Each year, UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center (SRC) selects a patient, former patient, or their family member for its Ambassador of Hope Award. This special honor goes to an individual with a disability or their family member whose courage and determination inspire hope in others facing the challenges of disability. UAB Medicine employee Darryl Walker is the 2024 recipient of the award.
Walker, 35, was the victim of a gunshot when he was 17, paralyzing him from the waist down and requiring him to use a wheelchair. Today he works for UAB Guest Services at SRC, where he received physical therapy for his injury years ago. Walker’s peers say they see him as a powerful example of optimism and dedication to others.
Pushing the limits
Walker ‘s journey from SRC patient to UAB Medicine employee was a long one. His recovery efforts – even when it seemed that little progress was being made – ultimately helped him regain and maintain as much independence as possible. His experience helps him encourage SRC patients to persevere.
“I had just become a high school senior when I was injured from a gunshot,” Walker said. “I wasn’t making any progress toward being able to walk. I was gaining no sensation. I didn’t want to let that get me down, so I pushed myself to the limit. I chose to continue working out and gaining strength. I thought all that work was not paying off at the time, but now I know that it improved my strength and coordination. It has enabled me to be very athletic.”
When Walker says he’s athletic, he‘s not referring only to the general idea of staying active and physically fit. He plays for the Birmingham Hammers, one of nine teams in the USA Wheelchair Football League. The Birmingham team was started by the Lakeshore Foundation, an internationally renowned organization that serves those with physical disabilities through physical activity, sport, recreation, and research. Walker says he learned of the team by accident.
“I knew about basketball at Lakeshore, and I wanted get involved in some kind of sport,” Walker said. “The day I was there to sign up, one of the coaches of the wheelchair football team approached me. That there was even a team was news to me. He said, ‘You look like you can play football.’ And I said, ‘I can try.’ I did pretty well my first year. The Hammers have played all around the country and I love it. It’s one more area where I can push my limits.”
Along with traveling with the Hammers to games and tournaments in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Tampa, and Las Vegas, Walker also coaches the Wahouma Seminoles, a youth league football team in the eastern area of Birmingham. He stays busy with an active lifestyle, but staff and patients at SRC say Walker mostly busies himself with supporting and inspiring others.
‘Personable and professional’
Elizabeth Twist, M.D., a professor with the UAB Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, says Walker is a crucial member of the SRC team.
“Getting patients where they need to go is the smallest part of all that Darryl does here at Spain,” Dr. Twist said. “He reaches out to newly injured patients and shares his story of recovery to give them hope and answer their questions. It is not uncommon in my outpatient visits for someone to mention Darryl and all the support he provides. He has personally been visiting a patient at his home who has faced multiple medical complications and insurance issues. Another patient stated that Darryl ‘Kept me striving to get out of bed. I look up to him.’ He has become a major part of the magic of SRC, and I am excited to see what he is able to accomplish going forward.”
Perri Andrews, a member of the admissions team at SRC, sees Walker as the ideal Guest Services team member for SRC.
“He is the perfect person to greet everyone who walks through the doors,” Andrews said. “There can be many emotions and a large amount of stress involved to take off work, get a ride, hire a caregiver, etc. to make an outpatient appointment or visit a family member or friend here. Darryl puts them at ease by being personable and professional at the same time. Our guests find comfort in his presence, and many returning guests know him on a first-name basis.”
‘Where is Darryl?’
Nurse Liaison Madison Bellew said the SRC team can‘t imagine working without Walker.
“He‘s a joy to be around,” Bellew said. “Anytime I’ve asked him to check on a patient who may need encouragement, Darryl doesn’t hesitate to stop by and see them at least once, and most of the time he sees them several times during their stay. Numerous patients ask us ‘Where is Darryl?‘ on his days off, because they expect to see him anytime they arrive. He has overcome so much from the moment he was injured. Now he is thriving as a mentor and support system for so many others. Darryl embodies everything that it means to be an Ambassador of Hope.”
For Walker, his role at SRC is a matter of engagement and encouragement.
“I love talking to the patients here, helping them get where they need to go and know what they need to know,” Walker said. “I try to head them in the right direction, which means aiming for becoming as independent as possible and always looking forward. Life doesn’t stop because you’re in that chair. You keep going.”
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