Sometimes Doris Estelle (Cert.'47/AHP) takes a day off, sometimes she doesn't; but one thing is certain -- she doesn't stay put for very long.

"This past week I've seen 22 patients," she said. "Today, I've only seen three because the air conditioning went out in my car. I have 10 more clients to see this week, and they just sent me four more."  

Estelle, a 90-year-old home health physical therapist, has no plans to retire or to slow down.

"I have to keep on going as long as I can walk," she said. "I think I'd die if I had to stay at home. Some of my peers are a lot younger than I am, and here I am running around with them!"

That's not unusual for Estelle, whose life has been devoted to the service of others. In April, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the School of Allied Health Professions' Department of Physical Therapy during its Reunion Weekend in Richmond. The event helped mark the department's 80th anniversary. Estelle is the first recipient of the award.

"I don't think I'm doing anything extraordinary," she said when asked about the recognition and about her life of helping others. "I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. God gave me a good brain and good health."

She was overwhelmed, appreciative, and "taken by surprise" when Mary Shall (Ph.D.'91/M), PT, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, told her about the award.

"My first impression of Doris Estelle was admiration for this hardy soul who, even at 90 years old, has a sharp mind, a sparkle in her eye, and continues to take care of people. She epitomizes the ideal of a lifelong learner," Shall said.

Born and raised on a sugar cane plantation in Franklin, La., Estelle received her diploma in nursing from the New Orleans Charity Hospital School of Nursing in 1942. Her studies there included a course in the controversial Sister Kenny technique for treating polio patients where moist, hot compresses helped ease the pain, and exercise, not braces, helped "re-educate" paralyzed muscles.

Estelle became more interested in physical therapy while serving in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in Europe and North Africa in the 1940s. A specialist in communicable diseases, she treated many polio patients as well as wounded soldiers who came to her mobile hospital directly from the battlefield.

"I liked working with people and getting good results. If you didn't get good results, you had to find out why. Most of our patients went back home, not back to fighting," she said.

She served first in Tunisia, spent time in Naples, Italy, and was in Florence when the war ended.

Because of Estelle's wartime experience, she came to MCV for a year of physical therapy training, finishing her certification in 1947, Shall explained, adding that there were few physical therapy programs available at the time.

Estelle has fond memories of her time at MCV.

"I really enjoyed Susanne Hirst, professor of anatomy," Estelle recalled. "She was very good. She pushed you and kept everybody on their toes."

In 1944, MCV became one of three nationwide Baruch grant recipients as a result of a task force established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to explore rehabilitation treatment avenues for those wounded in war.

"That jumpstarted the creation of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation," Shall said.

Estelle's rich career is punctuated with memorable highlights. Fresh out of MCV, she put her extended education to work as the assistant chief therapist at the New Orleans Veterans Center where she treated veterans with brain injuries, amputations and tuberculosis. She then moved to Southern Baptist Hospital as the chief therapist where she helped design and run the acute care department.

While in the service, she was one of only three women, and the only woman from New Orleans, to complete the Command General Staff Course from 1954 to 1962, after which she retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of major. She continued to work in the private sector and enhanced her medical education through correspondence courses from Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

After a brief retirement at 65, she returned to work. Today, she is a practicing physical therapist for a home health agency.

Estelle comes from a family of nurses and can't imagine quitting practicing health care anytime soon.

"That's my life. We like to take care of people."