Kenneth Mayberry

Kenneth Mayberry lived a healthy and active lifestyle with his wife and two children, ages eight and one. He enjoyed exercising, especially running. Then, Kenneth went from feeling healthy to one day developing a fever of 106 degrees. He was rushed to the ER where he was diagnosed with COVID-19, pneumonia, and became septic.

While in the hospital, Kenneth explained that everything hurt. He was sedated and placed on a ventilator for five days. Later he was diagnosed with Kawasaki’s disease, a condition that causes inflammation of the wall of blood vessels in the body. With a lengthy recovery ahead of him, he needed to find and transition to another facility.

At the recommendation of the hospital staff, Kenneth chose Southern Indiana Rehabilitation Hospital. He also had a connection through his grandmother who successfully recovered at SIRH following knee surgery. Motivated to get back to his family, he started intense therapy.

Kenneth credits his self-motivation to the fact that he doesn’t like to stay down long. He never lost his fight to push through difficult situations and defined success as reaching a goal. “It doesn’t have to necessarily be reaching the main goal. Success can be measured by reaching a small goal that moves you closer to the larger end goal; a step-by-step process.”

With the support and care of SIRH, Kenneth has seen progress and has transitioned home. He is excited to be back with his family. Before his illness, Kenneth was training for a 50-mile trail ultramarathon and trail race at the Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky. He looks forward to training for marathons and becoming independent again.