Karin LaBanca underwent major foot surgery that put her on her back for 120 days, according to a published report. As a teenager in upstate New York, LaBanca broke her lower back.
While recouping from the foot procedure, the licensed physical therapist who holds a doctorate in the same field had plenty of time to devise a plan to make a living, the News Times reports. The woman in her early 40s thought of the woman with a physical therapy job who helped treat her lower back issue when she was younger.
"I thought she had an amazing job. I really loved the fact that she could build a rapport with people and see them over an extended period of time," she told the publication. "She did a lot of massage and hands-on work and was really involved in the community. So I sort of modeled what I do after her."
She said she worked for that physical therapist during her final two years of high school and during three years of college, which prompted her to pursue opening her own physical therapy shop.
LaBanca currently practices physical therapy in Danbury, Connecticut, which is close to the New York border.