Guest Interview: Once a Physical Therapist, a Young Woman Navigates New Life as Quadriplegic
In August 2014, Elizabeth Forst was in her early 30s and working as a travel physical therapist, based out of Los Angeles. She also was traveling the globe, feeding her interest of different cultures.She’d just gotten back from a trip to Southeast Asia when she stopped off in North Carolina to visit a friend. During that trip, it was the simple act of diving into a pool that changed her life forever. Hitting her shoulder, she experienced a whiplash injury that caused a spinal cord injury, ultimately leaving her quadriplegic and paralyzed from below her shoulders.
In this episode of Move Forward Radio, Forst discusses the transition of living an independent and active life of helping others, to becoming reliant on others for everything. She also shares how her distinctive knowledge and experience of treating patients has made her journey unique. One thing is for certain, as she embarks on her new life, she is determined to continue to lead an active and dynamic life, regardless of her abilities.
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Elizabeth Forst, PT, DPT, worked within the public health sector in impoverished communities as an orthopedic travel physical therapist, and was primarily based at San Francisco General Hospital, University of California San Francisco, and Los Angeles County Hospital, University of Southern California. An avid international traveler, she wanted to augment her career with Eastern-based healing techniques.
Although she continues and maintains an intensive daily treatment program to treat her chronic spinal cord injury, she also looks to make the most of her new life, in keeping her mind and body active, and inspiring others.
