Ten-year-old Zade Brakefield won’t have to go to Florida, Los Angeles or Boston to get the kind of workout he needs. He was paralyzed at age 2 after falling off a tractor and struggled to find the right post-physical therapy exercise program.
This week’s opening of the DEFY NeuroRehab Center, 5950 E. 31st St., means the Pryor fourth-grader can make a 45-minute trip once or twice a week instead of spending weeks out of state. It uses an approach called activity-based therapy that focuses on high-intensity, repetitive tasks for neurological recovery.
The DEFY Center — short for Don’t Ever Forget Yourself — is Tulsa’s first activity-based therapy and community center.
“For us, this is a life-changer,” said Briana Willis, Brakefield’s mother. “While our goal is to get him out of the wheelchair, he may never come out of the wheelchair, but he’s still going to build muscle tone, have a healthy cardiovascular system, have healthy bone density and keep gaining strength and confidence. It changes not only his body but it changes his mental health.”
The center represents the dream of Tulsan Chris Lieberman, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in March 2016 after falling off a ladder. Before the accident, Lieberman founded the Williams Route 66 Marathon and Center of the Universe Festival. He created Euro Disco while serving as entertainment director of Tulsa Oktoberfest.
His family found a lack of neurological hospitals, treatment centers and activities-based rehabilitation programs in the state. They founded the Brain Injury Recovery Foundation to expand health care options for people with brain injuries and neurological disorders.
The Lieberman family spent five years raising about $500,000 to open the center.
Activity-based therapy is not physical therapy. It is a specific type of exercise program to rebuild muscle memory with moderate to high workouts focused on tasks. Each session lasts between two to three hours.
“This is a more aggressive approach,” said neuroexercise specialist Alison Goodwin. “We get people out of the chair and moving. It works great with physical therapy. It’s personal training for the community of people with traumatic brain injury or neurological disorders. We have music playing to keep it fun and exciting.”
The center offers programs for people with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, stroke or acquired brain injury and neurological and neuromuscular conditions including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, transverse myelitis and pediatric neurology conditions.
It works collaboratively with other nonprofits and organizations serving people with neurological and spinal cord injuries.
“Zade has made a lot of progression since his injury and it’s because of facilities like this,” Willis said. “He can get up on a horse. He can pull up to his knees and use a lot more of his lower core. He can swim on his own.”
Pricing is $150 for an initial evaluation with a neuroexercise specialist to determine program options. Each session after that is $100, or packages can be purchased to bring down the cost per session.
Willis says the benefits are worth it — both for Zade and everyone around him.
“They see him being successful and are watching him become more independent,” she said. “He’s doing things he wouldn’t have been able to do six years ago. He’s able to transfer in and out of places, climb up on things and other movements. It’s a game-changer. The philosophy of this (activity-based therapy) is a game changer.”
News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.