GOING HOME AND GETTING STRONGER

Shari celebrated her homecoming several weeks ago with a meal from Taziki’s, her favorite restaurant.

Such meals are rewards as Shari continues her physical therapy and rehabilitation efforts at home under the supervision of her husband, who, as the director of rehab at Shelby Baptist, knows how to safely nudge Shari out of her comfort zone.

“There’s a very delicate balance in wanting to push her so she achieves the best outcomes and letting her rest,” Russ said. “Right now, her head pain is so severe she wants to lay there and do nothing. You can’t do that; you have to force that patient to get up and get moving.”

In order to train her brain to re-route certain functions, such as motor skills, from their original parts to other parts of the brain, Shari must be active, sometimes more than she wants to be.

“He’s a meanie,” Shari jokingly said of Russ, who has told her he will send their chickens after her if she doesn’t complete her daily walks outside.

Shari has come a long way from when she was still in the hospital, though.

“At first, she could not even wiggle her toes or hands,” Russ said. “Three weeks later, she’s going up and down stairs. To go from no movement to going up and down stairs is phenomenal.”

Support for Shari and her family in the form of cards, visits, meals and prayers has poured in from many people since her aneurysm.

“Just people’s prayers are the biggest thing we need,” Russ said. “God is healing her. He is taking care of that situation.”

Shari asked those who pray for her to pray Psalm 103, which is “her favorite.”

“That’s what I pray for my patients,” Shari said.

WIDESPREAD SUPPORT

As they read cards together at the hospital, Shari remarked she was grateful to know that many people care about her.

“It also showed me how much my wife is loved by so many people,” Russ said. “When a community comes together and really wraps their arms around them, you know they are a special person. That’s exactly what this community did for Shari. People really came together and prayed, and it was an amazing thing to witness.”

Marsha Clarke, Shari’s mother, described Shari as “one tough woman.”

“She is an amazing wife and mother and daughter and friend, but mainly, she’s an amazing woman of God,” Clarke said.

Shari was named Citizen of the Year at the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce’s Diamond Awards luncheon in December for assisting victims of a fatal crash that happened off U.S. 280 in front of her clinic in October.

“As horrible as the situation was, there couldn’t have been a better person (to help),” family friend Shane Armstrong said of Shari.

“She’s the strongest woman I know,” friend Shae Lee said. “She is the most anointed woman I’ve ever met in my life.”

Shari has been a physical therapist for 23 years and has lived in Chelsea for nine years. She and Russ have three children, Gabrielle, 20, Sarah, 18, and Andrew, 14.

Russ said Shari wants to go back to work when she can. In the meantime, she continues to defy the odds and regain normal functions at a quick pace.

“God has ordained all of our days, so if I’m still here, it’s because He has a plan and purpose for my life,” Shari said.

Neighbor and friend Marcella Baker knows Shari will do everything in her power to overcome her setbacks.

“I do believe that God has her in the palm of his hand,” Baker said. “She has a mountain to climb, but if anyone can climb it, Shari can.”