An Alamance County elementary school student has volunteered over the past year to help students in Elon University's Doctor of Physical Therapy program, and WGHP Fox 8 recently shared how that young girl is making a difference of her own in the lives of others.
Lauren Petty lives with mitochondrial disease, which creates fatigue and requires wheelchair assistance. Her presence in the DPT program gives students an opportunity to better understand the needs of pediatric patients.
Petty, her mother, and Elon University Assistant Professor Paula DiBiasio spoke in May 2015 with WGHP Fox 8 about their experience, and how Lauren Petty is using a stipend from Elon to help patients in a prominent North Carolina children’s hospital.
“What we do in the classroom, I can’t do in the lab,” DiBiasio told Fox 8. “I really need patients to recreate a therapy session, so that the students have an opportunity to work with children and their families.”