Community Health & Engagement

Finding community in a new way, St. Luke’s Magic Valley patient gives back to ‘amazing place’

By Dave SouthornLast Updated March 25, 2026

A few miles into the serene Sawtooth Mountains, Joyce Gordon was in the final stretches of a long bike ride on a warm winter day.

One small patch of ice would change that. However, it also wound up not just making a difference in her own life but potentially others elsewhere in Idaho.

Slipping and falling off her bike, Gordon knew she had a pretty serious injury. She was prepared, but had no cell phone signal, while her satellite phone was in her backpack, which she couldn’t reach.

Luckily, on a dirt road near Frenchman’s Hot Springs, she was not completely in the wilderness. A local man named Michael stopped first, followed by a chance encounter that turned into one of those times a person appreciates a small world.

“It was obvious to me, like, I knew I messed myself up,” Gordon said. “Michael stopped to help, but he couldn’t get reception. Then up pulled another car. Her name was Tessa and she had on a St. Luke’s shirt, told me she worked there.”

Tessa Spencer in the St. Luke’s Rehab jacket she wore the day she met Joyce Gordon.

Tessa Spencer has been a physical therapist for more than a decade at St. Luke’s Magic Valley. She happened to be covering a weekend shift at St. Luke’s Wood River and was with her husband enjoying the area after she had finished work.

Spencer’s husband was able to text 911, eventually getting a police car and ambulance to the scene. She was able to keep Gordon stable, put her leg in a good position and grab her some blankets.

“She was a trouper,” Spencer said. “She was mostly concerned about her dogs, since they were home alone.

“Then when she got taken away, I kind of was like, ‘What do I do now?’ I’m so used to seeing it through with patients.”

Gordon was able to make sure her dogs were OK, while Michael was able to load up her bike on his truck.

After being examined at St. Luke’s Wood River, Gordon was sent to Magic Valley for surgery. She had a broken pelvis and had shattered the top of her tibia. A titanium rod was placed from her hip to her knee.

Though she called the initial pain “agony,” she remembered thinking, “I wouldn’t mind going there” when Spencer talked about her job working in the inpatient rehabilitation unit.

The next day, Spencer was told she had a new patient that had a hip injury.

Could it be? No, it was a different patient.

But that week, checking the consult list, there was Gordon.

“She had apparently been asking people around here if they knew me, so even though it had to have been traumatic, it was cool she remembered me,” Spencer said.

Added Gordon: “I didn’t really think I’d wind up in the exact place she worked. And I didn’t realize what an amazing place it is.”

Joyce Gordon during her time in the inpatient rehabilitation unit at St. Luke’s Magic Valley.

Relearning something most take for granted like walking involves an incredible amount of dedication. Gordon said three-hour days of intensive physical therapy were challenging, but “there are so many great tools and great people” to keep motivated.

She noted competing with her therapists in bowling on the Wii video game console as just one example, one that kept her upright longer than she imagined. In addition to working with Spencer, she also praised therapists Summer Shobe, Melissa Varela and Zach Linn.

“There’s a real sense of community, you get to know the people helping you, the patients eat in a common area,” Gordon said. “You see everything that everyone is dealing with and you start cheering for each other.

“I kept thinking, ‘I had a bad accident, they restored my ability.’ I wanted to make it even better for the next patient.”

An adventure seeker with a philanthropic side, Gordon asked how she could help. It was determined that some new equipment could be useful.

So, Gordon donated more than $100,000 to benefit the Magic Valley IRU. Spencer said among the items are an apparatus that simulates getting in and out of a car, a speech therapy machine and muscle-stimulating technologies.

“It was so awesome when I heard about that, knowing her experience was so good that she was motivated to do something like that,” Spencer said.

In recognition, Gordon recently was selected as the St. Luke’s Magic Valley Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year awardee. She will be honored April 17 at the Foundation’s Heritage Dinner.

“Joyce’s gift meant so much to our team,” said St. Luke’s Magic Valley Foundation Executive Director Dawn Soto. “It was a powerful reminder that the work they do every day matters deeply to the patients and families they serve. Her generosity lifted the spirits of our entire rehabilitation community and reinforced the compassion and dedication that define the care provided here.”

From 15 hours a week earlier this year to only one visit a week now, Gordon has recovered extremely well. She credited the team for helping her be healthy enough for a late January trip to Norway, where she snowmobiled and even drove a dogsled.

“So thankful for everyone there, I’d certainly have preferred not to have crashed that day, but couldn’t have wound up in a better place,” Gordon said.

Once Gordon’s donation was made, more than a dozen clinical staff signed a card for her. It was so full, Dr. Joe Ostler had to sign that back.

Gordon is quite the adventurer - this photo is from a trek up a Peruvian cliffside.

Oh, and if you were wondering — she did get her bike back and is already riding again. She has taken Michael out to dinner after “mostly just seeing his shoes” that fateful day. Plus, when Spencer has been free while in Ketchum, they’ve met up for coffee. And in Magic Valley, Gordon found a welcoming place, which all started on a cold dirt road.

“I think it’s a pretty great example, something that made me feel good, that there are lots of people in our communities willing to help,” Spencer said.

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