Former 17-year-old VMC Rehab patient mobilizes community to give back

In early June of 2010, 17-year-old Pioneer High School student Zack Herndon was enjoying a day at the beach with friends when an accidental fall changed the direction of his summer. Only three days after finishing school, and weeks after completing his Eagle Scout project, Zack sustained a neck injury that required emergency medical attention, and a whole summer of healing. Zack was hospitalized for a week at Valley Medical Center, eventually moving to VMC’s Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation unit. Just weeks after his release from the hospital, he decided he wanted to give back to the department who helped him recover from his injuries.

Yesterday, Zack and his Father, Bill, Mother, Julie, and brother, Keagan, came to VMC Rehab to donate a DVD library of 130 titles for the patients of the department to enjoy. “I decided to give back to the hospital because all of the patients have DVD players in their room, but they don’t have any DVD’s to watch,” Zack remembers. So as soon as he was well enough to, he posted the need on his neighborhood’s blog, made a presentation to his Boy Scout Troop, and mobilized his parents local Rotary chapter…and the DVD’s started rolling in.

On behalf of the VMC Foundation, and SCVMC Rehabilitation we would like to thank Zack and the entire Herndon family for their generosity and swift action to fulfill this need. What a guy! What a gift! Zack is an incredible reminder of the impact that an individual can have on their community.