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Every year, patients from across the country and around the world come to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab to restore their abilities and regain their physical and cognitive function after a life-changing injury or illness. Also, during their healing journeys — and thanks to the generosity of donors — patients reclaim their lives, rediscover their passions and reconnect with the world around them.
With donor support in Fiscal Year 2025, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab was able to fund vital programs that enabled patients to return to the lives they love, including community-based quality-of-life programs.
These programs, as well as the hospital’s research and education initiatives, are highlighted in Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s 2025 Impact Report. In the report, Karen Paciero, chief advancement officer and senior vice president, offered personal thanks to donors.
“Your support is not only an investment in our hospital — it’s an investment in people. It’s an investment in patients and families during some of the most challenging moments of their lives — and in the dreams they hold for the future. Thank you for making it all possible,” she said.
Impact by the Numbers
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Programs at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab — such as adaptive sports, spiritual care, therapeutic recreation, vocational rehabilitation and more — are designed to enhance patients’ quality of life. Donor support enables these programs to be offered at no cost or low cost to patients, as they are not covered by insurance.
Here are just a few of the ways donor support transformed patients’ lives in the last year at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab:
- 509 participants engaged in adaptive sports programs — an enjoyable way for individuals to stay active, discover recreational interests and make new connections.
- $20 million in unreimbursed care provided to 5,477 patients, ensuring vulnerable and low-income patients had access to the highest-quality rehabilitation services.
- 3,624 patients and 3,568 family members received spiritual support as they confronted challenges and celebrated new abilities on their rehabilitation journeys.
- Art, music and recreational therapists led 9,945 interactions with patients. Through the creative and leisure-based therapies offered by therapeutic recreation, patients move forward on the path of physical, cognitive and emotional healing.
A Transformative Impact on Patients
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Donor support Donor support provides a lifeline for patients — and the 2025 Impact Report showcases many of their remarkable stories:
- Mitch, a former firefighter, sustained a spinal cord injury after a diving accident and became paralyzed from the chest down. While intensive rehabilitation was essential for Mitch, it was adaptive sports that helped reshape his future. He discovered adaptive rugby, serving as the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab team captain for a season, and grew as a person and a leader along the way.
- Jose came to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Arlington Heights DayRehab Center after experiencing a stroke. Losing his ability to speak and express himself “hurt the most,” but he slowly regained his voice and confidence with the help of physical, occupational and speech therapy and by joining the hospital’s aphasia community groups.
- DeMarcus arrived at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab after his left foot was amputated following a work accident. Through intensive inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, he regained strength and learned to walk using a prosthetic leg. DeMarcus also discovered healing in art therapy — utilizing his creativity to process the frustration and emotional stress of his injury and recovery.
Read the full report to learn about the critically important ways donors make an impact at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, and give today to support the hospital’s programs and patients.
