The 2010 Gala Victory Awards®, supporting National Rehabilitation Hospital’s (NRH) patient care, research and education missions took place on Wednesday, November 10 at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC. Shahin Mafi and Mona St. Leger served as Gala Co-Chairs on behalf of NRH. This year’s honorees were former NRH patients Tim Strachan, University of Maryland football broadcaster, former DeMatha High School standout athlete and spinal cord injury survivor and Cheryl Douglass, former Arlington County school teacher and quadruple amputee.
Presented each year since 1986, the NRH Victory Awards® continue to celebrate the victory of the human spirit and to honor individuals who best exemplify exceptional strength and courage in the face of physical adversity.
Guests enjoyed a delicious cocktail buffet while participating in a silent auction reception. Categories for the silent auction included Getaways, Wining & Dining and Culture & Collectibles and featured items from a number of generous donors.
Guests also participated in an exciting live auction sponsored by Premium Distributors. Items included an Air Combat Mission, One Week for Two at Half Moon in Jamaica and Two BusinessFirst International Tickets on Continental Airlines.
The highlight of the evening was the Victory Awards® presentation to Cheryl Douglass and Tim Strachan sponsored by GEICO.
Thomas Collamore, Chairman of the Board of Directors at NRH introduced Cheryl Douglass as “someone who truly embodies the victory of the human spirit.” In her acceptance speech, Cheryl spoke about her experiences and her rehabilitation at NRH.
“NRH gave me a starting point towards normalcy, not the normal I used to know but a new normal,” she said. “I left knowing that at some point I would be able to take the ‘dis’ about of disabled.”
Cheryl’s care was aided by Dr. Alex Dromerick, NRH Neuroscience Research Director, who was her physician at NRH as well as Georgetown University Hospital, where Cheryl was prior to coming to NRH. This meant that NRH was involved in Cheryl’s care from beginning to end and show the true spirit of systemness that MedStar and all of its entities embody.
Douglass is now back to living actively, exercising, traveling – which she loves and is even in the process of developing a series of how-to cooking articles for amputees. John Rockwood, NRH President, introduced Tim Strachan as “a true Terp and a true champion” and expressed, “We are incredibly grateful to you for the inspiration you provided all of us during your stay at NRH.” In his acceptance speech Tim said, “I'm so very humbled by this award. It serves as a reminder of what I need to continue to do and that was instilled by the people at NRH when I first arrived. It wasn't just the doctors, although of course they played a huge role, it was also the nurses, the physical and occupational therapists and every single {Team Member} at NRH who instills in you the belief that you can move on and continue to live a normal way of live despite a disability.”