Anthony has healing touch

By Mary Grothause, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, May 5, 2008 (3 months ago)
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Megan Anthony, right, practiced her physical therapy skills on fellow student Amber Rader during a class at the University of Findlay. Anthony, a St. Johns High School graduate, graduates from the University of Findlay today.Megan Anthony uses the healing touch of physical therapy to strengthen her patients’ lives; for her, it’s a way to show her caring by helping others.
Anthony, a St. John’s High School graduate, will graduate today from the University of Findlay with her BA in health science and physical therapy.
At an early age, she encountered the field of physical therapy. Anthony’s mother went back to school after raising nine children and sometimes took Anthony to work with her.
“I come from a large family and they’re all very supportive, especially my parents, Stephen and Margaret. My mother is currently a physical therapist assistant for Midwest Therapy, so she helped me a lot in terms of observing physical therapy first-hand,” she said.
Another source of inspiration for Anthony is her 2-year-old niece, who was born with spina bifida and uses a walker.
“Seeing her progression has been very educational,” Anthony explained.
For the last two years, Anthony has lived with her 88-year-old grandmother, who recently had a stroke and requires 24-hour care. She credits her grandmother as another source of inspiration for her life.
Anthony works with three children with different home therapy programs for each of them. A 5-year-old autistic boy has a program for developing motor skills, such as zipping his coat or writing. She works with the others, ages 2 and 3, on strengthening exercises to help them sit, crawl and walk.
“I plan to look into working with pediatrics after I graduate with my Masters in Physical Therapy. I love working with children because they always find a way to brighten my day,” she said,
Anthony will be headed to Kettering for her clinical experience immediately after graduation.
“I hope to learn a lot from this experience in terms of therapy modalities, safety, patient communication, assessments and charting,” she said.
She also plans to attain her master’s degree in the next two years.
Anthony is also planning to squeeze a July 11, 2009, wedding to her finance, Christopher Grote, into her busy schedule.
“He had back surgery a couple of years ago, so I was able to experience his recovery, which also helped in determining my field of physical therapy,” she related.
Anthony’s family, loved ones and patients have all been sources of inspiration for her.
“I am very excited to continue on with my education and eventually becoming a PT. I have always had a passion in helping others and I feel that this is one field of work that allows me to show my care for others,” she said.

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