Carlsbad, CA (PRWEB) January 09, 2014 -- The New Year kicks off with a bang as Project Walk gets ready to open its doors to its second franchised location in Las Vegas, NV sometime in early February. For Franchise Owners Dawn Huston and Terry Moffatt, the opening is just another chapter in what has been a year of exciting adventures as they recently tied the knot before family and friends in San Diego, CA.
However, the road to owning their own Project Walk franchise hasn’t been an easy one. Huston is a testament to perseverance as she has a high cervical spinal cord injury since February of 2010 after having survived a horrific car accident.
Huston and Moffatt met four years prior when working together for a large home improvement store. Moffatt says, “there was an instant connection” while Huston jokingly recalls, “feeling bad for him because he wore the worst pants ever.” The two pursued a blissful life together until that fateful day that changed their lives forever.
Today, Huston visits the Project Walk - Carlsbad facility three days a week with Moffatt by her side. Initially Dawn struggled with recovery options as many rehabilitation centers said there was little to no chance of improvement, and therefore discouraged exercise below the level of injury.
“I used to work out all the time before I was injured,” says Huston. “So being told that I would never move again just wasn’t acceptable to me.”
Project Walk is based on The Dardzinski Method, and uses intense activity-based recovery backed by research and technology to expose those affected by a neurological impairment to the most forward-thinking rehabilitation in the industry. Project Walk Specialists focus on getting clients out of their wheelchairs while attempting to retrain the nervous system.
“When I saw Project Walk’s mission statement online, I knew I had to be there,” says Huston. “I remember a few of my first workouts and being pushed to do things I hadn’t done in a long time.” Huston adds, “in two weeks, I was able to shift my weight on the Total Gym and lock out my knees; it was exciting.”
Project Walk left such an impression on Huston and Moffatt that they felt compelled to open a Project Walk franchised location of their own.
“We know how hard it can be to travel to a Project Walk center so far from home, so we wanted to bring Project Walk to the people who couldn’t travel to California by opening one in Las Vegas,” says Moffatt.
“There is something unique about the support system at a Project Walk facility,” says Huston. She adds, “no matter how much we go through, we have our Project Walk family. It’s a real support system.”
2013 ended in a beautiful wedding between Moffatt and Huston that Moffatt says, “was long overdue.” It was no surprise that many of the guests were fellow Project Walk clients and trainers, two of which were bridesmaids and one was Dawn’s maid of honor.
“I finally get to call her my wife,” says Moffatt happily. He adds, “and now we have the opportunity to embark on a new adventure here in February.”
There are over 12,000 new spinal cord injuries each year and Project Walk Recovery Centers provide an improved quality of life for people affected by paralysis through intense activity-based recovery programs, education, training, research and development.
For more information on Project Walk or to apply to the Project Walk – Las Vegas facility, please visit our website at ProjectWalk.org.
Leah Malkinson, Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery, http://www.projectwalk.org, 760.431.9789 Ext: 121, [email protected]
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