries. Exercise after exercising, Phyllis continued to grip to the perspective that she shouldn’t give up! The pain was bad and caused her to be non weight bearing, so she was using a wheelchair. Phyllis  came to Freedom Physical Therapy and Training Center to learn how to provide stability for her foot and learning techniques for watching her balance. Finding a sense of hope from pursuing physical therapy, Phyllis is on the road to feeling better, exercising at home to overcome her obstacles. Phyllis wants to live life to all it has for her, one shoe at a time.

Mark is a fifty-eight years young man who lives in the Kansas City area. He is happily married to his wife, Karen, who met at St. John’s College, celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary this year. Mark grew up playing little league sports in Colorado; he played basketball in high school, which earned him a ticket to play in college. Growing up in Colorado, exercise was a natural part of the culture there. From biking the trails to skiing in the mountains, Mark maintained his active lifestyle all of his life. His active lifestyle got complicated when he had a herniated disk in 2000. Having a back injury, doctors were suspicious about the thought of Mark running again. Something that helped him get back into running seemed super steep (literally). Mark discovered that the slope of the hill would ease the impact of his feet on the ground. He learned that a coping mechanism for him was being active, leading to the thought that exercise must be a part of his lifestyle. Mark found out about Dr. Donny’s Running Assessment and he viewed this as a sign to better himself and figure out how to stop the pain in his lower back. Finding a sense of hope from pursuing physical therapy, Mark is on the road to feeling better learning to overcome running. Mark used the golden tidbit of finding a hill, and taking running step by step!