OT Client Gets Dream Home on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
By Stephanie Yamkovenko
Some find it difficult watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition without shedding a tear or two. That's because every show features homeowners with an amazing story who are more than deserving of the extreme makeover.
Brian Keefer is one of them.
Keefer had a gymnastics injury in 2008 that paralyzed him from the neck down. For the past 4 years he has been a client at Kennedy Krieger Institute's International Center for Spinal Cord Injury in Baltimore, MD. Each year during his breaks from college, the 24-year-old undergoes extensive therapy with a team of occupational therapists and physical therapists for 5 to 6 hours a day, every day for 2 weeks.
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Watch the full episode online here.
View a Behind the Scenes video about Kennedy Krieger’s participation in the show.
Browse Kennedy Krieger’s photo gallery of the taping of the show here.
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In May 2011, Keefer's family told the staff at Kennedy Krieger that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was considering their son for the show. To assist the application process, the staff explained to the show's producers how beneficial a home renovation would be to Keefer and his family.
"We generated a 'therapy wish list' on Brian's behalf, discussed durable medical equipment needs, and explained aspects of home design that would be necessary to improve Brian's quality of life, if selected for the show," says Jennifer Silvestri, MS, OTR/L, and Keefer's occupational therapist at Kennedy Krieger. |
A month later, staff at Kennedy Krieger learned that Ty Pennington and the Extreme Makeover cast had driven their bus to Keefer's home in Pennsylvania to surprise him with the news that he had been selected for the show and would be receiving a "dream home."
"I believe that Brian was selected because of his charismatic and genuine personality. Once you meet Brian, you never forget him," says Silvestri. "Brian's family home posed significant challenges. He could only access a few rooms on the first floor, spending most of his time in a make-shift bedroom in a garage that the family converted after Brian's accident."
To better understand Keefer's challenges, producers and cast members of the show visited Kennedy Krieger to meet other clients and to learn about spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Silvestri took cast member Paul DiMeo on a tour of the facility, and she says he was inspired by the work of the staff and the clients' motivation. "The producers of the show had heard of occupational therapy, but they didn't truly understand the role of our profession," says Silvestri. "The producers made a significant effort to learn the differences between OT and PT and how they are applied to individuals with paralysis."
Cast member Paul DiMeo with occupational therapist Jennifer Silvestri.
The cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition have just 7 days to transform houses into dream homes. On the final day, called the "reveal day," neighbors, family, and the community line the street waiting for the Extreme Makeover bus to move so everyone can see the home. Kennedy Krieger staff members were there, including Silvestri, and held signs and cheered for the Keefer family. Later that day, Silvestri had the opportunity to demonstrate the aquatic therapy pool with Keefer while the crew filmed. The pool's manufacturer, HydroWorx, donated the pool, and it features a lift system, jets for resistance, a treadmill for gait, and a video camera to show Brian's movement under water.
"I never hesitated to participate in the show even long before we knew that Brian was actually selected," says Silvestri. "I knew that Brian was deserving of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that the home makeover would improve his independence and quality-of-life. As occupational therapists, we strive daily to improve the lives of our patients-this was an opportunity to do so in a big way."
Silvestri believes that the show will benefit the profession of occupational therapy by raising awareness about activity-based restorative therapies and the role occupational therapy plays in the lives of clients. "The show is nationally televised and occupational therapy is, and will continue to be, a big part of [Keefer's] story. The opportunity for exposure is huge," she says. "People in our profession wear many 'hats' and in Brian's story alone, you will see occupational therapy outside of the traditional scope. Occupational therapists at Kennedy Krieger work on land and in the aquatic environment to help promote patients' neural plasticity and recovery."
Whether or not your client is featured on a television show, Silvestri wants all occupational therapy practitioners to understand that they should share their clients' stories with the media and at interdisciplinary conferences. "There are occupational therapy practitioners doing great things every day, but many don't realize the exceptional things that they are doing for their patients and the profession. For them, it has just become routine," she says. "It is important we share our stories and promote them."
Stephanie Yamkovenko is AOTA’s staff writer.
