Giving thanks

MILTON — A former nurse of 15 years, Debbie Suggs, says she has people to thank after a fall at a Pace discount store.

However, it was her exercise through the Guy Thompson Community Center’s Senior Wellness Class that gave her the strength to get to her feet again on her own.

Suggs was on her way into a Pace discount store around 4 p.m. Jan. 27 when a man with his child held the door open for her. As she was entering the business and the two made eye contact, she said her slipper hit a raised edge and she fell.

Shortly thereafter, Suggs said, a number of people looked after her. The man who opened the door for her and his wife were there, she said. An emergency medical technician who happened to be shopping there came to her side. Finally, an employee looked after the wallet she dropped.

Despite the Good Samaritans there, Suggs still wanted to get up on her own.

"I went to stand up," she said, "and the lady from (the store) was on my right, the EMT on my left. I asked the EMT just to be there for stability. I was able to lift myself."

In October Suggs started attending the wellness classes at the GTCC doing various strength and balancing exercises.

"If this happened in October," Suggs said, "I wouldn’t have been able to get up."

Blake Pablo with the Island Doctors and personal trainer John Fitzgerald run the Senior Wellness Class at the GTCC.

"Island Doctors came to the county in 2017 to meet needs for seniors, provide access to low-cost health care," Pablo said. "We’re for people with Medicare. We have a policy that says ‘If you’re sick, you’re seen."

More than 27,000 older adults died as a result of falls in 2014, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. So Pablo wanted to bring a fitness class to Santa Rosa and Escambia County seniors to also help with weight loss and greater cognitive functioning.

"It’s as much a social activity as it is a physical activity class," Fitzgerald said. "Unfortunately, as we age, loved ones pass on … Seniors become shut-ins. (When they) come to class and they talk. Some get coffee after."

The exercises themselves are not chair-based, Fitzgerald said.

"We spend most of our time on our feet," he said. "If you’re sitting, you’re not working on balance … The chair is there for safety."

The program is for anyone’s mobility level, Fitzgerald said.

"Blake and I go around to some people who can’t get out of the chair and we help," he said. "Over time, participants become stronger. The goal at the end of the day is to get stronger, to prevent falls and improve quality of life. That’s the goal."

Suggs’ experience increased her drive to work with Pablo and Fitzgerald, she said but they were not the last ones she wanted to thank after her fall.

Suggs is not a highly religious person, she said, but decided to go to church the following day where she found help in a friend, Julie Riley, who hands out bulletins there.

"I’m beginning with the faith," she said. "All the answers seemed to come flowing to me."

Riley, Suzie Nicol and Linda Polhausl, Suggs said, since Saturday have been helping her through her injuries, mostly transporting her to appointments and other stops.

Suggs wants to thank all those involved, she said, from the strangers to the friends who have helped her through her injury.

"I’ve done acts of kindness but maybe never saw results," she said. "I want them to know I’m ok and want to say thank you."

Senior Wellness Class takes place 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays at the Guy Thompson Community Center, 5629 Byrom St. in Milton.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Giving thanks