Alex Marshall: I lived uptown Charlotte. And there's a trail that goes out towards just outside of the town. I went on my usual route, it was about eight miles. And there wasn't a crosswalk, and the light was red, but I guess the turn lane had just turned, and somebody hit me. And it was really bad. I had a severe traumatic brain injury. I was unconscious, and broken bones, broken wrist. I was bleeding from my head. My skull was cracked open. There were a lot of things that got overlooked. A lot of it seemed better, but then I realized I still had some things bother me with my face. So that's when I came to UVA. My entire left side of my face was paralyzed. Ever since I was a little girl, my dad would always love and compliment my smile. And I had a dimple. And my favorite thing that if I was feeling gross or ugly, my confidence booster was my smile. I had a huge, big smile. So to see that go away was really scary and heartbreaking. There aren't very many face physical therapists in the country, and I'm very lucky because there's one in Charlottesville.

Helen Gatling-Austin, PT: Well, when we started working together, I could tell that she really wanted help for what was going on. And she was going to work hard to get better. From a therapy point of view, we can't fix the facial nerve. It has to heal on its own. So our job as therapists is to understand what's happening there, teach the patient how to stretch out the tight muscles, but also actually retrain how the brain identifies the muscle and moves it.

Alex Marshall: After a lot of work with Helen, a couple years went by, and my face started tightening up. So I went back and Dr. Oyer was now there. He gave me the full face exam. There was a muscle that was tight here, and it was preventing me from breathing. So now he gives me a little bit of Botox here. It helps relax the muscle, and I can breathe better.

Samuel Oyer, MD: Alex has been such a positive, optimistic patient of mine. And it's really amazing for me to see the journey that she has taken. There's not a lot of centers across the country that really offer the full spectrum of treatments. Botox alone won't do it. Surgery alone won't do it. It really takes a team. So here at UVA Health, we have that team in place. And people who are really passionate about treating people with facial nerve disorders.

Alex Marshall: Going through something very traumatic, it's very important to have a good support team.