Creating Lasting Friendship & Memories at West Park
Creating Lasting Friendship & Memories at West Park
Cheryl Ruben came to West Park in November 2021, “delivered like a pizza” – as she puts it – from Humber River Hospital, where she had been treated for a stroke.
Full of spirit and zest for life that not even a stroke could dampen, Cheryl Ruben spent three months at West Park, learning how to walk, talk, and live independently again, while also making cherished memories and beloved friends.
Naturally left-handed, the damage from the stroke meant that at West Park, Cheryl had to learn how to do everything right-handed, “starting from scratch,” learning how to dress herself, eat, and write with her right hand.
At West Park, staff and clinicians work with patients to find ways to tailor their therapies the to the patient’s interests and goals. Cheryl loves to write, so her Speech Language Pathologist had Cheryl read out her own writings to work on her speech. And writing became even more than that; “writing was so cathartic, I got a lot out,” Cheryl says.
As part of a Recreation Therapy program, Cheryl became a teacher for an evening. At West Park’s Hanukkah celebration that year, Cheryl taught her fellow patients about the traditions, stories, and meaning of Hanukkah, while a Recreation Therapist cooked up latkes; a type of potato pancake that is traditionally enjoyed at Hanukkah.
Cheryl is deeply grateful for all the staff members who she describes as “angels.” Cheryl says that the staff who took her weekly food orders were her “best therapists!” and like many former patients, finds herself missing the delicious meals cooked up in West Park’s kitchens.
Cheryl become fast friends with her roommates – Kate and Pat, chatting for hours and enjoying the beautiful sunrises from their east-facing room. “We had so much laughter in our room,” Ruben says. She became friends with patients from across the hospital, with one gentleman telling her she was the “oldest teenager [he] knows.”
Cheryl says her life has changed for the better since her discharge. She continues her strong friendship with her roommates – keeping in touch over text, WhatsApp video calls and in-person visits. She hasn’t had a cigarette since the day of her stroke, and she reconnected with her brother.
As she says, “so many good things came from my stroke, actually. I reunited with my brother, and I made some good friends.”
