Things in life we know to be true.
Becky Resch is beyond kind. She is upbeat, outgoing, encouraging to others, motivated, determined, and active.
And…Tougher than a $3 steak.
One of life’s gems, Resch, on Father’s Day of 2024, was involved in a bike-riding accident where she flipped over her handlebars on a Davenport, Iowa, bike path.
Resch sustained a right nondisplaced tibial plateau fracture and a left distal radius fracture. She required an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) of her left wrist and was placed in a hinged knee brace locked into extension (straightening) for her right leg.
That is right, fractures on the left and ride sides of her body, respectively.
“My husband, Richard, and I were biking on the bike path on the Iowa side (Davenport),” Resch said of the day. “We had come off (Davenport’s) Credit Island heading for our car and a cold beer at the Freight House when a guy on his bike came flying around the corner. I tried to get out of his way. My husband was pulling a dog burley (for our chocolate lab, Bode) and my wheel hit the burley’s wheel, and it flipped me off my bike.”
“The unnatural position of my left wrist proved it was broken,” added Resch. “But I had no idea I had broken my right knee. I hit it hard, but I was able to get up with my husband’s help. We were only a mile or two from the parking lot (of the Freight House) and there was nowhere to go for help. So, I had my husband help me onto my bike and give me a push and I would ride it back. Because I had to hold my left hand up next to my chest to keep it in place, my husband would have to jump off his bike when we got there to catch my bike and help me off.’’
Amazingly, Resch, after biking while injured to her car – managed – under her own power – to walk into the emergency room of a local medical center.
“The longer we sat there the more my knee started to hurt and when we were finally seen I told the nurse I think they had better X-ray my knee,” Resch said, noting that the hospital staff could not believe how she got back to her car after her fall. “I told him (the hospital staffer) something just did not feel right. Sure enough, I broke my right lateral tibial plateau, which is a bad break. The only way they could explain my being able to bike and walk into the emergency room was my adrenalin.’’
Since Covid, Becky and Richard Resch have made Breckenridge, Colorado, a second home, staying for a month every year.
“My husband takes vacation, so he is able to work part-time while we are there and we do a lot of hiking, biking and walking our dog up the mountain to his favorite swimming hole, the reservoir,” Resch said. “It has become our favorite place, and we look forward to it all year. This year my husband took a “soft” retirement (going part-time for a year) before retiring in May of 2025.’’
The two have long dreamed of hiking the Grand Canyon, so Becky Resch – before Father’s Day of 2024 – put their names in the lottery to hike the Grand Canyon. Eight miles down and eight miles back up after a night along a river at the canyon’s base.
“Our names did not get pulled but the people ahead of us did and they couldn’t go so they called us,” she said. “We were ecstatic. We planned our trip to start in Breckenridge in August and then head to Moab and Price, Utah, the end of September and then onto the Grand Canyon the first of October. We would hike down, camp for two nights and explore the canyon and hike back up. We were so excited.’’
Then disaster struck in June.
But Becky Resch, being Becky Resch, went to work. She turned to Rock Valley Physical Therapy’s 43rd Ave. (Moline, Il.) clinic and Joey McEachern, PT, DPT, OCS, CMT. It was here the determined–to–get–better-patient, met the gifted and determined patient–first therapist.
It would be the perfect union.
McEachern would compassionately guide Resch through therapy and Resch would respond to every challenge – inside the clinic and out.
“I had to have a special walker since my injuries were on opposite sides of my body,” Resch said. “I had to strap in my left forearm and hop on my left foot, holding my right foot up. It was exhausting to get anywhere.’’
Rather than getting depressed, Resch got even more determined. It helped that McEachern is equally as motivated, forever upbeat and shares the same passion for fitness as Resch.
“Becky enjoys biking, running, traveling, and hiking with her husband and dog,” McEachern said of Resch, a longtime runner, who ran several marathons including Chicago and the Quad Cities’ Marathon three times. The last time was for Resch’s late daughter, Morgan, to raise money for the United Mitochondrial Foundation.
“We immediately formed a good patient/therapist relationship,” McEachern added. “I enjoy the same hobbies (as Resch) so it was easy to connect with Becky on a personal level. I could tell she was highly motivated to get back to all these things she enjoyed from the first day I met her. She had high-level goals, and I was excited to work with her and guide her along the path to achieving those goals. I remember two specific big goals that Becky had for her rehabilitation process. First, she wanted to be able to travel to Colorado for the month of August 2024 and hike with her dog to a specific pond where her dog can swim in the water/reservoir.’’
Resch says she was blessed to have found a knowledgeable, motivated, and patient-first therapist in McEachern.
“At my first appointment with Joey, I told him about our trip and how much I loved our time in Colorado and how my goal was to be able to hike and bike in Breckenridge to get me back in shape for the Grand Canyon in October (2024),” Resch said. “He listened to me and understood how much this meant to me. He did not promise me anything other than he did not know if I would be able to hike in Colorado (August), but he thought by October he would have me ready. The hardest thing for me was staying down – for eight long weeks. It was miserable but during that time I was going to see Joey and he would give me exercises that I did at home, faithfully.”
“Every visit we tried something different,” added Resch. “Joey had me working my quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes, hip flexors, adductors, abductors, my core and eventually balance. He covered it all and I was moving right along. A week before I left for Colorado, I got rid of my walker. I was feeling so confident.’’
While working on a plan to allow Resch to achieve her goals, McEachern made sure she was passing each milestone in the right manner. There would are no shortcuts to better health regardless of how cool hiking the Grand Canyon would be.
“We were progressing her as quickly as we could with how active and motivated, she was, while also still respecting the healing process and not pushing things too much to set her back,” McEachern said. “We also had a time crunch when she first started seeing me at the end of June 2024 until she wanted to leave for Colorado in August. This made making the absolute most out of her therapy sessions even that much more important.’’
And the two did just that. Maximizing effort, motivation, and desire – from patient and therapist.
“The easiest part is when you have a motivated patient,” McEachern said of Resch. “The easiest part of her rehab was getting her to follow through with her exercises at home. I never had any doubt Becky was doing everything I taught her to do. She came to every therapy session with a happy, positive, and highly motivated demeanor. Becky is everything a physical therapist hopes their patient will be. I would consider Becky a friend and look forward to running into her more in the community and seeing how well she has recovered from this tough injury she sustained.’’
Resch would make it to Colorado to hike and allow Bode his swim in his favorite spot. She would also make her appointed round with the Grand Canyon.
And complete that mission with her husband, and five others.
Amazing…On all fronts.
“I love Joey and feel so fortunate to have had him,’’ said Resch, who had arranged to see a therapist in Colorado, but shocked them when she arrived sans walker. “Joey does not just listen, he hears what you are saying. Because he is an athlete, he understood how much I wanted to hike the Grand Canyon and what it meant to me. He did not waste time arguing with me, he just set to work. For me to have been able to arrive in Breckenridge and start right in biking and hiking is crazy impressive. The only way I could have done that is because Joey knew what I needed to do to keep me strong through the weeks I was down. He kept me in balance, so I did not have issues with atrophy. He was so good at cheering me on and keeping me motivated. He was proud of me and that meant so much.’’
Becky Resch, Joey McEachern, and Rock Valley Physical Therapy: That’s a winner.
By: Johnny Marx, Rock Valley Physical Therapy Storyteller