An excited toddler in a pink tutu stands at her open front door in mid-February 2021, shouting with glee: âMommy! Daddy! Mommy! Mommy!â The tiny dancer is Lia Berg, the daughter of Lauren and Justin Berg of Amberley Villageâand the joy she felt came from seeing her mother for the first time since October 4, 2020. On that fateful October day, with just one minor misstep in an unfamiliar environment, Lauren Shmalo Berg, 37, tumbled down an unlit flight of cellar stairs and suffered a C3-C4 Spinal Cord Injury that, presently, has left her paralyzed from the neck down. Justin, her husband, explains, âAfter hearing her scream, I ran to see if she was okay. She was breathing when I asked her if she could move anything. Lauren answered âNoâ and then she stopped breathing.â After being given CPR, first by Justin and then by the paramedics, she was taken to a local hospital. She required immediate surgery and was airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton where she endured an 8-hour surgery to repair her spine. After endless days in an ICU, Lauren was transferred to the Drake Center Campus in Hartwell where she remained until her insurance approved her placement at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. Rated among the Top 10 rehabilitation facilities, Shepherd is a world renowned provider of specialized and aggressive rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries using cutting edge technologies for the best possible outcomes.