inmate perspective #8

Sep 10, 2023

I’m innocent

As is common, this is the 3rd visit in and he begins to share. He’d always been kind of quiet, respectful.

“I know everyone says this, but I’m in here for something I didn’t do it. I didn’t have a criminal history.”

I continue on with my manual therapy, just listening. I never ask questions, just allowing them to share. He continues on. “I turned myself in because they were looking for me–I wanted to set it straight. The cops said they knew I didn’t do it, but they wanted information about who murdered this person. My prints were never found at the scene. There was never any evidence against me.”

I continue to provide manual therapy as he just had surgery, just listening, wanting to believe.

“There was one informant and he named me. That was it….20+ years for something I didn’t do.”

He’s been down for half of my life. I had stopped working on him, sitting back and taking it in. I had to ask, “are you angry?”

“Yeah, but what can I do, that’s not going to help me.” Tears started to well up in my eyes. And then his. I told him, I want to show you some new exercises, but that all seems irrelevant after what you just shared. We’re both crying by this point.

Tears wiped away, we get to it as I explain that these are the next steps in your rehab and they’re important for right now and your recovery. He’s appreciative and we move forward.

He was approved for parole recently but a fraudulent claim by someone on the outside prevented his release. He’s set to get out again in couple years. This is his story. I’m not here to pass judgement. But his emotions did seem real and his medical chart doesn’t cite any mental health concerns leading me to suspect otherwise.

And next week, we continue our sessions. Our time together forever changed.

*just to note, I’ll be leaving out the name of the institution that I work at. It’s a state prison for reference. Images are not from the prison as no devices are allowed in.

caring for the incarcerated

Prison PT

I’ve been a physical therapist (PT) for 19 years. Worked in all different settings: Acute care, inpatient rehab, home health, hospice care, outpatient clinic, telehealth, and I’ve run my own concierge practice. As a yoga therapist and PT I’ve been able to help those see a new perspective around their pain. Not to expect a pain-free life, but to relish a life that exists in the presence of pain—because we will all experience it at some point. But now, I’ve chosen a new path. I wanted to serve the underserved, and I wanted something unique. Working at a prison was not something I thought possible. But it is. There are a small world of PT’s doing just that. But if you search out there to find information on the experience, you won’t find much. I found several sites about nursing for the incarcerated, but the PT landscape was bleak. So, it’s with this intention that I began to share the stories here. A source to inform those who are curious and have questions and provide them a place to land. Please share if you know someone who might be interested.

Prison PT