When Erika Dobbins was in middle school and living on a military base in Massachusetts, she friended a little girl diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

“I was fascinated by the exercises her mom would do with her at home that her physical therapist gave her. That was when I knew I wanted to help people – and children – feel better and return to activities they enjoy.”

Erika, who graduated from Lakeland High School in Suffolk, became a doctor of physical therapy in May 2010 after graduating from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. She is a physical therapist at Tidewater Physical Therapy’s Windsor clinic.

“We spend a significant amount of time with our patients and really strive to build friendships with all our patients. Our relationships with patients are what keep them coming back.”

Because Erika develops friendships with her patients, there are several she’ll never forget.

Among them was a 94-year-old woman living in a nursing home that Erika evaluated while fulfilling her rehab clinical. The patient had “fractured the distal aspect of her femur and they only immobilized it since she was not a candidate for surgery. When I was asking her questions to evaluate how alert and oriented she was, I asked her age and her reply was ’49.’”

Erika first thought the patient had dementia, until “she told me that was how old she felt. Boy did she act like she was closer to 49 than 94!”

When Erika’s not in the clinic, you can find her teaching first grade Sunday school and quarterly evening high school youth classes at St. Mary’s of the Presentation in Suffolk. Erika is also the assistant youth group leader.