Five-year-old Raynel Granell was diagnosed with encephalitis in 2008, while living in Puerto Rico. His family moved to Marietta, Ga., several months later, where he was admitted to the Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (CIRU) at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. After undergoing a month of intense therapy as an inpatient, Raynel transitioned to the Day Rehabilitation Program at Children’s. Raynel currently receives audiology services and physical, occupational and speech therapy as an outpatient at Children’s.
As part of Raynel’s physical therapy, he is working to achieve some form of independent mobility without his wheelchair. He loves basketball, so his therapist has worked to incorporate the game into his therapeutic activities. He is able to walk, with support, to get a basketball and to pull to a standing position to put the ball in the hoop. These activities have helped increase his walking endurance—his therapists have to keep moving the basketball goal further away as he improves.