September 4, 2023 • 31 mins
In this episode, ADJUSTED welcomes Josh Shutts, Therapist with Brooks Rehab as well as a former patient and work comp claimant. Josh discusses his injury and recovery with Brooks Rehab as well as his experience with the work comp process. He also discusses his journey from being a patient to becoming a certified therapist.
Season 6 is brought to you by Berkley Industrial Comp. This episode is hosted by Greg Hamlin and guest co-host Matt Yehling, Directory of Claims at Midwest Employers Casualty.
Visit the Berkley Industrial Comp blog for more!
Got questions? Send them to marketing@berkindcomp.com
For music inquiries, contact Cameron Runyan at camrunyan9@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Greg Hamlin (00:07):
All right, 321 Hello everybody and welcome to
adjusted. I'm your host, GregHamlin coming at you from Sweet
Home Alabama and Berkleyindustrial comp. And with me as
my co host for the day, Mattyelling at you want to introduce
yourself.
Matthew Yehling (00:29):
Hello, everyone. This is Matthew
Yaling. Coming from the banks ofthe mighty Mississippi up in St.
Louis, Missouri. Just enjoyingthe nice summer weather we're
having here.
Greg Hamlin (00:41):
So glad to have you with with us again. As always.
Today we have a special guestwith us. Joshua shoots, did I
say that right?
Joshua Shutts (00:50):
You did or shuts like shuts the doors, shuts the
door.
Greg Hamlin (00:53):
Got it? Well, Joshua shots is with Brooks
rehab. And so we're excited tohave him here and you are in
Jacksonville. Is that right? Iam in Jacksonville, Florida,
where it is also nice and warmright now.
We've been pushing 100 Here, Ibet but I bet it's worst. where
(01:14):
you're at? Am I right? Yeah. Sowe wanted to have Josh here for
a couple of reasons. We did anepisode A while back with
another employee of Brooksrehab, Josh shooty. And today,
we wanted to actually have Joshon to tell us a little bit about
his story, which I think ispretty unique. Because he has
(01:37):
actually been on both sides of aworkplace injury, which I think
puts him maybe at a differentperspective than any of us. So I
want it if you could, Josh, tellus a little bit about how you
were injured at work or how,what happened that day.
Joshua Shutts (01:58):
So back on December 1 2017,
I was operating a steel cuttingbandsaw. It's put in
perspective, it's about a$15,000 piece of equipment that
can cut multiple steel barswithin seconds. And
the owner of the business waswanting me to learn all the
outside operations so that Iconventionally run all the
(02:20):
outside operations. And thisparticular station was the last
one that I needed to learn.
Order came in late in the day.
He said, Hey, can you knock thisout? I said, Absolutely. I got
my first cut in, which was astraight cut went into the
second cut, which is about a 45degree angle, my material got
(02:41):
jammed. And I was like, well,let's try to fix this and finish
the job. I took the bar out, Iwent to line it up manually. And
my hand was just above it and Ihit the wrong button on the
machine. And I mean as fast asyou can blink and pulled my hand
right up into the saw and a cutall four fingers off my hand.
(03:04):
And I hit the ground instantlyreally didn't know what happened
at first. Because all I couldsee was just the jagged work
love on my hand.
In my co worker workersscrambled to stop me from
bleeding out find, you know notto be graphic but five, what was
cut off my hand.
The trauma paramedics and thestate troopers actually got
(03:26):
there within minutes. They threwmini ambulance they took me up
to a hospital that's actuallyattached to where I work now.
They looked at me and we're likewe we don't have anybody here
that can give you a fightingchance to get your hand back.
They called all over NorthFlorida Southeast Georgia, they
couldn't find a single hospitalthat was willing to see me. And
(03:49):
then they found a hospital downBradenton, Florida Blake Medical
Center, and there was a surgeondown there at the time. He's
actually at Sheppard in Atlantanow, that was the best hand
surgeon in the state of Floridaand he was willing to take a
shot of me and so they put me ona trauma helicopter and flew me
down to South Florida. Got downthere.
(04:09):
Got now the accident happened atabout 130. So I didn't get into
surgery till about nine o'clockthat night. And I immediately
went into a 16 hour surgery toreattach everything to my hand.
And long story short, my middlefinger didn't survive. So that
one was really amputated. Butonce I was discharged, I still
had my index finger, my ringfinger and my pinky. And
(04:34):
thankfully, my thumb was nottouched at all.
Matthew Yehling (04:41):
Wow, man, I mean, thanks for sharing that
story. And I mean, and I knowthat's just the beginning.
Right? That's the beginning ofthe treatment and the care you
received. So I think to continueon with that what you know, what
was the next maybe phase of carelike
Joshua Shutts (05:01):
So the next phase of cares, I woke up next day, in
intensive care, I didn't knowwhere I was, I didn't know what
happened. I always tell people,if you've ever watched
Spongebob, that buzzing soundthat the jelly fishes make.
That's what I heard in my head.
That's what I felt my body. So Iwas very agitated. And I'm not
normally like mean to people, Idon't know. But I was very just
(05:22):
anybody that was in my sight,got in the hair full.
So I spent the next few days inthere, just constant
revascularize. And they had myarm basically holding my right
arm up like in a cobra. And itwas just kind of like getting
everything flowing again,because the surgeon reattached
(05:45):
everything that holds yourfinger together, arteries,
veins, bone, nerves, muscletendons, all of it. And 10 days
later, I was discharged to home,which at the time for me was St.
Augustine says about a three anda half, four hour drive back
home. And then I was and I waspretty much there for about a
(06:10):
month close to a month and ahalf. And then that's when I
finally had my evaluation withBrooks rehab, and I met a
certified hand specialist in St.
Augustine, Florida. And that'swhere the rehab journey began.
Greg Hamlin (06:24):
So I imagine there was a fair amount of rehab for
you to gain use of your handagain, what was that like? Or
what were some of the thingsthey had to do?
Joshua Shutts (06:34):
There was a tremendous amount of rehab. So
it started off in baby steps,they went from having my hand
arm up, like basically holdingmy arm up like a cobra to
extending my arm out to get usedto like holding my arm down to
my side, which to all of us,that sounds like a normal
function. But for me, it wasextremely painful. Like if
(06:58):
you've ever had like your leg,like totally sleeping, you try
to walk, that's what my armwould feel like, like I couldn't
tolerate hanging my arm downmore than a couple of minutes.
So it was kind of, we had tobuild up that tolerance. And
then I also had percutaneouspins to in each finger, which
basically it's a long steel pinholding all your bones together.
(07:21):
So we really couldn't do muchwith those. And it was just kind
of like pass a range of motionwith my wrist trying to use to
have the blood circulatingagain, once the pins were
removed, then it was constantsplinting and casting day and
nighttime to start training myfingers to pull down and the
(07:42):
flexion. And that was incrediblypainful to get through that and
it was just a lot of like, basicfunction. Now it wasn't a brain
injury. But because I had nervescompletely severed. There was
like basic things I couldn'teven do with my right hand like
I would go to do it and nothingwould happen. And it was
(08:03):
incredibly frustrating early on,like it was like I would try to
grab something or pick upsomething and it's like I
couldn't I couldn't even do it.
There was no coordination atall. So that was the very early
stages of rehab.
Greg Hamlin (08:19):
That's crazy. I
Matthew Yehling (08:22):
go ahead, Matt.
I was just gonna comment. So asyou're beginning the the rehab
process you know, this isobviously workers compensation
podcast, you know, so part of mewants to go into the what's the
what was the experience likedealing with your employer? When
were you first notified orstarted you know, there's always
(08:43):
a we would talk about aninvestigation of the claim you
know, so it's interestingtalking to you you know years
removed from this but what whatwas your experience going
through that work comp processwith your employer with the
administrator thatadministrators claim let's hear
a little bit about that. Yeah,that's a good bad indifferent
(09:06):
tell us tell us that we don'tlove the fact
Joshua Shutts (09:11):
fortunately for me there wasn't too much bad
which I can I will get into youknow, parts that I wish would
have been a little better but anearly on it was phenomenal. My
employer who they were basicallylike a second family to me I
actually we're all still inchurch together. They made sure
that I was still getting my paythe one of the CO owners of the
(09:34):
business actually drove down thethat weekend and hung out with
me all day now this is threethree and a half four hours away
from home hung out with me watchfootball make sure I was okay.
Make sure that like wanted to beeyes and be an advocate for me
before like my case managernurses were introduced because
actually had two case managernurses and they actually came in
(10:00):
maybe two days later. I mean,everything moves fast. I mean,
before I even got home, I wasalready getting phone calls. It
was it was overwhelming, becauseI was like, you know, we're
getting close to the holiday. SoI wasn't thinking about any of
that. I was just like, I gottaget back home. But they, they
made sure everything was set up.
They made sure that when I gothome, we were getting rehab set
(10:22):
up, we were gettingtransportation set up because I
wasn't allowed to drive my carbecause there was a stick shift.
They were trying to figure thatout. They were making sure I had
wound care nurses come to whereI live to take care of me
because I was still I went homewith open wounds. They OSHA was
flexible. They actuallyinterviewed everybody at the
(10:44):
warehouse, but then theyactually came to me. The
gentleman sat with me for abouttwo hours, just was asking all
the questions that OSHA asked,you know, they wanted to know
what went what happened, whatwent wrong, what could have been
prevented. All that all thatgood stuff. And then I always
joke with people, it was kind ofsticker shock when I got the
(11:06):
helicopter bill in the mail. Andhe came to me and it was
$57,000. And I was like, Oh, Icalled my Yeah, like I'm in the
wrong business. I called my, myclient, my nurse, my workers
comp nurse. And she was like I'mon it, she made sure from that
day forward, I never got asingle bill in the mail. Again,
she assured me everything wascovered. So the initially on the
(11:28):
first few months, everything waswas great.
Greg Hamlin (11:36):
That's great to hear. I mean, I think nobody
plans to have a work injury. Andit can be so confusing, because
it's a very statutory all drivenprocess, that sometimes, you
know, it can be a little bitpainful for the person who's
going through it. And we hopethat it's not. And that's, of
course, our goal. And one of thethings that we're trying to do
(11:57):
here on the podcast is changedsome of that. So I'm glad on
your end that. You know, whileit might have been new, you had
a great employer who was willingto step up and sit with you
through that and be there foryou on it. Any any parts that
were difficult for you orchallenges.
Joshua Shutts (12:15):
Yes. So the difficulties started presenting
when I was a few months into it.
And I was warned early on thatthe further you go into your
case, people are going to startgetting tired of you. And I
started to experience that lateron. And I don't know if like
they were tired of me or theywere just whatever's going on.
But what,
Matthew Yehling (12:37):
what people what, what people just just to
clarify what, what what peoplewere tired of you like just
Joshua Shutts (12:44):
all I'm trying to think of what the case manager
Merton nurse said early on, shesaid that, you know, you're
different parties involvedmainly on the medical side, more
than the adjusters we're gonnaget tired of like seeing me all
the time. But where I ran intothe real issue was, we had AIG,
(13:08):
and then I had, you know, Brooksrehab into my surgeon and where
I started and started gettingfrustration is I went through a
cycle, I would have surgery,because that multiple surgeries
than the healing time. And thenI'd have this big gap to get
back in the rehab. And it wasthe middle company in between
(13:29):
everybody that would drag theirfeet. So I would end up I would
have the surgeon saying he needsto get back to the headstand
therapy. Now, I would have brokesaying we need to get him now.
But then the middle companywouldn't get me authorized right
away. And what ended uphappening is I had the first
issue is when I had anartificial joint and my ring
(13:52):
finger because unfortunately therehab wasn't working because the
joint was so misaligned themiddle joint that it was
becoming very painful, that theydecided we're going to cut it
out, put a carbon fiber in, thegoal was that would get almost
full range of motion of thatfinger like a normal finger.
What an actually ended uphappening is I sat at home for a
(14:14):
couple of weeks before I gotauthorized to go back to the
hand therapist. And by the timeshe saw me, the whole joint
locked up from scar tissue and Iended up getting zero mobility
out of the joint. So itbasically it's just holding my
finger together. And then laterthat year, the same thing
happened with my my pinkie rightthey ended up fusing it
(14:35):
completely. So that was the partthat I wish it would have went
smoother was getting my visitsauthorized a lot of times and
the further I went into my rehabthe longer it was taking to get
my visits authorized to get morerehab and that's where it
started getting frustrating forme.
Greg Hamlin (14:57):
I think that's really kind of rare borrowed
Matthew Yehling (14:59):
of Uh, I mean, you're in that rare boat of
injuries where you're not reallyin a formulary that traditional
with that with the amputation.
So there's. So that's kind ofthe unfortunate reality of your
circumstances. And, man, it'sprobably insightful for those
dealing with these types ofclaims is, lets you speed up
that process, how do we get thatcare more quickly? How do we
(15:23):
ensure that injured employeesget the best outcome? And I
think it's a quick response tothis the early identification of
those things, and, you know,it's often, you know, we hang up
thing, you know, things get hungup on a technicality or
something well, you know, talkson this formulary or it's
outside of that, and, and inreality, it's like, well, you
(15:45):
know, this is this is all kindof outside of that scope. So
it's really sorry, sorry to hearsome of that. And I think, you
know, the story continues there,right. So you had a lot of
rehab. And at some point, youknow, you've already indicated
we know where the story ends,but when did you decide to
transition from your work or thework you were doing and to more
(16:10):
as a rehab level of work and gogoing into, specifically
occupational therapy.
Joshua Shutts (16:19):
So when what I was doing, when I first started
my occupational therapy, with myhand therapist, I was one on one
for a long time. And then whenshe determined that I was
appropriate to be in a group,because in the outpatient
setting more now than it wasthen it's usually a few patients
(16:40):
to one therapist. So when I gotto that level, I started getting
paired up with other patientsthat were kind of had similar
injuries to what I had, or werekind of like, walking through
what I was walking through. Andso it was very rewarding for me
to, to just talk to them andinspire each other to push
(17:02):
through and get stronger andstronger. And you know, and then
some time passed, and I waslike, you know, I think it'd be
kind of cool to go for school toschool for this. And my hand
therapist, who I still talk totoday, was my biggest advocate,
she's like, Yeah, you should,you should definitely go for
this. The other side of that isthat a couple of doctors that
(17:24):
were like, now, you probablycan't physically handle that,
let alone even drive your stickshift again, which I did, by the
way. Um, and so I just curved itfor a while, I was just like,
Yeah, whatever. We'll just seewhat I can do with myself now.
And then, in 2019, I was at alandmark conference in Orlando,
(17:47):
Florida, and a single mothertold her story about starting a
business. And I remember lookingat my best friend at a time, and
I was like, well, she's, what'smy excuse? You know, she went
back to school and did all this.
Why? Why can I go back to schoolmake this happen? I remember
where I was, I was standing inthe millennium mall. I called my
mom. I talked to my mom, I justcan't, I can't shake this, I
gotta go back to school. Andshe's like, all right. She's
(18:11):
like, you know, we support you,and we'll love you through it.
So I was broke. I mean, what I'mwhat I mean, I was broke, I was
living paycheck to paycheck, Iwas renting, I was living off my
church's food pantry. And I sawthat I had to take just a few
prerequisites to apply for theprogram. So I charged it all on
a credit card, because I'm like,because at that point, I didn't
(18:32):
have my settlement yet. Sothat's kind of where the journey
began. And then before actuallystarted school, I ended up doing
my settlement, and I did my FC Ewith Josh shooty, who has been
on this podcast, and he clearedme to chase this dream. And I
went after it and did the schoolfor a couple years. And I've
(18:52):
been with Brooks rehab forexactly one year yesterday. Now.
Greg Hamlin (18:57):
That's amazing. So I mean, just the story from
going through what you wentthrough to helping other people
go through it, I have to imagineas you're working with people
who are recovering, and you'reshowing them what they can
achieve. It's gotta be inspiringfor people who are who are
having the chance to work withyou.
Joshua Shutts (19:16):
Now, yeah, absolutely. I because I work on
the stroke and neuro unit, butyou know, few times a month, I
get a patient that has atraumatic hand injury, or they
have no sensation in our handbecause that's a whole nother
part of the journey. I had to gothrough with the nerve damage
and it's very rewarding to belike, Hey, I get that part of
(19:37):
your injury, like here's all thethings that I had to do through
therapy and now I could show youthe same things.
Greg Hamlin (19:43):
That's fantastic. I had heard when I watched a clip
that Brooks rehab was sharingwith you that you have your a
little bit tick tock famous, andso I have we have to talk about
it. So talk to me a little bitabout how one you decided to
upload some videos on tick tockand I know a lot of people think
dancing, but there's lots ofother content on on tick tock,
(20:05):
obviously, but how did youdecide to go down that path? And
what were some of the thingsthat you've shown, you've shared
with people through that sourcemedia source?
Joshua Shutts (20:14):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I was actually a student atthe time when I made the
channel. And I knew very, veryearly on in school that I wanted
to work in neuro occupationaltherapy for Brookes rehab like
that, there was no backup plan.
That was the direction I wantedto go. And the main reason for
that is my dad is a strokesurvivor, who was also a patient
(20:36):
of Brookes rehab. So you can sayit runs in the family. And
seeing the things he struggledwith what a self care tasks and
things that I struggled withearly on with my hand injury was
self care tasks that was like,you know, what, I think it'd be
pretty cool to make a channel ofshowing people ways that they
(20:57):
can make adaptive equipment athome with things laying around
the house, or that would be like1015 bucks worth of materials
that, you know, at a localstore. And so I did adaptive
devices, but I also did likesensory items as well. And just
became popular, a lot of myclassmates thought it was cool.
And so I just kept making morevideos of ideas I got from other
(21:21):
people and things that I hadmade for myself.
Matthew Yehling (21:28):
I think it's incredible. And I went on Tik
Tok, and I went on your Facebookpage and, and watched some of
those. And I noticed there wasanother big announcement to
coming later this year, right?
You posted it on your Facebookpage. I'll let you say what it
was. Congratulations in advance.
Joshua Shutts (21:48):
Oh, yes. So about two to three weeks from now my
beautiful wife and I'd bewelcoming a baby girl.
Greg Hamlin (21:56):
I'm so excited for you. Is this your first Josh? It
is. So when we were trying toschedule this episode, Josh had
said I was pushing out the datea little bit because, you know,
we usually err just a couple ofmonths. And he's like, Well,
that could be okay, just gonnadepend on the due date and the
ultrasound and and having had Ihave six kids. So knowing how
(22:18):
your life is about to change. Isaid, we've got to get him in
before we get anywhere near thatdate. Because his life he's
gonna be so busy with that. ButI will tell you having a
daughter that's 18 all the waydown to a son who's 18 months,
that there is no greater joy. Soyou congratulations, for sure.
Joshua Shutts (22:40):
Thank you. Yeah, we're definitely an excited to
Matthew Yehling (22:45):
tell us what it was like going back to school?
And was there a little bit ofreward with like disproving some
other people, you know that kindof limited? You or or gave you
some maybe misinformation?
Joshua Shutts (23:01):
Yeah, so going going back to school, which
actually started in fall of2020. So that presented a whole
nother set of challenges,because we were very limited in
what we could even do with allthe restrictions that were going
on at the time, but it to beable to do get through the
classes early on. And I didn'tsay anything at first, but then
(23:24):
a lot of my classmates startednoticing my hand, they're like,
wait, wait a minute, what'sgoing on here? And so I started
telling them, what I wentthrough, and they're like, holy
cow, you want to be a therapist?
And I said, Absolutely. And itwas challenging at first. And my
wife will tell you that thereare a lot of times I was like,
you know, I I don't know if Ican actually physically handle
this. I'm not sure because onceI actually started doing the
(23:47):
physical part of the rehab, youknow, it was it there was some
times I was sore. But then whenI actually got into my clinicals
and actually started doing it,and I started doing it more, not
only was I proving to myselfwrong, but I was proving
doubters I had in my life at thetime wrong that like yeah, I can
absolutely do this. And justbecause, you know, I had some
(24:10):
limitations. My right handdidn't mean I couldn't help
people live a better quality oflife and I but I had way more
people pushing me forward tokeep going and going because
there were many times I was justlike, Man, I don't know if I
want to do this anymore. Andthey were pushing me like no,
you got to keep going. You gotto keep going. And then
(24:31):
Interesting enough, my ch Tended up being one of my
professors in school. So we werenot friends at that time, but I
was oh he was one of my patientsand now she's you know, teaching
me but the experience wasincredible because then I did my
final clinical and internshipwith Brooks rehab in an
(24:53):
outpatient setting. And once itstarted catching fire that I was
a former patient, it was justlike, it was just like I was
excited to continue to show upevery day because like, you
know, having patients that werewanting to know about what I
walked through when I'm tryingto help them walk through what
they're getting through, it wasjust, it's hard to describe that
(25:15):
feeling. You know?
Greg Hamlin (25:19):
That's amazing. And I imagine that feeling and I,
from what I understand for you,for your profession, you have to
pass boards to so you go throughyour school, but you still have
boards that you got to take tobecome certified. Is that right?
Joshua Shutts (25:36):
Yes. So, and that was an interesting season,
because during my finalinternship, I was not working at
all. So you know that that was alot of pressure on me, because
it's like, we're on one incomeright now. And I graduated in
May of, of, I'm trying to thinkof your 22. And then I took my
(25:57):
national boards in June, and Iwaited about 15 days before I
got my results. But the crazypart is, is the day after I took
my boards. The director of rehabreached out to me it was like,
Hey, you want to you want tocome shadow tomorrow shattered
unit? And I was like, Yeah,sure. And I was like, kinda
(26:17):
like, empty, like I was drained.
I didn't know what to think Iwas like, Well, I just took my
boards. But yeah, sure. Well,they ended up interviewing me
while I was there. And thenthey're like, we'll get back to
you know, we'll talk. And then Iwent out of state, I was up in
Maggie Valley, North Carolina,and I get the phone call and the
email that they offered me aposition. And I had not gotten
my boards yet. So then, needlessto say, next couple of weeks, I
(26:40):
was stressed out all the time,because I had a job offer. I had
a start date on my birthday. AndI had no board results. So. So
real quick about that. My wifewas like, Hey, why don't you
check your desk dashboard. I waslike, I just checked them this
morning. They're not up. Shesays she already knew that my
(27:01):
results are posted because shelogged in, but I didn't know.
And she's like, Oh, go ahead andcheck and see if they're there.
And sure enough, I log in and Ijust I lost it because I
couldn't believe I passedan attorney. Here we go.
Greg Hamlin (27:16):
That had to feel I have not been in a position but
that had to feel amazing. Likeyou had climbed something you
know from from going to whereyou're low of losing your
fingers to being in a placewhere you not only went back to
school, but you're back actuallyhelping people at the very place
you received your your treatmenthad to be that had to be a
(27:37):
special moment.
Joshua Shutts (27:38):
Yeah, and I never forgot the people that helped me
through it. Mainly, I'm prettysure she retired now. Her name
was Barry, Marybeth Michel, forAIG. And she was like my main
contact from day one. And shewas absolutely incredible. She
advocated for me so much madesure things got covered my
expenses, because I was drivingto that hospital multiple times
(28:01):
a month for months. But she wasone of the first people I called
to share that I did it. And Iremember she started crying on
the phone, because she was justso happy to see that I went from
what, who she first met to nowand like I emailed the surgeon,
it's like I just wantedeverybody to know I taught
(28:21):
called shootie. Like, it wasjust like, full circle. Like it
was just an unbelievable momentto when that happened.
Matthew Yehling (28:32):
And so what we what advice. I mean, it's a
wonderful story. And that's whyGreg and I wanted to talk to
you. And, you know, you know, wewatched the video that Brooks
had put out, we watched some ofyour tic tac stuff, like we
alluded to, and then, you know,the story is excellent, you
know, where you've come from isexcellent. What advice would you
give others, you know, goingthrough a similar challenge.
Joshua Shutts (28:54):
The biggest thing is to you know, advocate for
yourself, because, you know, youhave to stay on top of things to
make sure you know, you'regetting the best treatment that
things are going the way they goand communication because that
was one of the things also dealtwith, as you know, more times
than not, I would go to thesedoctor's appointment, and they
were looking at me like what areyou doing down here? And I was
(29:14):
like, Well, I just drove alongway. So let's figure this out.
But just, you know, really, it'severybody's heard his saying,
you know, don't give up, nevergive up, you know, the Jimmy V
Foundation and I and I, I clungon to that and I just knew that.
I just had to keep going to haveto stay tenacious, like there
(29:35):
were many times where, like, Iwas just very hard on myself and
I was very down but I knew I hada network of people that I could
go to so I was trying to notbury my feelings, not just kind
of seclude myself. It was likelean on the people that were
(29:56):
there for me and also findpeople that were going through
When I was going through, like Iactually found other people that
had in hand injuries and I waslike, you know, so how did how
did you do it? And I, I alwayshave an example of when I was in
school, I met a gentleman thatworks for a big prosthetic
(30:17):
company nationwide. And heactually had an amputation from
about mid forearm down. And Iwas like, hey, you know what,
what happened? And he actuallywanted to know what happened to
me more than I wanted to knowwhat happened, and which I
thought was very interesting. Wehad the same similar injury,
except he ended up having aninfection a lost part of his
(30:37):
arm, but like when he was young,I was like, what are some things
that you did to help with this,because like, I was still
struggling with a lot of mentalbattles. And so like, it was
just finding somebody to holdyou accountable. But you know,
what, a lot of things soundcliche, but just keeping your
eye on the prize. So like, forme, it was like, I've got to get
(30:59):
through school, I can't let thisstop me from getting through
school. Like, I want this sobad, I'm not going to give up on
it this time. As far as like themedical workers comp side, just
making sure that you're inconstant communication with
everybody involved, so thateverybody's on the same page, so
(31:20):
that nothing falls through thecracks, you know, and really
utilize your representatives andyour adjusters because they're
there to help you. And there wasI had questions constantly. And,
you know, they're there for me.
24/7 you know, thankfully, andanswered everything that I had.
And just, that's really the bestadvice I can give us just no
(31:41):
matter what, just don't give up.
Greg Hamlin (31:46):
I like that's fantastic. Josh, I I love that.
I've got to say you inspire meseeing anytime I see somebody go
through something terrible andturn it into something
beautiful. You know, I can't Ican't help but be inspired. I
think there's the word beautyout of ashes, right? Where you
go through something that's sodifficult and yet you probably
(32:08):
don't become the person you aretoday without with a without
that experience and think of allthe people whose lives are
touched and you're able to helpbecause of that. So amazing. One
of the things that I like to doat the end of every podcast is
for each season is throwsomething into the universe
that's positive, because I feltlike there's so much negativity
(32:30):
and I'm gonna do my small partby putting some good vibes out
there. So this year, I wanted toend each episode by asking our
guests to share something thatmakes them smile. So that's my
question for you today, Josh, isif you don't mind sharing with
our listeners, something thatmakes you smile.
Matthew Yehling (32:49):
stuff for me.
Joshua Shutts (32:51):
It's honestly, my wife and I'll try to not get
choked up, you know, like she,she put up with so much baloney
door during all, like theschooling error thing in my
hardheadedness and like many,many late nights of studying and
like, just seeing her smilemakes me smile. Like she's She's
(33:14):
so innocent. She's so sweet.
She's, she's honestly the mostselfless person I've ever met.
And just really just, justseeing her smile is all I need.
You know, it's all themotivation, I mean, and now
having a baby girl coming. Imean, there's just no
complaints. Like, I mean, like,I can't imagine a better life.
Really. I mean, yeah, there'sdays that aren't the best. But
(33:36):
I'm like, at the end of the day,I'm like, I wouldn't trade this
life for anything. I wouldn'ttrade the journey for anything.
Because if I hadn't gone throughthat journey with my accident, I
could probably guarantee you Iwould not be a therapist right
now. And I don't even know if Iwould have met my wife.
Greg Hamlin (33:55):
That's amazing.
Well, I am smiling now. So you,you've done a good job. I just
want to thank you for your time,Josh. I know you're busy. I know
we had to do a couple of thingsto shuffle some things around,
especially with your daughtercoming soon. And I wish you
nothing but the best and remindour listeners to do write, think
differently. And don't forget tocare. And that's it for this
(34:20):
episode, folks. We hope you'lljoin us in the future as our
episodes air every other week.
And you can check us out on theoff weeks on our website at
Burke and comp to see our blog.
Thanks everybody. And we'll seeyou later.
All right, 321 Hello everybody and welcome to
adjusted. I'm your host, GregHamlin coming at you from Sweet
Home Alabama and Berkleyindustrial comp. And with me as
my co host for the day, Mattyelling at you want to introduce
yourself.
Matthew Yehling (00:29):
Hello, everyone. This is Matthew
Yaling. Coming from the banks ofthe mighty Mississippi up in St.
Louis, Missouri. Just enjoyingthe nice summer weather we're
having here.
Greg Hamlin (00:41):
So glad to have you with with us again. As always.
Today we have a special guestwith us. Joshua shoots, did I
say that right?
Joshua Shutts (00:50):
You did or shuts like shuts the doors, shuts the
door.
Greg Hamlin (00:53):
Got it? Well, Joshua shots is with Brooks
rehab. And so we're excited tohave him here and you are in
Jacksonville. Is that right? Iam in Jacksonville, Florida,
where it is also nice and warmright now.
We've been pushing 100 Here, Ibet but I bet it's worst. where
(01:14):
you're at? Am I right? Yeah. Sowe wanted to have Josh here for
a couple of reasons. We did anepisode A while back with
another employee of Brooksrehab, Josh shooty. And today,
we wanted to actually have Joshon to tell us a little bit about
his story, which I think ispretty unique. Because he has
(01:37):
actually been on both sides of aworkplace injury, which I think
puts him maybe at a differentperspective than any of us. So I
want it if you could, Josh, tellus a little bit about how you
were injured at work or how,what happened that day.
Joshua Shutts (01:58):
So back on December 1 2017,
I was operating a steel cuttingbandsaw. It's put in
perspective, it's about a$15,000 piece of equipment that
can cut multiple steel barswithin seconds. And
the owner of the business waswanting me to learn all the
outside operations so that Iconventionally run all the
(02:20):
outside operations. And thisparticular station was the last
one that I needed to learn.
Order came in late in the day.
He said, Hey, can you knock thisout? I said, Absolutely. I got
my first cut in, which was astraight cut went into the
second cut, which is about a 45degree angle, my material got
(02:41):
jammed. And I was like, well,let's try to fix this and finish
the job. I took the bar out, Iwent to line it up manually. And
my hand was just above it and Ihit the wrong button on the
machine. And I mean as fast asyou can blink and pulled my hand
right up into the saw and a cutall four fingers off my hand.
(03:04):
And I hit the ground instantlyreally didn't know what happened
at first. Because all I couldsee was just the jagged work
love on my hand.
In my co worker workersscrambled to stop me from
bleeding out find, you know notto be graphic but five, what was
cut off my hand.
The trauma paramedics and thestate troopers actually got
(03:26):
there within minutes. They threwmini ambulance they took me up
to a hospital that's actuallyattached to where I work now.
They looked at me and we're likewe we don't have anybody here
that can give you a fightingchance to get your hand back.
They called all over NorthFlorida Southeast Georgia, they
couldn't find a single hospitalthat was willing to see me. And
(03:49):
then they found a hospital downBradenton, Florida Blake Medical
Center, and there was a surgeondown there at the time. He's
actually at Sheppard in Atlantanow, that was the best hand
surgeon in the state of Floridaand he was willing to take a
shot of me and so they put me ona trauma helicopter and flew me
down to South Florida. Got downthere.
(04:09):
Got now the accident happened atabout 130. So I didn't get into
surgery till about nine o'clockthat night. And I immediately
went into a 16 hour surgery toreattach everything to my hand.
And long story short, my middlefinger didn't survive. So that
one was really amputated. Butonce I was discharged, I still
had my index finger, my ringfinger and my pinky. And
(04:34):
thankfully, my thumb was nottouched at all.
Matthew Yehling (04:41):
Wow, man, I mean, thanks for sharing that
story. And I mean, and I knowthat's just the beginning.
Right? That's the beginning ofthe treatment and the care you
received. So I think to continueon with that what you know, what
was the next maybe phase of carelike
Joshua Shutts (05:01):
So the next phase of cares, I woke up next day, in
intensive care, I didn't knowwhere I was, I didn't know what
happened. I always tell people,if you've ever watched
Spongebob, that buzzing soundthat the jelly fishes make.
That's what I heard in my head.
That's what I felt my body. So Iwas very agitated. And I'm not
normally like mean to people, Idon't know. But I was very just
(05:22):
anybody that was in my sight,got in the hair full.
So I spent the next few days inthere, just constant
revascularize. And they had myarm basically holding my right
arm up like in a cobra. And itwas just kind of like getting
everything flowing again,because the surgeon reattached
(05:45):
everything that holds yourfinger together, arteries,
veins, bone, nerves, muscletendons, all of it. And 10 days
later, I was discharged to home,which at the time for me was St.
Augustine says about a three anda half, four hour drive back
home. And then I was and I waspretty much there for about a
(06:10):
month close to a month and ahalf. And then that's when I
finally had my evaluation withBrooks rehab, and I met a
certified hand specialist in St.
Augustine, Florida. And that'swhere the rehab journey began.
Greg Hamlin (06:24):
So I imagine there was a fair amount of rehab for
you to gain use of your handagain, what was that like? Or
what were some of the thingsthey had to do?
Joshua Shutts (06:34):
There was a tremendous amount of rehab. So
it started off in baby steps,they went from having my hand
arm up, like basically holdingmy arm up like a cobra to
extending my arm out to get usedto like holding my arm down to
my side, which to all of us,that sounds like a normal
function. But for me, it wasextremely painful. Like if
(06:58):
you've ever had like your leg,like totally sleeping, you try
to walk, that's what my armwould feel like, like I couldn't
tolerate hanging my arm downmore than a couple of minutes.
So it was kind of, we had tobuild up that tolerance. And
then I also had percutaneouspins to in each finger, which
basically it's a long steel pinholding all your bones together.
(07:21):
So we really couldn't do muchwith those. And it was just kind
of like pass a range of motionwith my wrist trying to use to
have the blood circulatingagain, once the pins were
removed, then it was constantsplinting and casting day and
nighttime to start training myfingers to pull down and the
(07:42):
flexion. And that was incrediblypainful to get through that and
it was just a lot of like, basicfunction. Now it wasn't a brain
injury. But because I had nervescompletely severed. There was
like basic things I couldn'teven do with my right hand like
I would go to do it and nothingwould happen. And it was
(08:03):
incredibly frustrating early on,like it was like I would try to
grab something or pick upsomething and it's like I
couldn't I couldn't even do it.
There was no coordination atall. So that was the very early
stages of rehab.
Greg Hamlin (08:19):
That's crazy. I
Matthew Yehling (08:22):
go ahead, Matt.
I was just gonna comment. So asyou're beginning the the rehab
process you know, this isobviously workers compensation
podcast, you know, so part of mewants to go into the what's the
what was the experience likedealing with your employer? When
were you first notified orstarted you know, there's always
(08:43):
a we would talk about aninvestigation of the claim you
know, so it's interestingtalking to you you know years
removed from this but what whatwas your experience going
through that work comp processwith your employer with the
administrator thatadministrators claim let's hear
a little bit about that. Yeah,that's a good bad indifferent
(09:06):
tell us tell us that we don'tlove the fact
Joshua Shutts (09:11):
fortunately for me there wasn't too much bad
which I can I will get into youknow, parts that I wish would
have been a little better but anearly on it was phenomenal. My
employer who they were basicallylike a second family to me I
actually we're all still inchurch together. They made sure
that I was still getting my paythe one of the CO owners of the
(09:34):
business actually drove down thethat weekend and hung out with
me all day now this is threethree and a half four hours away
from home hung out with me watchfootball make sure I was okay.
Make sure that like wanted to beeyes and be an advocate for me
before like my case managernurses were introduced because
actually had two case managernurses and they actually came in
(10:00):
maybe two days later. I mean,everything moves fast. I mean,
before I even got home, I wasalready getting phone calls. It
was it was overwhelming, becauseI was like, you know, we're
getting close to the holiday. SoI wasn't thinking about any of
that. I was just like, I gottaget back home. But they, they
made sure everything was set up.
They made sure that when I gothome, we were getting rehab set
(10:22):
up, we were gettingtransportation set up because I
wasn't allowed to drive my carbecause there was a stick shift.
They were trying to figure thatout. They were making sure I had
wound care nurses come to whereI live to take care of me
because I was still I went homewith open wounds. They OSHA was
flexible. They actuallyinterviewed everybody at the
(10:44):
warehouse, but then theyactually came to me. The
gentleman sat with me for abouttwo hours, just was asking all
the questions that OSHA asked,you know, they wanted to know
what went what happened, whatwent wrong, what could have been
prevented. All that all thatgood stuff. And then I always
joke with people, it was kind ofsticker shock when I got the
(11:06):
helicopter bill in the mail. Andhe came to me and it was
$57,000. And I was like, Oh, Icalled my Yeah, like I'm in the
wrong business. I called my, myclient, my nurse, my workers
comp nurse. And she was like I'mon it, she made sure from that
day forward, I never got asingle bill in the mail. Again,
she assured me everything wascovered. So the initially on the
(11:28):
first few months, everything waswas great.
Greg Hamlin (11:36):
That's great to hear. I mean, I think nobody
plans to have a work injury. Andit can be so confusing, because
it's a very statutory all drivenprocess, that sometimes, you
know, it can be a little bitpainful for the person who's
going through it. And we hopethat it's not. And that's, of
course, our goal. And one of thethings that we're trying to do
(11:57):
here on the podcast is changedsome of that. So I'm glad on
your end that. You know, whileit might have been new, you had
a great employer who was willingto step up and sit with you
through that and be there foryou on it. Any any parts that
were difficult for you orchallenges.
Joshua Shutts (12:15):
Yes. So the difficulties started presenting
when I was a few months into it.
And I was warned early on thatthe further you go into your
case, people are going to startgetting tired of you. And I
started to experience that lateron. And I don't know if like
they were tired of me or theywere just whatever's going on.
But what,
Matthew Yehling (12:37):
what people what, what people just just to
clarify what, what what peoplewere tired of you like just
Joshua Shutts (12:44):
all I'm trying to think of what the case manager
Merton nurse said early on, shesaid that, you know, you're
different parties involvedmainly on the medical side, more
than the adjusters we're gonnaget tired of like seeing me all
the time. But where I ran intothe real issue was, we had AIG,
(13:08):
and then I had, you know, Brooksrehab into my surgeon and where
I started and started gettingfrustration is I went through a
cycle, I would have surgery,because that multiple surgeries
than the healing time. And thenI'd have this big gap to get
back in the rehab. And it wasthe middle company in between
(13:29):
everybody that would drag theirfeet. So I would end up I would
have the surgeon saying he needsto get back to the headstand
therapy. Now, I would have brokesaying we need to get him now.
But then the middle companywouldn't get me authorized right
away. And what ended uphappening is I had the first
issue is when I had anartificial joint and my ring
(13:52):
finger because unfortunately therehab wasn't working because the
joint was so misaligned themiddle joint that it was
becoming very painful, that theydecided we're going to cut it
out, put a carbon fiber in, thegoal was that would get almost
full range of motion of thatfinger like a normal finger.
What an actually ended uphappening is I sat at home for a
(14:14):
couple of weeks before I gotauthorized to go back to the
hand therapist. And by the timeshe saw me, the whole joint
locked up from scar tissue and Iended up getting zero mobility
out of the joint. So itbasically it's just holding my
finger together. And then laterthat year, the same thing
happened with my my pinkie rightthey ended up fusing it
(14:35):
completely. So that was the partthat I wish it would have went
smoother was getting my visitsauthorized a lot of times and
the further I went into my rehabthe longer it was taking to get
my visits authorized to get morerehab and that's where it
started getting frustrating forme.
Greg Hamlin (14:57):
I think that's really kind of rare borrowed
Matthew Yehling (14:59):
of Uh, I mean, you're in that rare boat of
injuries where you're not reallyin a formulary that traditional
with that with the amputation.
So there's. So that's kind ofthe unfortunate reality of your
circumstances. And, man, it'sprobably insightful for those
dealing with these types ofclaims is, lets you speed up
that process, how do we get thatcare more quickly? How do we
(15:23):
ensure that injured employeesget the best outcome? And I
think it's a quick response tothis the early identification of
those things, and, you know,it's often, you know, we hang up
thing, you know, things get hungup on a technicality or
something well, you know, talkson this formulary or it's
outside of that, and, and inreality, it's like, well, you
(15:45):
know, this is this is all kindof outside of that scope. So
it's really sorry, sorry to hearsome of that. And I think, you
know, the story continues there,right. So you had a lot of
rehab. And at some point, youknow, you've already indicated
we know where the story ends,but when did you decide to
transition from your work or thework you were doing and to more
(16:10):
as a rehab level of work and gogoing into, specifically
occupational therapy.
Joshua Shutts (16:19):
So when what I was doing, when I first started
my occupational therapy, with myhand therapist, I was one on one
for a long time. And then whenshe determined that I was
appropriate to be in a group,because in the outpatient
setting more now than it wasthen it's usually a few patients
(16:40):
to one therapist. So when I gotto that level, I started getting
paired up with other patientsthat were kind of had similar
injuries to what I had, or werekind of like, walking through
what I was walking through. Andso it was very rewarding for me
to, to just talk to them andinspire each other to push
(17:02):
through and get stronger andstronger. And you know, and then
some time passed, and I waslike, you know, I think it'd be
kind of cool to go for school toschool for this. And my hand
therapist, who I still talk totoday, was my biggest advocate,
she's like, Yeah, you should,you should definitely go for
this. The other side of that isthat a couple of doctors that
(17:24):
were like, now, you probablycan't physically handle that,
let alone even drive your stickshift again, which I did, by the
way. Um, and so I just curved itfor a while, I was just like,
Yeah, whatever. We'll just seewhat I can do with myself now.
And then, in 2019, I was at alandmark conference in Orlando,
(17:47):
Florida, and a single mothertold her story about starting a
business. And I remember lookingat my best friend at a time, and
I was like, well, she's, what'smy excuse? You know, she went
back to school and did all this.
Why? Why can I go back to schoolmake this happen? I remember
where I was, I was standing inthe millennium mall. I called my
mom. I talked to my mom, I justcan't, I can't shake this, I
gotta go back to school. Andshe's like, all right. She's
(18:11):
like, you know, we support you,and we'll love you through it.
So I was broke. I mean, what I'mwhat I mean, I was broke, I was
living paycheck to paycheck, Iwas renting, I was living off my
church's food pantry. And I sawthat I had to take just a few
prerequisites to apply for theprogram. So I charged it all on
a credit card, because I'm like,because at that point, I didn't
(18:32):
have my settlement yet. Sothat's kind of where the journey
began. And then before actuallystarted school, I ended up doing
my settlement, and I did my FC Ewith Josh shooty, who has been
on this podcast, and he clearedme to chase this dream. And I
went after it and did the schoolfor a couple years. And I've
(18:52):
been with Brooks rehab forexactly one year yesterday. Now.
Greg Hamlin (18:57):
That's amazing. So I mean, just the story from
going through what you wentthrough to helping other people
go through it, I have to imagineas you're working with people
who are recovering, and you'reshowing them what they can
achieve. It's gotta be inspiringfor people who are who are
having the chance to work withyou.
Joshua Shutts (19:16):
Now, yeah, absolutely. I because I work on
the stroke and neuro unit, butyou know, few times a month, I
get a patient that has atraumatic hand injury, or they
have no sensation in our handbecause that's a whole nother
part of the journey. I had to gothrough with the nerve damage
and it's very rewarding to belike, Hey, I get that part of
(19:37):
your injury, like here's all thethings that I had to do through
therapy and now I could show youthe same things.
Greg Hamlin (19:43):
That's fantastic. I had heard when I watched a clip
that Brooks rehab was sharingwith you that you have your a
little bit tick tock famous, andso I have we have to talk about
it. So talk to me a little bitabout how one you decided to
upload some videos on tick tockand I know a lot of people think
dancing, but there's lots ofother content on on tick tock,
(20:05):
obviously, but how did youdecide to go down that path? And
what were some of the thingsthat you've shown, you've shared
with people through that sourcemedia source?
Joshua Shutts (20:14):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I was actually a student atthe time when I made the
channel. And I knew very, veryearly on in school that I wanted
to work in neuro occupationaltherapy for Brookes rehab like
that, there was no backup plan.
That was the direction I wantedto go. And the main reason for
that is my dad is a strokesurvivor, who was also a patient
(20:36):
of Brookes rehab. So you can sayit runs in the family. And
seeing the things he struggledwith what a self care tasks and
things that I struggled withearly on with my hand injury was
self care tasks that was like,you know, what, I think it'd be
pretty cool to make a channel ofshowing people ways that they
(20:57):
can make adaptive equipment athome with things laying around
the house, or that would be like1015 bucks worth of materials
that, you know, at a localstore. And so I did adaptive
devices, but I also did likesensory items as well. And just
became popular, a lot of myclassmates thought it was cool.
And so I just kept making morevideos of ideas I got from other
(21:21):
people and things that I hadmade for myself.
Matthew Yehling (21:28):
I think it's incredible. And I went on Tik
Tok, and I went on your Facebookpage and, and watched some of
those. And I noticed there wasanother big announcement to
coming later this year, right?
You posted it on your Facebookpage. I'll let you say what it
was. Congratulations in advance.
Joshua Shutts (21:48):
Oh, yes. So about two to three weeks from now my
beautiful wife and I'd bewelcoming a baby girl.
Greg Hamlin (21:56):
I'm so excited for you. Is this your first Josh? It
is. So when we were trying toschedule this episode, Josh had
said I was pushing out the datea little bit because, you know,
we usually err just a couple ofmonths. And he's like, Well,
that could be okay, just gonnadepend on the due date and the
ultrasound and and having had Ihave six kids. So knowing how
(22:18):
your life is about to change. Isaid, we've got to get him in
before we get anywhere near thatdate. Because his life he's
gonna be so busy with that. ButI will tell you having a
daughter that's 18 all the waydown to a son who's 18 months,
that there is no greater joy. Soyou congratulations, for sure.
Joshua Shutts (22:40):
Thank you. Yeah, we're definitely an excited to
Matthew Yehling (22:45):
tell us what it was like going back to school?
And was there a little bit ofreward with like disproving some
other people, you know that kindof limited? You or or gave you
some maybe misinformation?
Joshua Shutts (23:01):
Yeah, so going going back to school, which
actually started in fall of2020. So that presented a whole
nother set of challenges,because we were very limited in
what we could even do with allthe restrictions that were going
on at the time, but it to beable to do get through the
classes early on. And I didn'tsay anything at first, but then
(23:24):
a lot of my classmates startednoticing my hand, they're like,
wait, wait a minute, what'sgoing on here? And so I started
telling them, what I wentthrough, and they're like, holy
cow, you want to be a therapist?
And I said, Absolutely. And itwas challenging at first. And my
wife will tell you that thereare a lot of times I was like,
you know, I I don't know if Ican actually physically handle
this. I'm not sure because onceI actually started doing the
(23:47):
physical part of the rehab, youknow, it was it there was some
times I was sore. But then whenI actually got into my clinicals
and actually started doing it,and I started doing it more, not
only was I proving to myselfwrong, but I was proving
doubters I had in my life at thetime wrong that like yeah, I can
absolutely do this. And justbecause, you know, I had some
(24:10):
limitations. My right handdidn't mean I couldn't help
people live a better quality oflife and I but I had way more
people pushing me forward tokeep going and going because
there were many times I was justlike, Man, I don't know if I
want to do this anymore. Andthey were pushing me like no,
you got to keep going. You gotto keep going. And then
(24:31):
Interesting enough, my ch Tended up being one of my
professors in school. So we werenot friends at that time, but I
was oh he was one of my patientsand now she's you know, teaching
me but the experience wasincredible because then I did my
final clinical and internshipwith Brooks rehab in an
(24:53):
outpatient setting. And once itstarted catching fire that I was
a former patient, it was justlike, it was just like I was
excited to continue to show upevery day because like, you
know, having patients that werewanting to know about what I
walked through when I'm tryingto help them walk through what
they're getting through, it wasjust, it's hard to describe that
(25:15):
feeling. You know?
Greg Hamlin (25:19):
That's amazing. And I imagine that feeling and I,
from what I understand for you,for your profession, you have to
pass boards to so you go throughyour school, but you still have
boards that you got to take tobecome certified. Is that right?
Joshua Shutts (25:36):
Yes. So, and that was an interesting season,
because during my finalinternship, I was not working at
all. So you know that that was alot of pressure on me, because
it's like, we're on one incomeright now. And I graduated in
May of, of, I'm trying to thinkof your 22. And then I took my
(25:57):
national boards in June, and Iwaited about 15 days before I
got my results. But the crazypart is, is the day after I took
my boards. The director of rehabreached out to me it was like,
Hey, you want to you want tocome shadow tomorrow shattered
unit? And I was like, Yeah,sure. And I was like, kinda
(26:17):
like, empty, like I was drained.
I didn't know what to think Iwas like, Well, I just took my
boards. But yeah, sure. Well,they ended up interviewing me
while I was there. And thenthey're like, we'll get back to
you know, we'll talk. And then Iwent out of state, I was up in
Maggie Valley, North Carolina,and I get the phone call and the
email that they offered me aposition. And I had not gotten
my boards yet. So then, needlessto say, next couple of weeks, I
(26:40):
was stressed out all the time,because I had a job offer. I had
a start date on my birthday. AndI had no board results. So. So
real quick about that. My wifewas like, Hey, why don't you
check your desk dashboard. I waslike, I just checked them this
morning. They're not up. Shesays she already knew that my
(27:01):
results are posted because shelogged in, but I didn't know.
And she's like, Oh, go ahead andcheck and see if they're there.
And sure enough, I log in and Ijust I lost it because I
couldn't believe I passedan attorney. Here we go.
Greg Hamlin (27:16):
That had to feel I have not been in a position but
that had to feel amazing. Likeyou had climbed something you
know from from going to whereyou're low of losing your
fingers to being in a placewhere you not only went back to
school, but you're back actuallyhelping people at the very place
you received your your treatmenthad to be that had to be a
(27:37):
special moment.
Joshua Shutts (27:38):
Yeah, and I never forgot the people that helped me
through it. Mainly, I'm prettysure she retired now. Her name
was Barry, Marybeth Michel, forAIG. And she was like my main
contact from day one. And shewas absolutely incredible. She
advocated for me so much madesure things got covered my
expenses, because I was drivingto that hospital multiple times
(28:01):
a month for months. But she wasone of the first people I called
to share that I did it. And Iremember she started crying on
the phone, because she was justso happy to see that I went from
what, who she first met to nowand like I emailed the surgeon,
it's like I just wantedeverybody to know I taught
(28:21):
called shootie. Like, it wasjust like, full circle. Like it
was just an unbelievable momentto when that happened.
Matthew Yehling (28:32):
And so what we what advice. I mean, it's a
wonderful story. And that's whyGreg and I wanted to talk to
you. And, you know, you know, wewatched the video that Brooks
had put out, we watched some ofyour tic tac stuff, like we
alluded to, and then, you know,the story is excellent, you
know, where you've come from isexcellent. What advice would you
give others, you know, goingthrough a similar challenge.
Joshua Shutts (28:54):
The biggest thing is to you know, advocate for
yourself, because, you know, youhave to stay on top of things to
make sure you know, you'regetting the best treatment that
things are going the way they goand communication because that
was one of the things also dealtwith, as you know, more times
than not, I would go to thesedoctor's appointment, and they
were looking at me like what areyou doing down here? And I was
(29:14):
like, Well, I just drove alongway. So let's figure this out.
But just, you know, really, it'severybody's heard his saying,
you know, don't give up, nevergive up, you know, the Jimmy V
Foundation and I and I, I clungon to that and I just knew that.
I just had to keep going to haveto stay tenacious, like there
(29:35):
were many times where, like, Iwas just very hard on myself and
I was very down but I knew I hada network of people that I could
go to so I was trying to notbury my feelings, not just kind
of seclude myself. It was likelean on the people that were
(29:56):
there for me and also findpeople that were going through
When I was going through, like Iactually found other people that
had in hand injuries and I waslike, you know, so how did how
did you do it? And I, I alwayshave an example of when I was in
school, I met a gentleman thatworks for a big prosthetic
(30:17):
company nationwide. And heactually had an amputation from
about mid forearm down. And Iwas like, hey, you know what,
what happened? And he actuallywanted to know what happened to
me more than I wanted to knowwhat happened, and which I
thought was very interesting. Wehad the same similar injury,
except he ended up having aninfection a lost part of his
(30:37):
arm, but like when he was young,I was like, what are some things
that you did to help with this,because like, I was still
struggling with a lot of mentalbattles. And so like, it was
just finding somebody to holdyou accountable. But you know,
what, a lot of things soundcliche, but just keeping your
eye on the prize. So like, forme, it was like, I've got to get
(30:59):
through school, I can't let thisstop me from getting through
school. Like, I want this sobad, I'm not going to give up on
it this time. As far as like themedical workers comp side, just
making sure that you're inconstant communication with
everybody involved, so thateverybody's on the same page, so
(31:20):
that nothing falls through thecracks, you know, and really
utilize your representatives andyour adjusters because they're
there to help you. And there wasI had questions constantly. And,
you know, they're there for me.
24/7 you know, thankfully, andanswered everything that I had.
And just, that's really the bestadvice I can give us just no
(31:41):
matter what, just don't give up.
Greg Hamlin (31:46):
I like that's fantastic. Josh, I I love that.
I've got to say you inspire meseeing anytime I see somebody go
through something terrible andturn it into something
beautiful. You know, I can't Ican't help but be inspired. I
think there's the word beautyout of ashes, right? Where you
go through something that's sodifficult and yet you probably
(32:08):
don't become the person you aretoday without with a without
that experience and think of allthe people whose lives are
touched and you're able to helpbecause of that. So amazing. One
of the things that I like to doat the end of every podcast is
for each season is throwsomething into the universe
that's positive, because I feltlike there's so much negativity
(32:30):
and I'm gonna do my small partby putting some good vibes out
there. So this year, I wanted toend each episode by asking our
guests to share something thatmakes them smile. So that's my
question for you today, Josh, isif you don't mind sharing with
our listeners, something thatmakes you smile.
Matthew Yehling (32:49):
stuff for me.
Joshua Shutts (32:51):
It's honestly, my wife and I'll try to not get
choked up, you know, like she,she put up with so much baloney
door during all, like theschooling error thing in my
hardheadedness and like many,many late nights of studying and
like, just seeing her smilemakes me smile. Like she's She's
(33:14):
so innocent. She's so sweet.
She's, she's honestly the mostselfless person I've ever met.
And just really just, justseeing her smile is all I need.
You know, it's all themotivation, I mean, and now
having a baby girl coming. Imean, there's just no
complaints. Like, I mean, like,I can't imagine a better life.
Really. I mean, yeah, there'sdays that aren't the best. But
(33:36):
I'm like, at the end of the day,I'm like, I wouldn't trade this
life for anything. I wouldn'ttrade the journey for anything.
Because if I hadn't gone throughthat journey with my accident, I
could probably guarantee you Iwould not be a therapist right
now. And I don't even know if Iwould have met my wife.
Greg Hamlin (33:55):
That's amazing.
Well, I am smiling now. So you,you've done a good job. I just
want to thank you for your time,Josh. I know you're busy. I know
we had to do a couple of thingsto shuffle some things around,
especially with your daughtercoming soon. And I wish you
nothing but the best and remindour listeners to do write, think
differently. And don't forget tocare. And that's it for this
(34:20):
episode, folks. We hope you'lljoin us in the future as our
episodes air every other week.
And you can check us out on theoff weeks on our website at
Burke and comp to see our blog.
Thanks everybody. And we'll seeyou later.
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