Patient Celebrates 50th Wedding Anniversary in Rehab.

Happy 50^th wedding anniversary to Melvin and Gay Steed of Biggersville. North Mississippi Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Institute team threw the Steeds a surprise party on their anniversary, Oct. 24, while he was a patient. Melvin suffers from Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis, an uncommon paralyzing illness that often renders him unresponsive and weak. “Sometimes the episodes last hours and sometimes days,” he says. “When I ‘wake up,’ I can’t walk,” Since his first attack in 2008, Melvin has been hospitalized 28 times, earning him the honorary title of “Mayor of 1 West.”

Over the years, the Steeds have celebrated several birthdays, anniversaries and holidays at the Rehabilitation Institute. “Usually for our anniversary, our children take us out to eat,” Melvin says, but this year’s celebration takes the cake. “They made me and my wife feel really special,” he says. “I’ll always remember this one.”

The Steeds have two children and eight grandchildren. Melvin thinks his wife, Gay, is pretty special too. “She’s a good woman,” he says. “I’m blessed to have her.”

For more information about NMMC’s Rehabilitation Institute, visit www.nmhs.net/rehabilitation.