BALTIMORE CO, Md. — A Baltimore County woman who thought she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair is walking again, thanks to a chance encounter by her apartment pool and the skilled hands of an orthopedic surgeon.
Mary Evans of White Marsh first experienced symptoms of multiple sclerosis in the 1990s when she was in her early 30s.
"I was in my early 30s and out of nowhere, I started getting feelings of numbness in my legs are tingling in my fingertips. There were some sensory issues," Evans said.
Over time, the symptoms worsened, making it difficult for her to work and care for her son. Then, unexpectedly, she returned to normal for about 20 years.
"All the symptoms were away until 2010 and I started tripping and falling up curbs, up steps," Evans said.
When she returned to doctors for testing, Evans received a diagnosis of relapsing remitting MS, a type of multiple sclerosis characterized by flare-ups and relapses that come and go.
The return of MS took a significant physical toll on Evans, causing severe changes to her mobility.
"My ankle the right ankle first started turning out it was so twisted out, there was no balance," Evans said.
"I really thought this is my life and I became very depressed," Evans said.
While spending time at her apartment pool one day, Evans met a nurse who knew of a surgical procedure that could repair her feet. The nurse convinced her to pursue the surgery, leading Evans to meet Dr. Walter Hembree, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon at MedStar Orthopedic Institute.
"The first meeting, and he said I can fix this I was like yes," Evans said.
Hembree explained that correcting the position of Evans' feet was crucial to restoring her ability to walk.
"They were kind of locked in a position where she had great difficulty or almost no difficulty in my recollection on standing, she couldn't put her foot flat on the ground to stand," Dr. Hembree said.
After two successful surgeries, Evans is back on her feet and expressing gratitude to the surgeon who made her recovery possible.
"I feel just grateful I feel definitely more independent more confident and I know as I continue to address the spasticity it's only going to get better," Evans said.
Evans plans to learn how to drive using her hands to gain even more independence in her life.
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