Brian Bowles offers patients at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center of Austin, Texas, more than occupational therapy. He gives them a glimpse of a fulfilling future beyond debilitating injuries.

In 1988, when he was 22, Bowles was the passenger in a car that left the road and slammed into a tree. He was ejected from the car and sustained a broken neck, back and jaw.

Today, he is a paraplegic and uses a wheelchair. He also is the occupational therapy manager at Health-South Rehabilitation Center.

It took a six-month hospital stay for Bowles to recover from his injuries. During that time, he met someone who would send him down a path that led to recovery and a rewarding career.

"My OT (occupational therapist) was quadriplegic," he said.

"Watching her inspired me to believe that I could do something with my life. I chose to go to school and become an OT," Bowles said. "I wanted to get into a field where I could help others, motivate people and maybe inspire others. I wanted to let them know there is a satisfying lifestyle after disability."

Occupational therapists work with patients who are trying to return to their former levels of activity after an injury or medical event limits their physical abilities. They teach patients with limited motor skills how to bathe, dress, prepare meals, wash clothes and more.

They often work with people who have had strokes, spinal-cord injuries or traumatic brain injuries. An OT also can work with patients who have memory deficits and cognitive limitations, and help them return to a normal life.

Bowles oversees four occupational therapists and two certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA).

A COTA is allowed to do treatments, but not evaluations. A COTA position requires an associate's degree; an OT job requires a master's degree.

Whether it's working in a hand clinic, hospital or inpatient rehabilitation facility such as HealthSouth, Bowles finds OT work to be rewarding.

"The biggest part of why I'm doing this is watching patients come in and my being able to work with them, and have them go back to a working, functional lifestyle," he said. "I like to interact with them and let them know this isn't the end of life. In my case, it was the beginning of a new life."