How Our Practice Took Flight
Or… The Story behind our balloons
“Your Goal is Our Goal” isn’t just a slogan – it’s the very heart behind what we do and the story that started it all.
From our founder, Misty Pidgeon…
Misty and Ted together
“Everything we do here is focused on our patients, and that started with Ted.”
More than a decade ago, I was working as a physical therapist at Carolina Meadows retirement community.
There, I met Ted Daddow. A witty, young-hearted, 89-year-old, Ted came to me one day, waving a newspaper article, asking, “What kind of therapist are you?” He’d just read about a physical therapist going skydiving with one of their patients.
Ted excitedly told me his big goal: he wanted to fly in a hot air balloon for his 90th birthday. He turned to me and asked, “Can you make that happen?”
His doctor had said it was impossible. Ted couldn’t stand for 5 minutes without his walker and had recently broken his hip. Could he even get in the balloon, basket let alone stand in it for nearly 4 hours without falling or breaking the other hip? I thought… maybe he could – if he was willing to do the work, and if I did everything I could as a physical therapist to support him.
So, we embraced impossiBLE Together.
For the next several months, Ted endured tiring, hard-working physical therapy sessions to meet this bucket list goal.
And finally, when his 90th birthday came, I drove him to the site at Fuquay-Varina. And I watched Ted literally do the impossible. He soared into the sky, flying in a hot air balloon!
A few years later, Ted passed away. Soon after, I received an unexpected envelope from him. The note read, “When you believe in yourself as much as I do, I want you to open your own practice.”
Inside was a financial gift to do just that.
SO In 2010, I did as Ted asked me to do – I believed in myself and started NOrth Carolina Center for PHysical Therapy.
But I also began this practice because I believe in more than just myself. I believe in our staff – the highest quality PTs and employees I know. I believe in my husband, Jeff, my partner in life and business. And I believe in you and what you want to do.
I share Ted’s story with you because like him, you too may be facing some sort of “impossibility” in your life.
Maybe you want to relieve pain and let go of pain medication or avoid surgery, but you’ve been told you can’t. Maybe you want to get back to running and do that marathon you’ve been thinking about, but you aren’t sure how to get started. Or maybe, just maybe, you want to get strong enough to go skydiving or fly in a hot air balloon!
While I’m definitely never going skydiving with you, I will help you do those big things. And so will everyone here in your PT family.
Because at NC Center for Physical Therapy, we really believe that your goals are our goals. And – as Ted would say - we believe in you.”
- Misty Pidgeon
PT / Founder / CEO / Clinical Director
Read about Ted’s incredible flight
Click on either page to see this special 2004 article from The Chapel Hill News in more detail.
What’s YOUR goal?
We have over 120 raving fans who’ve taken time to write reviews and share their own personal stories with us, just like Ted’s. If you’re ready to make your goal happen, book an appointment now.