You may have already heard about Carl Haydel and Rachel Dingle.
A video from FOX Rehabilitation has gone viral, and this week People magazine featured Carl’s proposal to Rachel in a New Orleans sculpture garden. Their story is about love, recovery, and a therapy goal that meant much more than just checking a box.
We couldn’t be prouder to share that Carl is a resident at The Claiborne at Baton Rouge, and that the preparation for this memorable moment unfolded right here in our community.
Carl is a Baton Rouge native and former data analyst who, after retiring, started what he calls “somewhat of a new life” in Minnesota. Around then, he reconnected with Rachel, a classmate of his from Baton Rouge High School.
Just a few months into their renewed relationship, Carl was hit by a car and suffered a stroke. After seven weeks in the hospital, multiple surgeries, and rounds of therapy, he returned home to Louisiana and moved into assisted living at The Claiborne at Baton Rouge.
Rachel stayed with him through it all.
“She has been behind me every step of the way,” Carl says.
A Partnership Focused on Residents
Carl’s recovery has been a team effort, and a key part of that team works through a partnership between The Claiborne at Baton Rouge and FOX Rehabilitation, which provides occupational, physical, and speech therapy on site for residents who need it.
For Carl, that’s where Amanda Cable, OTD, OTR/L, came in.
Amanda started working with Carl in November 2025. At their first session, he used a wheelchair and had limited use of his right hand. Their first goals were splinting, positioning, and range-of-motion exercises to begin restoring function in his right hand.
A few months later, Carl arrived at therapy with something new on his mind.
“He came in with a smirk on his face,” Amanda recalls, “and said, ‘I have a secret mission.'”
Carl wanted to propose to Rachel at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in New Orleans, beside a sculpture called “LOVE.” His goal was to kneel, pull the ring from his backpack himself, and tell Rachel he loved her in Hebrew, a language he had been learning before the accident.
“We were over the moon for him as his therapy team,” Amanda says. “It was everything that OT is – meaningful and functional.”
From there, every therapy session had a purpose. Carl and Amanda worked on kneeling and core stability. They practiced holding a ring box, progressing from a light ball to a weighted one so it would not slip. He used his affected hand to trace the words “I love you” in Hebrew for a framed gift, working through several copies until it was just right.
The Hebrew letters in the finished gift turned out to be reversed, but Amanda says the meaning was clear.
“The thoughtfulness and hard work he put into that gift speaks volumes,” she says.
A Moment to Celebrate
On April 11, the day before Rachel’s 60th birthday, Carl and Rachel stood together at the “LOVE” sculpture. There was no photographer. Carl wanted the moment to be intimate.
He knelt, took the ring from his backpack, and told Rachel he loved her in Hebrew.
She said yes.
When asked what he wants other stroke survivors and their families to know, Carl says there is hope.
“I just want to tell them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” he says. “You can get better with therapy. You have to work at it.”
When talking about Amanda and the FOX Rehabilitation team, Carl keeps it simple: “They have done amazing things for me.”
At The Claiborne at Baton Rouge, we are delighted to celebrate this joyful milestone with Carl and Rachel. We are also deeply grateful to Amanda and the FOX Rehabilitation team for their care, creativity, and teamwork in making this moment possible.
Through our partnership with FOX Rehabilitation, residents work toward the moments that matter most to them. Sometimes, that means working toward more independence. Other times, it means getting back to a favorite hobby or daily routine. And sometimes, it means preparing for a truly heartwarming proposal.
Congratulations, Carl and Rachel!
Read the full feature in People: https://people.com/occupational-therapist-helps-stroke-survivor-achieve-dream-proposal-to-girlfriend-exclusive-11973834
