Freedom Stories

Roger is a 63 year old male who served as a parametric and now educates other first responders at Johnson County Community College. He has a wife and two children and three grandchildren. Roger worked for 34 years and retired in 2019 as a parametric. His body started to get worn down over the years. Roger finished a certificate on helping with mental health for all the first responders on duty. Ro...

Dr. Timothy Mahoney, PT, DPT, OCS, was born and raised in Kansas City, KS. He has two sisters and a brother, who were raised in a faith family, living a very active nature. Dr. Tim recalls playing sports after sports in high school: baseball, basketball, and football. He got a scholarship to play baseball at Rockhurst University as an undergrad. He talked about not knowing what he wanted to do in...

Dr. Emmie Witham, PT, DPT, is a University of Kansas grad for undergrad and PT school. Dr. Emmie is originally from Iowa City, IA, and she grew up in a big family of four kids. Dr. Emmie had parents who were in medicine. Her dad worked at the University of Iowa hospital, and her mom was a pediatrician. Both of her parents came for healthcare, and they urged her toward physical therapy since Emmie...

Show Notes: Phyllis is a 74 year old woman who is from Oskaloosa, KS and worked as a dental hygienist for fifty two years. She is a widow with three beautiful girls. Phyllis leads a bible study for women to get closer to God, and she even writes them! She is a people person. In eighth grade, she got in a serious car accident and ended up with a full leg cast on her body. She healed up, but as she...

Mark is a fifty-eight years young man who lives in the Kansas City area. He is happily married to his wife, Karen, who met at St. John’s College, celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary this year. Mark grew up playing little league sports in Colorado; he played basketball in high school, which earned him a ticket to play in college. Growing up in Colorado, exercise was a natural part of the cul...

Hello, meet Cara! Cara was the daughter of missionaries, which led her to move many times! She  went to a Christian college, south of Chicago, to play soccer. Currently, Cara, her husband, and their three kids reside on a farm in Kansas. Cara is a pastor who still plays a Monday night soccer league, but she tore her ACL in January. Cara is striving to get Freedom back in her life, so she is p...

Rachel started having pain in her right hip at the age of fourteen. When she started experiencing pain, she jumped from doctor to doctor trying to find some answers. Each doctor gave contradicting information which led to confusion, frustration, and resentment. Coming from a big family of six children, Rachel felt as though she was being a burden to them. Going into her fourth surgery, her perspec...

Robin grew up competing in various activities, constantly pushing her body to the maximum. She started experiencing pain, but she just threw some dirt on it and moved on. She was trapped in a vicious pain cycle from exercising, which led to injury and frustration. Robin described feeling humbled because her body was not as youthful as she wanted. The simple task of putting her pants on led to excr...

On this episode of the Freedom Stories Podcast, we have Erin Pogue joining us. Erin went from living a very active lifestyle to being consumed by chronic pain and having difficulties functioning day-to-day. She started to feel hopeless and stuck in her pain until she came to Freedom and found exactly what she needed, a furry companion. After experiencing the comfort and emotional support a dog cou...

Can you imagine what it would be like to run a 100-mile race? On this month’s episode of the Freedom Stories Podcast we welcome Ultra Marathon Runner, Debbie. Age is just a number for Debbie. She believes in the “use it or lose it” method when it comes to fitness and will not allow her age nor injuries stop her from accomplishing hard things. Even if running 100 miles in your near future, this epi...

Next on the Freedom Stories Podcast is Training Center Member, Christina Batalia. Not only is she a wife and mother of two, but she is also a police officer. Many of us do not have  the stress of being in law enforcement, however we all have stressors in our life. Food, medicine, and coffee are ways we tend to cope. Christina gives us insight on how she has changed her lifestyle to help with...

This month, the Freedom Stories Podcast welcomes Lindsey Simoes. Lindsey’s running career started out very promising. She was able to complete a 5k at eight months pregnant. Shortly after, she started to experience different injuries but pushed through the pain. Eventually, the pain became impossible to push through and interfered with her day-to-day life. Lindsey became tired and frustrated with...

Next on the Freedom Stories Podcast, we welcome the extremely driven and talented, Coach Tom “Tinman” Schwartz. He has been coaching runners and other endurance athletes for over 30 years including state champions, national champions, Olympic trials qualifiers, world team qualifiers, and world champions. Coach Tinman refuses to accept conventional methods and pushes runners to places they never th...

This month, we have our very own, Joel McQueen, sharing his story. Joel is the first guest to not discuss how he overcame a physical injury but rather how he overcame adversities in every form. Joel moved to Kansas expecting to play collegiate football and live a better life than what was offered to him in his hometown of Stockton, California. Instead, he found himself at his lowest point. Quittin...

Next up on the Freedom Stories podcast is Katie Moore, a young and accomplished D1 runner.  As a high schooler, Katie’s sophomore year was one for the books.  Katie’s 4x8 team set a Kansas state record, and ended up finishing runner-up as a team for the season.  Her junior year, she started to notice a pain in her left hip during workouts, and she decided to seek help.  She was...

This month, the Freedom Stories Podcast is enthused to present the first installment of Julianne Dillon’s story, who is a highly decorated D1 athlete that is facing a rare movement disorder.  As Julianne started training for a half marathon, she began to notice a lack of coordination in her right leg.  Hesitant to share what was happening to her body, Julianne took it upon herself to res...

Daryl is welcomed onto the Freedom Stories Podcast to tell his life story and his experience as what he calls an “orthopedic nightmare”.  Daryl opens up about the motorcycle accident that he endured, which in turn, resulted in a crippling back injury.  From facing excruciating pain, fear of re-injury, and constant flare ups, Daryl was put into a situation where he needed to reach out for...

Kelley joins the Freedom Stories Podcast to talk about her life story and her fitness journey. She describes her fitness experience through time, not being able to keep weight off, and having two knee replacements by her early 50s. Her fear of re-injuring her knees made her stop exercising and at her lowest point, coming off a shoulder surgery, she needed help. She looked for inspiration to try an...

Welcome to the Freedom Stories Podcast with Dr. Don Dequine PT, DPT, CSCS, sharing stories of ordinary people who have made simple choices that over time have resulted in extraordinary transformations. Through years of working as a physical therapist and strength coach,  Dr. Dequine has been an eye witness to the spirit of the overcomer. To combat a world that is riddled with false motivation...