The Story

WHAT HAPPENED?
Zack Weinstein, a 2004 graduate of Needham High School, had completed his freshman year at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and had recently returned from a Birthright trip to Israel. While in Maine this summer, Zack had an accident in shallow water, which resulted in a significant spinal cord injury. Zack was taken to the Maine Medical Center in Portland where he underwent surgery to stabilize his spine. He then spent some time at the Spaulding Rehab Center in Boston before his transfer to the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital which specializes in the care and rehabilitation of spinal cord injuries.

HOW IS ZACK?
July, 2007

Zack continues to meet the enormous and never ending challenges of being a quadriplegic with dignity and resolve.

The first year after his injury Zack was consumed by the task of recuperation including hospitalizations in Maine, Massachusetts and Georgia. This was followed by his steadfast commitment to intensive exercise based physical rehabilitation. Zack was able to strengthen his functioning muscle groups, shoulder and biceps, as he prepared to resume his place as a theater major at Skidmore College.

Zack recently completed his second year at Skidmore where he excelled academically, acted in two major theater productions, and sang with his a cappella group - The Dynamics. Zack also required full time personal care, underwent three surgeries, made several emergency room visits and battled various infections. It has been a difficult yet truly remarkable year.

Zack is currently at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia where he is dedicating 10 weeks of his summer to physical strengthening and conditioning in the Beyond Therapy program.

Further information, including Zack's interesting, insightful, and humorous on line journal can be found here by clicking on the Zack's Journal link above..