- After a surgery left her paralyzed, Nikki Hanley rebuilt her independence through therapy, determination, and community support at QLI.
- From relearning everyday tasks to walking again and returning to work, Nikki’s recovery shows how small victories lead to life-changing progress.
- Throughout her journey, Nikki continued doing what she loves most, bringing people together and creating moments of celebration.
Some people wait for a reason to celebrate. Nikki Hanley creates one.
It’s a natural instinct for her to give to the people around her.
“She loves to make people happy. She loves to bring some kind of joy and light to someone,” said Janelle Thomas, life path assistant at QLI.
Finding Purpose in Helping Others
That calling is what led her to the Salvation Army, where she has spent the last eight years coordinating events, managing social media, and doing everything she can to ensure people know that help is there for them across Wisconsin.
“It’s a different world to do nonprofit work and, when I started, I just fell in love with the work that I do and the people that I work with and the people that we’re able to help,” she said.
Nikki, who spent years making sure help reached others, suddenly became the one waiting for it to reach her.
When Symptoms Became Impossible to Ignore
Nikki began experiencing an abnormal sensation in her hands and feet.
What she was experiencing had a name, neuropathy, but at the time, it didn’t come with clear answers, only more questions as the feeling in her extremities continued to change.
“My spinal cord was being pinched in my neck. And so finally, when they had an MRI and had seen what was happening, it became an emergency,” she said.
Once her doctors had a diagnosis, everything moved quickly. Nikki was told surgery was the next step.
“I was in surgery to repair the discs […], and unfortunately, the surgery didn’t go exactly as planned. And so, when I woke up from that first surgery, I was pretty much paralyzed,” Nikki recalls.
“My legs, my feet, my torso, my hands. I couldn’t move the upper part of my arms and my head and neck.”
Days later, she was back in surgery to correct what had gone wrong.
“They made enough space for the spinal cord not to be compressed anymore. But I still didn’t have the function in my limbs like I had before I went into surgery,” Nikki said.
She spent time in intensive care before transitioning to Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago, Illinois, where her determination never wavered, and the first signs of progress were slowly revealed.
Building Strength and Confidence at QLI
By the time Nikki arrived at QLI, she wasn’t searching for motivation; she had a destination in mind.
“It was easier for me to keep a positive outlook and just realize, like, I’m pushing towards this goal, this is where I’m heading,” Nikki said.
She wanted to walk back into her office on her own feet.
“I want to return to my job. I love my job,” she said.
At QLI, that purpose started to meet results. She leaned into the work, trusting the process and the people guiding her.
“Working with some amazing, incredible physical therapists, occupational therapists, just staff that really know what they’re doing and want the best for me,” Nikki said.
She credits not just her own effort, but the consistency of intensive therapy and the way each step was built with intention.
“I looked at her, and I was like, Nikki, you have to trust yourself and trust your body that it will take care of you again,” said Melissa Faller, her occupational therapist.
It became a reminder she leaned on as QLI’s clinicians pushed her into unfamiliar territory.
Finding Community During Recovery
Life at QLI began to take on its own rhythm, one that felt both structured and surprisingly familiar.
“It’s a little bit like coming back to college. It’s almost like being back in a dorm, and I have my own dorm room, and there’s friends next door and friends across the hall, and we get to eat lunch and dinner together and talk about our days,” said Nikki.
Even with the challenges ahead, Nikki began finding ways to reconnect with the parts of life that had always defined her.
“It’s nice to kind of reintegrate into some of the things that I would have been doing prior to my surgery and being at QLI,” Nikki said.
As therapy progressed, Nikki and her team were able to take her program beyond exercises and routines.
She sent out handwritten Valentine’s Day cards. She made Easter eggs filled with candy for fellow clients. When birthdays came around, she made sure people felt celebrated.
“When I think about Nikki, I think about community,” said Melissa.
What started as a simple act of kindness doubled as therapy.
Writing each card meant gripping a pen, forming letters, and building strength in her hands.
Each note, each name written across an envelope, became another step toward the hand function she needed to return to work.
“We’ve been blessed that we’ve had so many holidays with her. Nikki has just absolutely spoiled people. That’s so Nikki. That’s like her love language,” Melissa said.
Nikki even planned watch parties for clients and team members, featuring Oscar-nominated films with themed decorations, snacks, and desserts tied to each movie.
Nikki worked with Janelle, setting up tables, decorating, and organizing supplies, which tested her balance and pushed her in real time.
At one point, she even helped another QLI client plan a marriage proposal inside QLI, bringing the same creativity and care she uses in her career into the place where she was now healing.
“She notices the little things about people, what they like, what makes them feel special, and she remembers,” said Janelle. “That’s just who Nikki is.”
Even her own birthday didn’t go unnoticed. Team members and fellow clients surprised her with a celebration, a moment that reminded her just how much community surrounded her.
Navigating Life with a Spinal Cord Injury
Nikki’s progress was built through small changes that stacked over time.
“She worked through so much pain. She worked through a lot of fatigue. She went through a lot of things, back pain, nerve pain in her hand, shoulder issues, but she just kept working through everything,” said Melissa.
The power chair that once carried her through every part of the day slowly became less necessary. Transfers that used to take extra time and assistance became smoother, more controlled, something she could manage on her own.
Eventually, there came a day when the power chair was no longer part of her routine.
Now, Nikki walks on her own, sometimes with the help of a walker.
For longer distances, she uses a scooter when she needs it, but much of her day is spent on her feet, moving through spaces that once required wheels to get there.
What she practiced in therapy started carrying over into the rest of her day.
“I remember the first day she did her ponytail. She sent me a picture, and it just made my day,” Melissa said with a smile.
Laundry became one of those moments. Carrying clothes, loading the washer, moving between machines, and folding everything when it is done.
“These smaller things, even like doing her laundry […] it’s just one small step, but she knows that all of that adds up,” said Melissa.
The goal she had pictured from the beginning—walking again—wasn’t just something she talked about anymore. It was something she was doing.
With the support of her therapy team, Nikki began working toward returning to her role with the Salvation Army.
That meant continuing to rebuild her hand function from the ground up. There were no cognitive setbacks, but weakness, pain, and limited hand function made simple tasks harder.
Holding a mouse, clicking, typing, even a few words at a time, all took practice.
Before long, Nikki started working remotely again, reconnecting with her team back in Wisconsin and easing back into the role she had fought to return to.
“Sometimes I just wonder what it would look like without QLI and if I had to go back home or to just a regular nursing facility,” said Nikki.
Another milestone followed, one that meant freedom in a different way.
Learning to drive again.
Melissa worked with Nikki behind the wheel, helping her build the confidence and control she would need for her life waiting in Green Bay.
Driving had always been part of Nikki’s daily routine: getting to work, showing up for events, staying connected to her people.
Reminders to Endure Through Every Trial
Nikki keeps reminders close, small ones that carry weight throughout her recovery.
“I had a friend make the one bracelet that says courage. And then my sister gave me the other bracelet that says, keep going,” said Nikki.
The words rest against her wrist as a steady reflection of what carried her through and the community that stood beside her.
“I’ve left them on every day. I see them when I wake up, and I see them when I’m in therapy. And it’s just a reminder that I can do it. I can keep going,” said Nikki.
And now, as she leaves QLI and heads back to Wisconsin, she takes more than progress with her—she takes proof.
The goal she once named on arrival was to walk out of here. She did that, and more.
Just days after returning home, she will begin easing back into work, continuing to rebuild a life she never stopped reaching for, even when everything changed.
Categories: Client Story, Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord Injury