On May 18, Beth Murphy slipped into a floor-length fuchsia dress, slipped into her gold ballet flats and proudly walked down the aisle to attend her son Connor’s wedding in Southport, Connecticut.

Later, mother and son entered the dance floor, but their steps were more than a typical mother-son dance.

Her triumph was a triumph of the human spirit, marked by sheer willpower, plenty of hope and dedicated therapists, including the team at the Stroke Recovery Research Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

“I was determined to dance at my son’s wedding,” said Murphy, who suffered a massive stroke in 2021. “And I told everyone, including my therapists, that I was going to do it.”

Friends and family who surrounded the dance floor were not surprised to see Murphy twirling and dancing to her favorite song, “I Hope You Dance.”

Because hope, determination and a seemingly inexhaustible source of strength are the renewable resources that have carried Murphy through 23 years of loss and illness.

On September 11, 2001, her husband Kevin died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. At age 37, she was left to raise two young children while battling melanoma. She had a 50% chance of survival, but she was determined to be there and strong for 7-year-old Connor and her 4-year-old daughter Caitlyn.

In 2015, she underwent cardiac ablation. Three years later, in 2018, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent a wedge dissection of her right lung. The following year, she underwent reconstructive surgery on her left foot.

Despite these difficult challenges, Murphy persevered. She used her master’s degree in counseling and her life experiences from the School of Life to counsel veterans in Suffolk County on Long Island, NY. On good days, she helped them transition to civilian life; on bad days, she was in charge of suicide prevention.

In 2021, life was satisfying. Connor and Caitlyn were grown and successful in their careers. Murphy had been promoted to deputy labor secretary for Suffolk County.

When the 20th^th As the anniversary of September 11 approached, the three had gathered at Murphy’s house in Northport, Long Island, to drive to Manhattan to commemorate the 20th.^th Commemorative event for the anniversary.

And then Murphy started getting a stabbing headache. She thought it was caused by stress and did what she always does: she decided to overcome the pain and went to the gym to lift weights.

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“By the evening, I was hunched over and slurring my words,” she said. “Kaitlyn recognized the signs of a stroke. I heard her yelling for Connor to call 911.”

In the ambulance, paramedics gave her medication to dissolve the blood clots. Imaging at the hospital showed a large clot on the right side of her brain. She was flown by helicopter to another hospital where surgeons performed a thrombectomy to remove the clot. She also had two ruptured carotid arteries and two brain hemorrhages.

When Murphy woke up, the left side of her body was paralyzed. On September 10, her doctor delivered the devastating news: Murphy would likely never walk again. True to her nature, Murphy refused to accept this fate. She asked for a television to be brought into her room.

“When I saw my husband’s picture on the screen during the memorial service, I made a vow,” Murphy said. “I said, ‘Kevin, I have to live for these children and I have to be able to walk again. I promise I will fight, fight, fight and be able to walk again.'”

Three months later, after intensive sessions with a physical therapist who shared her determination, Murphy was able to walk with the aid of a single cane. Six months after her stroke, she was walking along the coast of Aruba.

Still, Murphy wanted to walk unaided and safely without dragging her left foot behind her.

She began researching “like crazy” to find a medical facility where she could participate in a clinical trial to regain more function. “New York has wonderful hospitals, but I was either too healthy, too strong or I was told I was overexerting myself,” she said.

This is how she came across the Stroke Recovery Research Center at MUSC, which supports studies on stroke recovery on process-specific aspects in the areas of walking, balance and strength training, arm and hand function, voice and swallowing disorders, depression, visual neglect and sensory perception.

After meeting with the center’s team and speaking with physical therapy assistant Alyssa Chesnutt, the center’s lead navigator, Murphy knew she was in the right place.

“I knew this was a place of healing – a place I needed to be,” she said. “I knew right away that the center’s research was great, but I needed that personal connection. That’s what makes people get up and fight 10 times harder, and that’s what MUSC did for me.”

Murphy qualified for a 12-week study of chronic stroke patients who have had a stroke at least six months after the stroke, which will examine outcomes such as walking speed, dynamic balance and cognition.

MUSC is currently conducting a clinical trial with stroke patients to test the effectiveness of a noninvasive wearable device known as a wearable neuromodulation stimulator (PoNs). It stimulates the front of the tongue and targets sensory receptors connected to cranial nerves that affect motor control and balance. It has been shown to improve walking and balance in MS patients. If the trial is successful, the company that makes the PoNs will seek Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the device to treat strokes.

Participants will wear the device three times a week for 60 minutes each time for one month to perform gait training, dynamic balance training, and breathing and meditation exercises using the PoNs device in 20-minute increments. Participants will then use the device at home with teletherapy support for eight additional weeks, three times a week with a home exercise program, before returning to the center for their follow-up assessments.

“The therapy was intense and I worked like a dog, but Danielle Feerst, my therapist, is so talented and positive. She gave me hope and encouraged me every step of the way,” Murphy said.

Feerst, an occupational therapist and lead research coordinator for the chronic stroke study, said Murphy is determined to improve her balance and return to activities that are important to her, including the ability to get up from her beach chair on her own.

“Beth was highly motivated and a dedicated participant and I know she will continue to fight,” said Feerst.

Thanks to her participation in research studies at MUSC and a second device that uses artificial intelligence to stimulate her nerves so she can lift her foot when she walks, Murphy can walk to all the good things in life again. Now she wants to restore function to her arm. And she’s ready to advocate for others who face daunting physical challenges.

“My whole life I’ve helped people and I want to do what no one has done for me,” Murphy said. When I was laying in that hospital bed in 2021, I needed a professional to say, ‘Keep fighting,’ and not tell me I was going to end up in a wheelchair. If I hadn’t pushed and sought therapy, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

“I want to do what the team at MUSC did for me and give people a sense of hope.”

For more information about MUSC’s Stroke Recovery Research Center and related studies, contact Alyssa Chesnutt at 843-792-8171 or [email protected].