In the height of the Covid pandemic, yoga instructor and The Hot Room manager Laura Burdick, was traveling to Chicago to open a new yoga studio. She was thrilled to open a new Hot Room location and get people back into yoga studios, after months of quarantine. Laura’s journey to Chicago quickly turned her life upside down when her car was struck by a drunk driver. Laura sustained a spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury from this tragic accident.

After two months of healing in the ICU, Laura began her recovery at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago. As in many recovery stories, Laura’s journey did not stop there. After a couple of months of recovery at Shirley Ryan, she left to continue her recovery in Omaha, Nebraska at QLI to participate in their in-patient brain injury rehabilitation program. She spent nine months at QLI before moving back to Indianapolis.

When Laura returned to Indianapolis, she was motivated and encouraged to relentlessly push to achieve new goals. She engaged in rehab at RHI briefly before transitioning to NeuroHope. At NeuroHope, Laura has been working with Neuro Exercise Specialist Steven Boswer for approximately a year and a half. She has been working with Steven on her tricep strength, core strength, mobility, and stability. Laura appreciates Steven’s creativity and commitment to helping her achieve her goals. Laura recently had a nerve transfer surgery on her left arm to gain more mobility and she is excited to begin OT with NeuroHope’s Occupational Therapy team soon!

Laura has become an important part of NeuroHope’s peer mentor team, and she offers health coaching services to the NeuroHope community! Laura’s advice to everyone is to take really good care of yourself, some challenge will always pop up in your life and you will wish you had been taking care of yourself. Take care of yourself because you deserve it!