SAN ANTONIO — "You just have to push emotions aside and say, 'You know what, I'm going to have to ask for help,'" Sutherland Springs shooting survivor Kris Workman said. Before that fateful bullet made Workman a paraplegic on Nov. 5, 2017, he rarely needed to ask for help. That's not the case anymore.
"I would say no. I can do this on my own. Now I say, 'Yes, I actually do need your help," Workman said.
However, he said getting to he point of asking for help wasn't easy. "Sometimes it feels like you're being annoying when you have to ask so many times for help, so it's definitely very challenging emotionally and spiritually," he said.
"It's more of you coming in, us teaching you what to do, how you can progress and doing most of the hard work on your own at home," said occupational therapist Stephanie Cavazos. She works with the Reeves Rehabilitation Center within the University Health System and has been helping Workman with his physical recovery. It doesn't end each time his appointment is over.
"We use all of our strength and the endurance training toward a goal," Cavazos said.
The goals he's aiming to reach at Reeves have helped Workman realize that, if he needs help, people want him to ask.
"That's been a pleasant surprise for me. It's okay to go to somebody and ask for help because they actually do want to help. They are not annoyed by it," Workman said.
That life-changing bullet may have nearly severed Workman's spine, but it didn't sever his spirit. In fact, he said it may have strengthened his relationship with his wife Colbey. "We've definitely gotten closer since. We've basically had to become a team," said Workman. They're a winning team at that.
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