Life-Changing Accident Led Teen To Create Business And Charity

CHAPPAQUA, NY — An activity that started as a way to help cope with debilitating pain became an unlikely and powerful way for a Chappaqua teen to help others who are suffering.

In 2016, when Zoe Gellert was 11 years old, a 40-pound concrete paver fell onto her foot. Her long road to recovery seemed to be on track. However, after the injury should have healed, Zoe was still feeling intense pain and the swelling in her foot had not subsided. Her foot was sensitive to even the lightest touch, making it impossible to bear weight.

After physical therapy proved to be too painful, Zoe sought the help of specialists, who confirmed that she had Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a form of chronic pain that causes a person to experience persistent, severe and debilitating pain disproportionate to the severity of the initial injury, surgery or illness.

"They call it the invisible disease," Gellert, now a high school senior, told Patch. "And it really can be invisible. If someone is on fire, you can tell they are in pain. You can hear them screaming. With CRPS, you aren't walking down the street screaming, but the pain is very real."

After a 28-day stay at an inpatient program where she underwent physical and cognitive therapies, she still had lingering pain after her release.

By chance, a specialist she saw regularly had beads in the waiting room to help patients distract themselves from what could often be a trying time in their lives. Gellert explained that the time spent creating with the beads became something she started looking forward to every week. She said, however, that the pandemic put an end to the use of shared crafting materials. Instead, Gellert was inspired to order her very first beading kit.

Recognizing that the tactile work was beneficial to her therapy and recovery journey, she was soon encouraged by friends and family to turn her passion into creating her own jewelry business called By G Style and a charity known as Zoe’s Heros. She donates part of each month’s proceeds to different charities that help people with CRPS.

As Gellert's senior year approached and the prospect of going far away from home for college drew closer, she realized that she would need intensive treatment to get her ready to throw herself into being fully present for these key milestones in her life.

Gellert's family turned to the Pediatric Chronic Pain Management Program at Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The inpatient program employs a unique multidisciplinary approach to increase function, decrease pain and sensitivity and promote the use of adaptive coping skills.

When Gellert came to the program in August 2021 for a three-week stay, she brought her beads with her, finding time to make bracelets, despite her intensive daily schedule. Each day, Zoe participated in over seven hours of therapy and programming, including a combination of aquatherapy, physical, occupational and recreational therapies, psychological counseling, as well as mindfulness and meditation.

"It was the hardest thing I have ever done," Gellert confessed. "I wasn't sure what I got myself into at first."

She said that despite the tough start, she saw progress she didn't realize was even possible.

Director of the Pediatric Chronic Pain Program at CSH Katherine Bentley, MD said that CRPS patients are often surprised by the results of the program.

She noted that while the causes of the syndrome can sometimes be mysterious, the symptoms are very much quantifiable. Sometimes there is evidence of unexplained swelling at the site of a long-since-healed injury. The brain's pain response can even be seen with CT imaging.

"The pain is very real," Bentley said. "We like to say the pain isn't in your head — it's in your brain. "

Gellert was cheered on by her therapists to complete 72 bracelet orders during her stay at the program. She decided to donate 100 percent of the proceeds, $7,000 in bracelet sales from one month of beading, to the CSH Chronic Pain Management Program.

Bentley said the light Gellert's gift is shining on the misunderstood syndrome may be as valuable as the much-needed donation.

"One of the biggest obstacles [CRPS] patients face is a lack of awareness, even in the medical field," Bentley said. "I still talk to doctors, even specialists, who tell me that they have never heard of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome."

Since her time at CSH, Zoe has gained enough confidence in her ability to manage pain to allow her to participate in the activities that make senior year special. In the fall, she plans to attend Tulane University, something she describes as "a dream for as long as I can remember."

To date, she has raised more than $50,000 to help kids with CRPS.