When Medford resident Naya Kowal was just 6 months old, doctors began to notice her mobility was impaired.
“It wasn’t picked up immediately,” her mother Nicole Bush said. “It wasn’t until about six months in that we all noticed she wasn’t hitting the typical mobility milestones as a child.”
Naya wasn’t progressively rolling, crawling or walking because she had suffered a stroke in utero.
Doctors were initially hesitant about any diagnoses but eventually broke the news that Naya would need to endure weekly physical therapy if she wanted any chance at fixing her impaired mobility.
“It’s obviously hard, first and foremost, because everyone wants a perfect child,” Bush said. “It’s also tough because once you commit to the physical therapy route, no one can tell how she’ll respond or how quickly she’ll show improvement.”
Bush’s preliminary fears don’t even delve into the financial aspect of Naya’s problem. Physical therapy is not cheap.
The family originally turned to Early Intervention, a physical therapy service that comes to the patient’s home and is paid for based on the income of the family.
However, it became apparent Naya would benefit more from going to an outpatient physical therapy establishment that had equipment made to assist her specific needs.
Bush contacted local physical therapy businesses and was frequently turned away due to her limited insurance coverage.
“We felt helpless,” Bush said.
“It had never been rough for us,” she said when referring to her family’s finances. “We have our own business that’s done well. We always managed to move things around and make them work, but over the last year, things haven’t gone in our favor financially.”
Finally, after the idea of Naya getting her physical therapy was looking bleak, a friend recommended Three Dimensional Physical Therapy in Sharps Run Plaza.
Bush contacted the owner of 3DPT, Leah Guzzardo, assuming they didn’t take Bush’s insurance, and she was correct — they didn’t.
“She was feeling a little frustrated because she wanted to do everything possible for her daughter, but was hitting a little bit of a roadblock. As both a pediatric physical therapist and mother, I empathized with her story,” Guzzardo said.
Ken Guzzardo and Jeff Sallade, the co-owners of 3 Dimensional Physical Therapy, started their business in 2011 with the goals of helping people and providing the best possible experience.
With this in mind, Guzzardo decided to take Naya in without hesitation to treat her.
“Although we do not accept her insurance, I have no problem offering my own time to work with Nicole’s daughter to make sure she has all opportunities available,” Guzzardo said.
This is not the first time 3DPT has given back to the community.
In fact, earlier this year it held a fundraiser for a charity in honor of a local boy. It also provides a scholarship each year to a local high school senior.
“Being able to help people and making a difference in the life of a child is all I can really ask for!” Guzzardo said.
“This has been the answer to our prayers and the best Christmas gift anyone could have given us,” Bush said. “Help for our daughter.”
