08/31/2026
After a traumatic leg injury changed the rhythm of everyday life for 9-year-old Silas Dexter, getting back to the things he loved meant taking recovery one step at a time.
Following surgery for his traumatic injury, Silas came to OrthoNebraska for physical therapy with Amanda Held. For Silas and his mom, Stephanie, the goal was bigger than completing rehab. They wanted Silas to get back to being a kid — swimming, playing, climbing and enjoying all the activities that had once been part of his everyday life.
“When we first met Amanda, Silas and I were still grieving a lot of things,” Stephanie said. “She understood our quality-of-life goals for Silas and was thoughtful, encouraging, kind, tenacious, thorough and considerate throughout his healing journey.”
Amanda challenged Silas to put in the work, both during therapy and through his exercises at home, while recognizing that he was still a kid recovering from a traumatic experience.
They celebrated the small victories and found creative ways to connect his therapy to the things he was working toward — returning to swim team, climbing the wall at the pool or joining a game of tug-of-war at his school field day.
“She was his cheerleader for so many small victories along the way,” Stephanie said. “She had high expectations for Silas while allowing him to still just be a kid recovering from an accident.”
For Stephanie, those small victories became an important part of Silas’s recovery.
Their goals were not only to help him regain strength and return to the activities he loved, but also to show him what he could accomplish through patience, perseverance and consistent effort.
“We wanted him to know he wasn’t alone, to not be afraid of weakness, and to know that he is able to do good and hard things.”
Today, Stephanie’s advice to anyone beginning physical therapy reflects that progress doesn’t always happen in big, dramatic moments.
“Physical therapy is neither glamorous nor flashy. It’s a series of small, faithful decisions to work hard and do the next right thing over a long period of time. It requires you to accept where you are while pushing forward to where you want to be.”
And along the way, she says, celebrate every milestone.
“A few more degrees of motion in a joint or a gait that’s just a bit smoother is a beautiful thing. You’ve worked hard for those milestones.”
For Silas, all those small steps added up to something much bigger: getting back to the busy, active life of being a kid.
