{"id":59144,"date":"2014-06-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-physical-therapy-graduate-grateful-to-clinical-instructor-for-giving-him-back-his-life\/"},"modified":"2014-06-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T00:00:00","slug":"uri-physical-therapy-graduate-grateful-to-clinical-instructor-for-giving-him-back-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/06\/uri-physical-therapy-graduate-grateful-to-clinical-instructor-for-giving-him-back-his-life\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 physical therapy graduate grateful to clinical instructor for giving him back his life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tTim Haitz inspired to become a physical therapist<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 19, 2014 \u2013 Timothy Haitz was 30 years old when he discovered that one of his legs was an inch shorter than the other. Kids teased him during high school, calling him \u201cswivel,\u201d and now he finally knew why he couldn\u2019t walk like the others.<\/p>\n


\nThe man who gave Haitz the shocking news was Michael Noonan, a clinical instructor for the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s physical therapy program and owner of a private practice in South County.<\/p>\n


\nNoonan made Haitz whole again, and Haitz returned the favor in a big way.<\/p>\n


\nThe now 48-year-old South Kingstown resident gave up his career as a commercial fisherman and became a physical therapist, graduating this spring with a doctorate from 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s physical therapy program. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThank goodness I met Michael,\u201d says Haitz. \u201cHe saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cTim is an amazing guy,\u201d says Noonan. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of integrity, and a lot of drive.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHaitz was 14 years old when he was riding his bike home after baseball practice and a car hit him. He was thrown 20 feet and landed head first on the road. He broke his right leg and dislocated his pelvis and jaw. His injuries were so serious doctors recommended amputating his right leg above the knee. No way, his mother said.<\/p>\n


\nHe spent four days in a coma. He was in traction for three months. After that, he endured a hip cast for four months. \u201cPhysically, I was a mess,\u201d says Haitz. \u201cI didn\u2019t walk for a year.\u201d No more baseball, no more cross country running, no more hanging out with friends.<\/p>\n


\nThe accident came at a terrible time in his life. He was a growing teenager, but because of his injuries only half of his lower body developed normally. He made up for his shorter leg by \u201ccontorting my upper body to even myself out,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n


\nHe developed something called functional scoliosis. Mean kids called him \u201cswivel\u201d for his awkward gait. \u201cStill, even then, I was totally unaware of what was happening to me physically,\u201d he says. \u201cI was never re-evaluated after I got out of the hospital. I just grew into my injury.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe years passed. He graduated from high school and joined his family\u2019s commercial fishing business, spending weeks at a time on Lightning Bay and his family\u2019s other trawlers fishing for cod, haddock and yellow tail flounder on the Eastern Seaboard.<\/p>\n


\nHis back ached constantly, sometimes so bad he couldn\u2019t stand up straight. Still, \u201cI just had to muddle through it,\u201d he says. Eventually, he couldn\u2019t take it any more and decided to seek a physical therapist. A friend recommended Noonan.<\/p>\n


\nThe diagnosis was swift. Not only was his right leg shorter, but he also had a left \u201cilial upslip,\u201d which meant his pelvis had slipped upward over time. Also, the ligaments in his right knee and his hamstring muscles were shot, torn during the boyhood accident and never repaired.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe two got to work. Noonan used muscle energy techniques and \u201cmanual manipulation\u201d to align Haitz\u2019s pelvis. He put a one-inch heel lift in his shoe. Sometimes, Haitz would pay him with fish and lobsters.<\/p>\n

After months of therapy, Haitz started to feel like a new man. \u201cI lived in pain, continuous pain, for years,\u201d he says. \u201cMichael gave me the inspiration and motivation to bring challenges back into my life.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHaitz found a sport his body could handle \u2013 cycling. At first, he cycled for fun, then began to compete in races and discovered that he had enormous lung capacity. He went on to become a nationally ranked cyclist, winning titles at the state and regional levels, including the New England Single Speed Mountain Bike Championship three years in a row. He also competed internationally three times at the World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium, finishing 15th one year.<\/p>\n


\nNoonan was not surprised by his patient\u2019s success: \u201cHis drive and desire to get to an end is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nA decade ago, Haitz had one of those revelatory moments: He decided to switch careers. At the urging of his wife, Mia, a former 溏心vlog免费B站 math lecturer, and his mother-in-law, he enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站, earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in exercise science in three years. Then he studied three more years to get his doctorate in physical therapy, or D.P.T.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe faculty and professors were there for me and did everything they could to teach me how to be an exceptional physical therapist,\u201d says Haitz. \u201cIt was a hands-on experience.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nLooking back, he is certain he chose the right path. \u201cMy life was changed by a physical therapist,\u201d says Haitz, who is healthy and largely pain-free now. \u201cMy life was changed forever by a physical therapist.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tNoonan says he is just as grateful to Haitz.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWow, what a compliment that you could help someone change their lives to that degree,\u201d he says. \u201cIn school, he didn\u2019t just memorize facts; he understood everything. He\u2019ll be a great physical therapist.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnd he won\u2019t work far from Noonan. After he passes his national boards, Haitz will join Noonan\u2019s practice, Physical Therapy Services of Rhode Island, in Wakefield and Wickford.<\/p>\n


\nThe instructor and student will heal others together. \u201cAs physical therapists we can change people\u2019s lives on a daily basis,\u201d says Haitz. \u201cAnd that is powerful. Take my life.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above:

\nMichael Noonan, a clinical instructor for the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s physical therapy program, and Timothy Haitz, who received his doctorate in physical therapy this spring at 溏心vlog免费B站. Photo courtesy of Timothy Haitz.<\/p>\n


\nTimothy Haitz, of South Kingstown, who received his doctorate in physical therapy this spring from the 溏心vlog免费B站, competing in a cycling race. Photo by Jonathan S. McElvery.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tim Haitz inspired to become a physical therapist KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 19, 2014 \u2013 Timothy Haitz was 30 years old when he discovered that one of his legs was an inch shorter than the other. Kids teased him during high school, calling him \u201cswivel,\u201d and now he finally knew why he couldn\u2019t walk like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}