"I was a single mom raising three kids on my own, waitressing for 20 years prior," said Casarella.
[Ads /]
In January of 2020, she was seeing a friend when she suffered a piercing headache and dropped to the ground. The next thing she knew, she had been airlifted to the hospital.
"And one of the first things I remember them telling me I had a hemorrhagic stroke," she said. "I thought they were crazy."
At first, Casarella was angry, sad, and frustrated that she might not be able to work again. But she was soon introduced to Project SEARCH at Bryn Mawr Rehab.
Since 2010, the program has helped roughly 200 people with cognitive or physical disabilities re-enter the workforce. Participants are enrolled in three 12-week internships that are designed to facilitate long-term career goals.
Casarella found her home as a cashier in the cafeteria at Paoli Hospital, where she was recently a patient after suffering a seizure last September.
[Ads /]
"I love it," she said. "It's a great team here."
This week, during National Rehabilitation Awareness Week, Bryn Mawr Rehab will be recognizing 25 graduates who have found a new job. Casarella is not only one of them, but she was chosen to be the commencement speaker.
Casarella has planned an inspirational speech filled with hope, faith, and shout-outs to the people who got her this far.
"The very last shout-out will be to my family," she said. "They never gave up on me. They knew I would get better and work again. You know, I found a purpose."
According to one of Casarella's doctors, Mithra Maneyapanda, it really does take a team to provide care for each individual patient in rehab medicine.
[Ads /]
"We have our therapy team, we have our case managers, but we also rely on, you know, patients and families putting in that work," said Dr. Maneyapanda, the Medical Director of the Brain Injury Program at Bryn Mawr Rehab.
To learn more about Bryn Mawr Rehab, Project SEARCH, or Paoli Hospital, visit their websites.
RELATED: Medical school graduate surprised with prosthetic running leg
Medical school graduate surprised with prosthetic running leg