When Laura Terheggen first became a physical therapist at what was then Brownsville Medical Center, Dr. Ray Simmons encouraged her to look into the Moody Clinic, the nonprofit that provides physical, occupational and speech therapy to children regardless of their family’s ability to pay.
“You just play with children, he would say — that’s not all there is to it — but he would try to convince me to come work at Moody Clinic. They’re real big on education here, and that was the clincher for me, the ability to get more education,” Terheggen remembered last week as she reflected on reaching her 30-year employment anniversary at the Brownsville clinic.
“Working with children has been a blessing,” she said. “Compared to adults, who are gradually wearing out, kids are blossoming. I get to see kids take their first steps. It’s very gratifying. … It’s been a wonderful career.”
As to education, she and her daughter Heather, a physical therapist at Cook’s Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, earned doctoral degrees together several years ago at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
The children who Terheggen helps suffer from a range of challenges. Some have orthopedic issues or are neurologically involved, while others suffer from Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy.
Many former patients return years later to help out with fundraisers or just to visit. “It’s always a shocker to see them all grown up,” she said.
A few years ago, Terheggen started to notice the work was starting to take a toll on her physically, particularly with the older children.
“I’d work with them and then have to go to the chiropractor. It’s time,” she said, adding that she plans to retire at the end of the summer.
Originally from the Hermosa Beach area of Southern California and partial to the beach lifestyle, Terheggen lives on South Padre Island with her husband Jibber, who teaches windsurfing and kiteboarding as a business.
