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Ludlow Rehab Renews Hope For Grounded Pilot By Lindsey Bergeron The Republican (Springfield, MA) Wednesday, April 14, 2004 Edition: FINAL, Section: METRO EAST PLUS, Page EP1 Dateline: LUDLOW lbergeron@repub.com LUDLOW - As a pilot for a private airline, Brian F. Friesen of Enfield was living his dream. Friesen flew celebrities, athletes and executives around the world, including the likes of Tiger Woods and Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I call it the airline of the rich and famous," he said of NetJets, his employer for the past seven years. Friesen, 54, was flying high until one morning 21/2 years ago when a stroke grounded him - literally and figuratively. He's endured months of therapy centered on a single goal: A return to the cockpit, something which now may be only a short time away. "I can't think of anything more crushing than not being able to do what you love to do," he said recently while continuing therapy at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Ludlow. The morning of Sept. 23, 2001, Friesen awoke in a New Jersey hotel room after a night of flying and was unable to move. While asleep, Friesen had suffered a stroke that left the right side of his body paralyzed and his speech temporarily disabled.  Since then, Friesen has been a patient at HealthSouth, where his recovery has progressed to the point where he now receives an hour each of occupational therapy and physical therapy once a week. He's come to a point where a return to flying is fast approaching, and he has already passed the initial physical required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
James J. Wheeler, a physical therapist, is working with Friesen on regaining muscle control in his leg. A biofeedback machine is attached to Friesen to measure the amount of electric activity in his muscles while he walks, Wheeler said. "Brian walks with a limp because the muscles in his leg aren't always relaxing when they are supposed to," he said. During his occupational therapy sessions, therapy assistant Tammy A. Fontaine is helping Friesen relearn some necessary tasks required both to take care of his home and to return to work. HealthSouth has a computer, washer, dryer, television and other home furnishings, so that patients can learn to do everyday tasks from changing sheets to folding laundry, she said.  Fontaine is now working with Friesen on therapy to regain his fine motor control and shoulder stability, she said. "When he flies, he's going to need to do a lot of reaching and flipping of switches," she said. "He has to be able to do it all with his right hand."
Without an airplane on which to practice, Fontaine tries to simulate the movements Friesen will need while flying. "He'll be able to get back to work," Fontaine said. "He's already passed the initial physical." For most stroke patients, Friesen's level of mobility would be enough to get by in everyday life, Wheeler said. But for a highly specialized career, such as flying, he needs more therapy. "For younger stroke patients, being able to walk and drive a car aren't their only goals," he said. "They have to get back to their lives." "My career is so highly specialized, I have to have control and coordination," Friesen said. Friesen is preparing to continue the strict FAA testing process. His next test will be a highly involved one with a neurologist approved by the FAA. If he passes that, he will be allowed to take the medical exam, he said. To fly passengers, Friesen will need to receive a first-class medical license, the most difficult medical license to obtain, he said. If he receives a second- or third-class license, he will still be able to be a flying instructor. "I'll be in aviation one way or another," he said. Friesen is moving to Fort Worth, Texas, within the next month, where he will remarry his former wife and continue therapy at a HealthSouth center there. "It's going to be a sad goodbye," Fontaine said. "We were hoping to be there when he flew for the first time. He's come so incredibly far." When Friesen was a senior in high school, his parents gave him flying lessons, which included a ground school course and an introduction to flying, he said. "My first flying lesson . . . I knew that's what I wanted to do," he said. "It's totally different from anything else you can imagine. You can look down upon the world and see all of God's creations. It's a chance to see places most people only dream of." Throughout college at Southeastern State University of Oklahoma, where he received his associate's degree in aviation management, Friesen maintained his dream of becoming a pilot. After college, he became a flight instructor and flew for a few different airlines before he began flying for NetJets, a private airline, in 1997, he said. Friesen grew up in Kansas and has lived most of his adult life in Texas. He moved to Connecticut in 1997 when he began working for NetJets, he said. Since his stroke, Friesen has been working with NetJets as a "grounded pilot," a position that allows him to still use his expertise in aviation and do paperwork that pilots usually don't have time for, he said. Friesen was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, a condition in which a person stops breathing while sleeping, Fontaine said. The condition most likely contributed to the stroke, she said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
