Physical Therapy

Grace Ashu , a resident of Laurel, earned an Associate in Applied Science in nursing from Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y. Khushbu Patel , of Laurel, received a Doctor of Physical Therapy in physical therapy from Boston University. Almaz Abraham , of Laurel, is the recipient of the 2011 Morgan-Keller GNA Scholarship to further her education as a geriatric nurse assistant. She has been employed since 2005 with Morningside House of Laurel, an assisted living and Alzheimer's care facility.

Working late into the night at a research center at the South Pole, Renee-Nicole Douceur thought she was just tired when her vision suddenly became blurred. Sleep did nothing to improve her eyesight, and a doctor at the center at first thought she had torn a retina. But further diagnosis pointed to a stroke and the beginning of an ordeal where the closest hospital would be nine weeks and a 12-hour plane ride away. "I was very concerned for my health," Douceur said Friday. "I didn't know if I was a ticking time bomb.

Still healing physically, Ravens outside linebacker Sergio Kindle is turning his attention to maturing mentally. Arrested and charged with drunken driving the morning after Christmas, Kindle spoke about the need to "grow up" two days after the team's season-ending 31-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC divisional playoff game. "The guys never lost trust in me. It's just me and my decision-making," Kindle said in the locker room as his teammates cleaned out their lockers.

His rookie season having ended before it began, Sergio Kindle is taking steps to ensure that he is still an active member of the Ravens. The team's top pick and the 43rd overall selection in the draft in April who's out after making a wrong turn in the dark on July 22 and falling down two flights of stairs suffering a fractured skull said he has been running, lifting weights, and generally completing the physical things he needs to do to stay in...

James Austin Barnhart, a highly decorated World War II veteran and a noted Baltimore physical therapist and teacher, died July 17 of Parkinson's disease at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The longtime Riderwood resident was 84. Mr. Barnhart, who was the son of a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad accountant and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Hunting Ridge. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1944, Mr. Barnhart enlisted in the Army and served with the Army's 10th Mountain Division ski troops in Europe.

More than three weeks since he last played, Orioles leadoff hitter Brian Roberts still has not resumed baseball activities, and he has no idea when he will. What the second baseman does feel confident about is that he'll return this year and won't need season-ending surgery to repair the herniated disk in his back. "Surgery is not something that we've even discussed," said Roberts, who last played April 9. "Being out until October is not something that we've even discussed. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's three weeks or three months.

The Hereford wrestling program has long prided itself on hard work and conditioning. An ideal example is the Bulls' senior 140-pound wrestler Jonny Volz. After going 26-15 as a junior, qualifying for states but unable to place, Volz put in extra time during the offseason in a bid to make the most of his senior season. So far, so good. A team captain, Volz is 15-0 with 10 pins in helping lead the No. 10 Bulls to a 14-1 record. Volz also plays baseball and is involved in Future Business Leaders of America.

It has been more than half a century since Nathan Garrett and Kernie Thompson marched across Europe together in World War II, but they recognized each other immediately this week in the physical therapy room of a Baltimore County rehabilitation facility. They both moved to Baltimore after the war to work for Bethlehem Steel, but they hadn't seen each other in decades. Now the two war buddies are sharing a room at Manor Care, retelling old tales across their hospital beds. "We went through a whole lot in Europe," said Thompson, at 84 the younger of the two. "Garrett was a good soldier and a good friend."

Linda Horn, a St. Agnes Hospital physical therapist, has been awarded the 2008 Henry O. and Florence P. Kendall Award from the Maryland Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association. The Kendall Award was established as a way for the APTA of Maryland to honor its members for outstanding contributions to the field of physical therapy. The APTA of Maryland recognized Horn for her service to the profession of physical therapy in the areas of patient care, supervision, administration and education.