For nearly 50 years, Don McDuffee has been a horse trainer. He is known in the community for his training experience, showing horses and he’s a judge for Quarter Horse shows. “Horses have always been in my life.” Don says his extensive work with these beautiful animals has brought him a lot of joy in life, such as traveling overseas to judge and making a career out of something he enjoys. But he has also experienced his share of pain. “With what I do for a living, I get hurt a lot.” Back in 1994, Don broke his back and needed surgery. He put it off until six years ago. “My back started getting really bad, to the point of where I would have to roll out of bed onto the floor, crawl to the wall and pull myself up.” Once he could hardly walk, he went to see a neurosurgeon and had spinal fusion surgery. His doctor told him the procedure was successful, but the key to the surgery would be physical therapy.
Don received his physical therapy at the Strive! Rehabilitation clinic, located inside West Marion Hospital. With his determination to push through the pain and with the help of his Strive! physical therapist, he saw a very positive change to his life. “It’s not that the work here is easy, because it’s not, but it’s something I need to continue being healthy. I want to stay young. The people at Strive! care. It’s been a very important part of my life; they kept me out of a wheelchair.”
Now, six years later, you’ll find Don still using the gym at the Strive! Rehab Clinic, three days a week. His advice for others needing physical therapy: “Once you finish your basic PT, my suggestion is to join the gym here and keep coming back until you are very, very comfortable. I know, with my personality, I couldn’t go home and do this myself because I would find way too many things to do, not to exercise. But what I really like about Strive! are the personalities of the people who work here. It’s like a family. They keep driving me. This place saved my life.”
The West Marion Center is located on the grounds of the West Marion Community Hospital (4600 SW 46th Court Ste 140, Ocala, FL 34474). This 4,000 square foot outpatient facility specializes in: orthopedics, sports medicine, occupational health, wound care, hand care, massage therapy and specialized testing of the spine and extremities. The clinical staff consists of two Physical Therapists and one Occupational Therapist, with extensive backgrounds in postoperative therapy, sports medicine, specialized hand care, and industrial rehab. In addition, Strive! for Life Health & Fitness program offers a full-line of both resistive and cardiovascular equipment, personal training, post-rehab fitness, and nutritional counseling. If you’d like more information please call (352) 873-3058
