Update on Thomas

Thomas continues rehab at Shepherd Pathways for one more week. His "graduation day" is Friday, March 25 (his brother Daniel's 19th birthday). We are all extremely happy to hear that on Monday the 28th he can return to school. Thomas emailed his teachers and has received some assignments to work on so he can begin catching up. He'll be in school for one week and then have spring break (when he can accomplish more).

Saturday night, March 19, 2011 was a magical night for the Sowells and a triumph for the fund-raising efforts on behalf of Grady Memorial Hospital. Lisa Borders, Atlanta's City Council President and tireless fundraiser for Grady, asked us to be a part of this gala. Four special people were honored including Bernie Marcus. Bernie Marcus donated $20 million to Grady which funded the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center – the place where Thomas was treated in Atlanta.

Dave Drabik and his crew came and filmed Thomas and us at Shepherd a couple of weeks ago and created a beautiful video highlighting Thomas' story at Grady. (I'll post it when I get a copy on mp3.) The video was shown and then Thomas got to go onstage and present the award to Mr. Marcus. We are extremely blessed to have been a part of this tribute. We got to sit at the table with Atlanta's mayor, Kasim Reed, along with Lisa Borders, CNN anchor and emcee for the night Fredricka Whitfield. We were also given a behind the scenes tour of the Georgia Aquarium.

Click here for more pictures from the gala...

Even though it seems like everything is getting back to normal, we know Thomas has some hurdles to jump. He is still restricted in his physical activity for a while and he will have to work very hard on his academics to get back up to speed. We are overwhelmingly thankful for the prayers you've given to our family. Miracles happen and in this case you have all been a part of it!