What would it take to get you to don a tutu and run a 5K? For Nichole Jones, it was a celebration. Celebrating the loss of nearly half her body weight. Celebrating the reversal of the dangerous path she was…
Scott Phillips was experiencing the usual aches and pains of growing older. The sixty-plus-year-old knew he was out of shape, but didn’t fully realize the extent of his condition until he attended a Memorial SportsCare “Over 40 Fitness” class. “The…
Back in March of 2014, we featured Harold Whitnall’s story. Harold’s lung had collapsed five times in the past 40 years, beginning when he was 25 years old. Diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Harold suffered on a daily…
Leroy Jordan is a man who appreciates structure. He rises at 6 a.m. each morning and almost always eats the same cereal for breakfast. After taking medication to manage his diabetes, he settles into his recliner to read the morning…
After a full day working with senior citizens and special needs kids and adults, Sparkle Hill would come home from her job at the Decatur Park District thoroughly exhausted. Her first stop was the bedroom, where she would lie down…
Not many people look back on knee replacement surgery with fond memories, but Angie Griffin is unique. On April 8, 2013, she turned 60 and was gifted with a new knee joint at Taylorville Memorial Hospital (TMH). Before she was…
James Macrander’s world seemed to be falling apart. His 12-year marriage ended. He lost his job. Then, when his Social Security benefits dried up, he became homeless. “My cousin took me in when none of my other family members would,”…
Sheila Huey suffered from blinding headaches, a swollen-right eye and double vision. Initially, the symptoms were thought to be associated with a bad sinus infection. The truth revealed a large aneurysm was growing in her brain. It took two long…
Phil McCarty, 38, was finishing 30 pull-ups in a friendly competition among friends at the Triple Threat gym in Jacksonville when he lost consciousness and fell 10 feet to the floor, landing on his back and bouncing his head twice…
Mike Dulakis was progressing through his normal workout Feb. 3 at Taylorville’s Lock Up Gym, lifting weights from a seated position, when everything changed. The 39-year-old guard for the Taylorville Correctional Facility was “training to failure,” a common weight-lifting strategy.…