[rmorgan]

My fiance was hurt in a car wreck 15 years ago. (I'm new to this site.) It's been fun reading other posts to this subject. Since he's the only para/quad I've known. The town he lives in didn't like black people fishing under their country club's bridge so they decided to build a make-shift curb. A curb like all others, except they didn't fill the land up to it, so it was just like a mini wall. Him and a friend (the one driving) coming home late his friend ran off the road, hit this curb and flipped his jeep wrangler several times. Friend walked away unhurt, whilest my fiance was trapped under the jeeps row bar (spelling?). There had been a recall on this, but it was cheaper for Jeep to pay the lawsuits then it was to recall the vehicle. Sad. Anyway, 13 yrs after this I met him and couldn't be happier. He is the funniest, brightest, and all around loveliest person I've ever met. We are both very active during the summers waterskiing, and we leave out next week for Utah to go snow skiing. Loving life!!

This post has been edited by rmorgan: 11 March 2008 - 08:14 PM

[Trinity]

I got hurt after falling off a horse onto a fence post that was on the ground, horse escaped unscathed!! Air lifted by those wonderful HEMS people.
Had a collapsed lung and T8 injury. Could have been a lot worse (could also have been a lot better!)

Several months of rehab (and some extraordinary temper tantrums) am at home. Got back on a horse for the first time, was absolutely terrified but had two people supporting me (balance could be better)
Anyway, I can't complain, loads out there worse off than me

Trinity

[Meadowlarkmark]

greeting all--

I twisted forty+ years ago in a motor cycle accident in Boise, Idaho. I was 15 y.o. at the time. I broke my head and my kneck C-4-C-5. I did OK, I'm still here working full time, family, kids and grand kids--I have been lucky.

[Ahlam]

Hello,

WOW, I found this site while looking for SCI exercise that I could give my patients, I am a physiotherapy intern working in Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz humanitarian city- rehab center–Riyadh, yah I'm Saudi, I'm working in SCI unit now, my second week, I have 3 patient whom I see on my own, I feel great responsibility towards them, I'm trying to find good exercises for them and I found this site I just had to register.

I am amazed reading these stories, really brave people, I'm trying to help my patients get out of depression also, I know it's not easy but I try my best, reading ur stories made me feel really happy that as a physio I can help make someone's life a little better.
Keep ur high spirit


And never give up
Ahlam

[kewlcatkez]

Ahlam, on Mar 14 2008, 10:00 AM, said:

Hello,

WOW, I found this site while looking for SCI exercise that I could give my patients, I am a physiotherapy intern working in Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz humanitarian city- rehab center–Riyadh, yah I'm Saudi, I'm working in SCI unit now, my second week, I have 3 patient whom I see on my own, I feel great responsibility towards them, I'm trying to find good exercises for them and I found this site I just had to register.

I am amazed reading these stories, really brave people, I'm trying to help my patients get out of depression also, I know it's not easy but I try my best, reading ur stories made me feel really happy that as a physio I can help make someone's life a little better.
Keep ur high spirit


And never give up
Ahlam

Hi Ahlam,

As you may have read I am an RN (now retired medically) so I think I know where you are coming from so to speak. You have probably seen my 'story' so I won;t go on. I just wanted to give you the following link:


http://www.physiotherapyexercises.com/


It is an excellent site, it has pictures, videos and written instructions and diagrams of exercises. You choose the exercise and target areas/ level of lesion and it does the rest. Most of the facility is free, of course they welcome any 'donations'.

HTH your quest for exercises (they can be downloaded and printed out)

Take care,

K

[Ahlam]

kewlcatkez, on Mar 14 2008, 12:52 PM, said:

Ahlam, on Mar 14 2008, 10:00 AM, said:

Hello,

WOW, I found this site while looking for SCI exercise that I could give my patients, I am a physiotherapy intern working in Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz humanitarian city- rehab center–Riyadh, yah I'm Saudi, I'm working in SCI unit now, my second week, I have 3 patient whom I see on my own, I feel great responsibility towards them, I'm trying to find good exercises for them and I found this site I just had to register.

I am amazed reading these stories, really brave people, I'm trying to help my patients get out of depression also, I know it's not easy but I try my best, reading ur stories made me feel really happy that as a physio I can help make someone's life a little better.
Keep ur high spirit


And never give up
Ahlam

Hi Ahlam,

As you may have read I am an RN (now retired medically) so I think I know where you are coming from so to speak. You have probably seen my 'story' so I won;t go on. I just wanted to give you the following link:


http://www.physiotherapyexercises.com/


It is an excellent site, it has pictures, videos and written instructions and diagrams of exercises. You choose the exercise and target areas/ level of lesion and it does the rest. Most of the facility is free, of course they welcome any 'donations'.

HTH your quest for exercises (they can be downloaded and printed out)

Take care,

K

hi,

thanx k , i have this site in my favorites already, lol
but thanx alot,

have a nice day / night

[tony_brooklyn]

I was young and stupid (I still think I'm stupid if not retarded...hahaha). I had a 76' grandprix with a 350 as my first car when I was 20. High speed + wet curvy highway + no seatbelt + (?) = A really f*@ked up consequence.

[marlee]

Need information on Central Spinal Stenosis
Can anyone help me?
Hello~ I'm Marlee and I've read thru quite a bit on this site (which is fantastic) and I haven't been able to find much on the subject; I may not be looking in the right place. I've tried to google and I get a lot of medical trials and what not. I'm not sure where I should be looking. I'm hoping someone here can give me some insight. Thank you all very much.

[LukeyB]

I have been reading all of the experiences you guys have been through, you guys are so inspirational.

I compete in motocross which seems to be becoming more and more common with paraplegic injuries. There are a few people I know who have become paraplegic through motocross, I try and feel what they must be going through, to be able to comfort them but this is virtually impossible. The guy who earlier said in a post about the "30,000 things he was able to do to the 20,000 things he's now able to do" is such a good statement and I truely believe to you all that no matter what anyone goes through, the thick the thin, the rough the smooth there's always always a brightside, it may take weeks, months and years to find it. I have a friend who has 15% vision and has a delayed hormonal system, just because of his disability he works twice as hard not to let it affect him, this year we both ran the london marathon under 4 hours. Please don't interpret this message as though I am trying to preach I just respect every human being and feel that everyone deserves credit where it's due... And you guys on here are some of the strongest on the planet without even realising.

Regards,

LukeyB

[Heather1984]

My injury was caused by a wreck. I do not have any memory of it at all. I only remember leaving my house and bits and pieces of my first few weeks in the hospital. It took a few weeks for me to realize where I was and that something was wrong with me. In the accident was my husband who was driving my best friend and her boyfriend and me. We were in a big extended cab dodge and it wrapped around a big oak tree. I saw pictures of the truck and you couldn't even tell it had a back seat it was completely crushed I am so thankfull everybody was in the front seat! My husband had a few broken bones and fractured his neck this is kinda strange but he actually got his ear cut off but it's back on now haha! My friend was thrown from the truck and she fractured her back and had several broken bones. Her boyfriend suffered alot of head injury and broken bones. I broke my collar bone, shoulder blade and six ribs. All of this was on the left side. I had internal bleeding from my spleen which I had to have surgery on. I fractured t4 and t5 and crushed t7. My feeling stops about an inch above my belly button. I feel really lucky that I didn't get hurt too bad.

[Heather1984]

My injury was caused by a wreck. I do not have any memory of it at all. I only remember leaving my house and bits and pieces of my first few weeks in the hospital. It took a few weeks for me to realize where I was and that something was wrong with me. In the accident was my husband who was driving my best friend and her boyfriend and me. We were in a big extended cab dodge and it wrapped around a big oak tree. I saw pictures of the truck and you couldn't even tell it had a back seat it was completely crushed I am so thankfull everybody was in the front seat! My husband had a few broken bones and fractured his neck this is kinda strange but he actually got his ear cut off but it's back on now haha! My friend was thrown from the truck and she fractured her back and had several broken bones. Her boyfriend suffered alot of head injury and broken bones. I broke my collar bone, shoulder blade and six ribs. All of this was on the left side. I had internal bleeding from my spleen which I had to have surgery on. I fractured t4 and t5 and crushed t7. My feeling stops about an inch above my belly button. I feel really lucky that I didn't get hurt too bad.

[Scribbler]

I’ve just read every post in this thread, there are some very touching and inspirational stories. I could have sworn I’d written mine here, but it must have been in another thread.

To most people who know me, like friends and neighbours, I just tell them it was down to an RTA; I hate all the questions if I tell them the truth. If its someone patronising or from the ‘god-squad’ asking and wanting to save my soul, I always tell them I fell out of a brothel window; that gets rid of them really fast.

I was actually injured way back in the late 1950’s, yes a long time ago. I had just completed my training as an RAF pilot when the aircraft I was in had an altercation with the ground and caught fire.

Luckily I was ok, well, better than my 2 buddies who were unconscious, so managed to carry one and drag the other out of danger. I was about 30 feet away when it exploded, blowing me up in the air; I thought, "flying again so soon"..

I landed on my neck and shoulders and ended up a C4/5 incomplete. My 2 buddies received a few cuts, bruises and some slight 2nd degree burns, but I didn’t have a single scratch on my body; how weird is that?

That was 50 years ago and I’m still around and enjoying life despite a few knocks along the way. Joining this site has been an inspiration and the tonic I needed at a low point in my life. A day never passes when I don’t check what people write. It’s the first thing I do in a morning and the last thing at night; well almost.

I’ve made so many new friends here, and even though I’ve not met any of you, I feel closer to you than some friends I see each week around my village.

This site is like a village; a close-knit community where people help each other and gain the strength and inspiration that we all need to survive. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Scrib’s

[cubanito_016]

Ok lets talk about why you are in a wheelchair?let me start I am in a wheelchair cause of a car aciident that I had november,18,2007 two weeks after my 18th birthday.After having fun that nigth I was going home I was in a hurry cause I wanted to get home fast cause I needed to sleep cause I had a work meeting the next day in the morning.So it was 12am I was going about 127mph in my nissan 350z when it lost control and it feel into a canal and they found me 10 hours later floating in the canal the next day at 10am so yeah it sounds crazy.So know let me here your story why are you paralyzed.

[MrBump]

heres the short version..................

May2008 was on surfing trip in the middle of the ocean on a boat with 8 mates.

Was tow surfing one morning using jetskis, so got one, flipped off the back of the wave, board somehow got under me and i went head first thru my board crushing my c6/7 pretty bad.
Was drowning before guys pulled me out while in impact zone over 2ft of water and sharp coral reef.

Basically took me 24hrs to get to hospital as we were in the middle of the indian ocean and had to get to singapore somehow, heres a quick rundown because whatever could go wrong, did go wrong..........

-after getting back to boat, layed there trying to get stable with very basic knowledge - 2 hrs
- boat to nearest habitable island - 5 hrs
- organise helicopter to get me to mainland, wait - 2 hrs.
- helicopter arrives, 2 probs, 1 no petrol left, none on island. 2 chopper not big enuf, either squash me in, knees to chest type thing sitting up after ripping seat out or tie me to underneath of chopper, they decide to shove me in. had to drain boats tank to use in chopper and hoped it works....it did. - 2 nrs
- took off alone, no mates could fit, heading for airport in sumatra where jet from singapore with 2 docs were waiting. anothder prob, ran outa daylight and petrol and landed in the middle of the country kinda lost. - 2.5 hr flight.
- landed in a field where about 300 curious villagers surrounded me while i was laying on ground immobilised pitch black chanting and thinking they were going to eat me, no one spoke english, and pilot got arrested by the local hick police, waited thee for an ambulance that pilot had organised before being arrested. - 3 hrs
- ambo arrives, not really ambo, just a van, drive me to airport sliding around in back by myself and constantly hittin my head against drivers seat. - 2.5 hrs
- get to airport finally, just another prob, airport is closed. sit in carpark staring at the jet and doctors but can't come see me because they don't have "clearance". kook indos. finally open airport. 2 hrs
- finally get my first bit of drugs, water and food, feel almost safe.
- jet to singapore hospital - 2.5 hrs.

operated on me there, spend 1 month there, back to sydney for 3mths in hospital, 4 mnths at rehab now home with my wife and 2yr old daughter playin with all new challenges.........................

I get down a bit but look back and get some pride knowin i lived thru all that shit.

over and out.

[nomis]

Incredible Mr Bump.What a story. Your presence here seems to be against all odds. Best wishes in digging out the rewards from this new challenge

[steve penguin]

Hey guys, ive just got out of hospital after a year and a half.
im 18 in september so my injury happened when i was 16 on 2nd of jan 08.

i was at the train station at like 9 pm with a few mates and this drunk guy walks up behind me and my mates without us realizing and swung at me with a bottle the hit the base of my skull and shattered leaving fragments in me, a few months later i woke up in hospital.

my spine had been severed with glass from the bottle and then broken again from my neck hitting a bench as i fell, it broke in 3 places, at c1, c5 and t12. plus i am left with some minor brain damage from glass.

im now a vent dependent quad and i cant even move myhead from side to sdie like most high level quads and due to the brain damage i also have trouble speaking at times and go through occasional spastic phases where i lose control off my face. i ahve a gastro tube as i cant swallow, however surprisingly i still have sensation in certain parts of my body as the sever wasnt complete.

i was told about this site by my therapist who said getting in touch with other quads should help me.

i was wondereing if anyone can tell me what it is like living with care 24/7 as like i said im only out of hospital this week

[Murray]

Got lucky. New Mobility magazine (gimp rag in the States) picked up my story. Printed in the March, 09 issue. I was tickled. Check it out.

Lynn

Holy shit, Bump. Helluva tale. You've gotta be one tough fella! Best wishes.

This post has been edited by Murray: 15 April 2009 - 06:39 PM

[Joewee13]

Hello everyone. I would like to begin introduce my self. I am Jose(friend and family calls me Joewee), a 20 year old in a wheelchair. I have been looking for a good website for information about SCI and just people that knew what I went through. I am happy to find this great community of people.


Now time for my story. My accident happened when I was 16, February 19th, 2003. My sister called me and told me if I can go to burger king and meet hr friends there and show them where we lived. So I started walking, around 11:30pm, dark, and kinda... raining. While I was walking... I truly felt weird... like something was going to happen. While walking, I hear a phone ringing. I think to myself, "I don't have a pone..." and I look at the street and I see a cell phone light up and I looked around, and to my surprise, there was nothing in sight... Main street looked like it was just a side street that nobody uses.

I run to the phone, I grab and and start running to burger king. While running I am looking around, still , no one, nothing was around. I felt so empty. I finally arrive at burger king, see the friends and get in a car and I'm telling them where to go. Now, I'm so confused now because now, main street is main street. cars, noise, people, it's active. It's not the deserted side street anymore.

We get to the house and we go in. I tell my mom if I can go to my friends house to show him "my phone" she says no, I say please until she says yes. Now, my friends house is right next door so it's just a 10 second trip. I knock, he says come in and stuff. I show him my "phone" and start playing games and stuff. Then he says "bro, lets jump into some snow!" now, before I said yes or no, he said " remember in summer? we said when winter comes we will jump into a pile of snow only wearing boxers!" I said, "ohh hell yea!"

We take off our clothes and get ready. Now this house had 3 steps, and a platform to stand on while unlocking the door then you take one step to go inside the home. Then it had a gap, then the snow. The plan was to run from inside the house, take a step on the platform and jump (bellyflop) onto the snow. Now, what I did was I jumped from inside the house, meaning I did not step into the platform whice I had to jump over an extra 3-4 feet. Goal was to jump from the balcony into some snow.

Now, I jumped and instead on doing a bellyflop, I dove into the snow. I actually made the jump but instead of bellyflop like I said I went in the snow with kinda a diving form but without the hands out. Like a torpedo! I hit the snow, While I was in the snow I feel normal. I wanted to do it again.... but... whats this? I can't move? I tried to get up, I could not. My head went so forward when I hit the concrete that I broke my nose ..... stop reading for a sec and just picture your nose breaking on your own chest (between the nipples) I did not know this. I felt so normal but after 20 seconds of not being able to move was so weird. The sensation I got when I tried to move a body part... and could not was just... weird. Weirdest feeling ever. Now, my friend that was with me, he thought I just just playing... he left me in the snow for about 3 minutes without going over to me. I tried to call but I couldn't speak, I would whisper but I try to yell.

After the 3 minutes, he picked me up and basically dropped me. I was wet. Now, I will never in my young life forget the sight of my own body... I lay there like If every body part was dead. I looked like a barbie doll. One of my arms was behind my head, the other behind me, my right leg was all the was over there, spread out, left leg was like, up like I was doing sit-ups. My friend rushes over and opens my house door and yells at everyone to come out. Everyone was screaming. I was crying, did not know what was going on, I couldn't...breath well. They pick me up (another big no-no) and put me inside my house and call 911. My grandma was telling me to not close my eyes because I was telling my family that I wanted to go to sleep. Why wouldn't they want me to rest? I thought to my self.

After 5-ish minutes the ambulance get here, put me in the orange bed thing and from right there, I tell my mom, whispered into her ear " I love you mom" and just the look on her eyes, (tearing up right now ) was just telling me to stay up, stay focused and I just passed out.

When I woke up ( the next day, thank god I didn't fall into acoma, or at least to my knowledge) and I was laying down in a bed, but I totally felt like I was upside down! I then saw me family, with eyes that looked like they have been crying for hours. They say that they love me and everything and I started crying. They told me I kinda crushed or put a lot of force on my C4-C5. Incomplete Injury. They took the to Boston Children's Hospital on a long ambulance ride. I arrived and I think the next day was the day the operated me. I remember everything, I remember feeling so depressed. Wanting to talk to my family but couldn't. I remember watching a school basketball tape my teacher got me and me and my family was watching it and I wanted to tell my sister who a girl was, I wanted to tell her " that's Veronica" but after 3-4 minutes of my family trying, and trying to figure out what I was trying to say I gave up. I started crying and just wanted everything to end, I hated what happened to me.

I had 1 Surgery on my neck and now have metal rodes in my neck. I also had a Tracheostomy, I think that is how you spell it but if it's wrongs, it's a plastic tube in your neck that helped me breath. They made 2 surgery's for that. And I had a halo with weights to help my head/neck be straight at all times. I remember the last night I was in Boston Children's Hospital I was sleeping and the traic (thing on my neck, might be spelling it wrong) was bothering me... I buzzed and tried to tell them it felt weird. They told me to they will lower air coming out (was taking therapy to help me breath on my own. I slept that whole night without the help of the air machine. I was happy.

After about 2 months in Boston Children's Hospital it was time for rehab. They sent me to Franciscan Hospital for Children's. The first day there they took pictures of me and stuff and and I'm laying down watching tv and I noticed there were 2 people that kept walking by my door. Now, I had my mom during this whole time of my accident and she went to grab some water. She came back with some water and a woman. They introduced me and by that time I can speak a bit louder so she did hear me. She had a son that was in there to. And the 2 people that kept walking by my door, looking in was her daughters. We met, chit-chat for a bit and it was good. Maybe a week later, time for therapy. The joy was there. I met my two therapist and the first goal, sit up. WOW! How hard can sitting up get? I can tell you it was hard!

I was in in the rehab for a wapping one year and 4 months! I know right! I finally get to my home, had a huge party, and I felt..... weird. Why? I never been around that many people in so long. I started taking therapy and such and started moving my arms more, started moving my legs to! I even got control of my bladder function as well.

Now a days I still get therapy, Play a lot of video games and just relax, go out. I am still in a wheelchair and sometimes do get depressed but have no one to talk to really. Everyone in my house is a female so sometimes it is weird to express my self. I can stand if I am holding on to sometime. My left side of my body is a lot weaker then my right but it gets the job done I guess .


Well that is my story, I feel that I think I went a little long side but I guess I didn't notice while I was typing it and sorry for the bad grammar:(

Thank you for reading and thank you for this amazing site ^^

This post has been edited by Joewee13: 27 April 2009 - 12:07 AM

[fatdave]

Welcome Joewee, hope you gain as much knowledge as I have from this board. People here are great, and the info is top notch.

[kgriggs75]

Well I have read the stories on here of how other members were injured. I havent seen any one like mine so I decided to post up and give a a different spin on them.

July 10 1994 my unit in the Army was to conduct a physical fitness test. The test in the U S Army at the time consited of three parts 2 minute push up, 2 minute situp and the 2 mile run. According to Army regulations the situp portion was to be done on a soft surface,. i.e. grass sand extera. this morning there was quite a bit of dew on the ground from an overnight rain. It also happens that on this particular morning the brigade sargent major was doing his test with us, He made the choice to move the push up and sit up portion to a concrete pad so that we{HE} wouldnt get wet or dirty.

My normal output was between 78 and 85 situps during the allotted 2minutes, On this morning I wanted to break the 90 mark, so I was really getting after it when about the 80 mark I hit my head on the concrete. When i hit i stoped because i was in a lot of painin my neck sholders and arms. I wasnt to worried yet i was in pain but every thing seemed to be working, and i still had the 2 mile run left. Half way through the run I started losing sensation first in my left sholder the the whole of the arm then in my left leg. at this point I new something was very wrong and I went on sick call. The doctor, I use that term loosly decided i had bursutis if the sholder. so from there it was to the main hospital they said pulled muscle. i spent the next 9 months going to all kinds of doctors until finally a doctor in Fort Huachua Arizona decided to actually take an xray of my neck, with out even telling me the results he ordered an mri and ct scan. Two days later he walks in to the exam room and bluntly asks me When did you break your neck? He also asked me how in the hell I was still not only walking but still on active duty.He told me that i had broken c6 and c7 vertibre as well as ruptured c5 c6 and c7 disks. lucky for me when c6 fractured it did not sever the spinal cord only "nicked" it in his words. most of the problems were being caused by pressure from the ruptured disks. during the three surgeries to repair the damage they actually paralyzed my from the neck down for two days. Those were the scariest two days of my life. after all was said and done i walk with a limp and have no feeling in my left arm. I consider my self lucky really considering all i did and how it went untreated for so long.


Nearly 15 years on my condition has degraded some but i can still walk some on most days I am still in pain half the time but im not dead nor am i paralyzed so i still feel lucky. I get a Pension from the veterans administration, the registration for my truck is 3 dollars a year my property taxes are low, and i get great parking so all is not bad lol.


On a side not the Sargent Major was forced to retire over this and another indecent where he put a private threw a wall. So there it is the sci story of one guy from East Texas U. S. Of A.. I hope to learn a lot here and hopfuly be able to give back.

This post has been edited by kgriggs75: 30 April 2009 - 05:43 AM

[Rjeez]

I was a heroin addict for nearly 20, years,and known to my local hospital.Last year,I had a massive pain in my back,which turned out to be an abcess on my spine caused by MRSA.Went to the hospital,4 times,but they kept kicking me out,thinking that I was after morphine.

On the 5th time,delerious with MRSA,the same doctor that kicked me out the 4th time saying that there was nothing wrong with me,asked my father where have I been for the past 10 days(this is now one month after the 1st time i went in to the hospital)My father told him that I had seen him and been in 4 times,and the doctor said,"We'll discuss that later,at another time."He is now on professional leave,and my solicitor can't find him.Convenient,eh?The only reason that I lay paralysed in bed for 10 days,eating nothing,living on sugar/salt water,pissing my pants,delerious,was because the 4th time I went to the hospital,the nurses wouldn't give me an ambulance ride home,and actually watched me crawl out of the hospital,thinking that I was lieing to get drugs,and I didn't want to get stranded.Also,when I asked another nurse what do I do if I get worse,he just shrugged his shoulders,as if to say,"Don't ask me."I was lucky,because another ex drug addict give me a lift home.Ironic,eh?

Anyway,my solicitors say that I have a good case,and I'll get a good amount of money.It still won't help me walk again,get it up again,or have kids,though.

This post has been edited by Rjeez: 04 May 2009 - 12:01 PM

[leafybug01]

hello all


ive been a paraplegic for 9yrs now and this is my story


i was in a car wreck late night on a dirt road just trying to get home. my cousin was the driver and he was drunk. i myself was sober for some odd reason(now i know why), i was tempted all night wit alcohol and weed, but i didnt accept it. the driver fell asleep and we drove into a large tree. after hitting the tree i came thru for a few minutes realizing i was outside the car and that i was bleeding and feeling that my left leg was broke. i must have pasted out during the time of the ambulance arriving and leaving wit me. i came through at the first hospital not realizing i had lost my left eye and i was bleeding internally. i do remember leaving leaving out the hosiptal and entering the ambulance again to be taken to a bigger hospital. as im getting into the ambulance i can hear two nurses trying to figure out who was going to ride with me to the next hosiptal, and then hearing the nurse telling the drive to punch it when we get ont he interstate cause he think i wont make it. so now im at the bigger hospital and im hearing a doctor telling me he needs to do a emergence surgery on me and being knocked out. now while im being perpare for surgery my parents had to decide if they should do surgery because they only gave me 5% chance of life. i was bleeding internally from a torn aorta. so the doctors said that the side effects from the surgery would be me being a vegetable or a paraplegic and at worst death. so after surgery im a T6 paraplegic incomplete. i do have feeling of touch from head to toe but i dont feel pain or temperature. so i lost my left eye, torn aorta, broken left hip and knee. the driver and backseat passenger had minor injuries.

[Hikkakaru]

I whacked a car.

Except I was walking, and it wasn't.

[jwheelz81]

my accident happened oct. 27 1999 two months before i was supposed to graduate. i was with a friend driving my stepmoms car, down a country road. going way to fast like a dumbass i came around a turn and a white ford truck was coming around the otherside and he was in my lane. he went left and almost hit a lady mowing her lawn, i went right and hit an eight foot hill,went through a telephone pole and rolled the car 180ft. my friend and me were thrown from the car when i came to the lady that almost got hit by the other driver was on the phone with 911. from what my friend later told me iwas telling her to get off the phone because i wasnt supposed to be driving the car and i didnt have a liscence. the other driver kept going they never caught him and thats my story

[CrazyLucky]

On October 13, 2007 (at 30 years old), I fell out of the back of a (non-moving) pick-up truck. Not sure what happened beyond that, but I woke up without feeling/movement in my right leg and side. I used my left foot to drive to the hospital 2 miles away. CT revealed fractured T3-6. Life flighted to a larger medical facility where I was further diagnosed with spinal torsion. In total: T4-6 fracture, fusion of T3-7 with hip bone graft, two 8" rods, 8 pins, Brown-Sequard syndrome. I had to relearn to walk and had what I would consider, an amazing recovery. 1 year from my injury I rode a 100 mile century to raise money for The Miami Project in the US which is researching to find a cure for paralysis. I live with several symptoms of permanent nerve damage and my right leg is about 25% weaker than my left. I have been taking Lyrica for a month, which has been an amazing addition to my recovery. Where in the past I felt as though my body would fall apart, the numbing in the areas of nerve damage seems to remove the feelings of instability.

I also live with pain. More pain than I thought possible, but I know others have it worse. My injury and recovery have provided me with a lot of mixed emotions, but I understand that I have a responsibility to try and use my experience of loss and recovery to try and help. So I will do my best. I just hope to make a bit more sense of my experience by joining this community.

This is my first time reaching out in this manner to others with spinal cord injuries. Thanks for providing this forum. I hope that all is as well as it can be with everyone.

This post has been edited by CrazyLucky: 26 May 2009 - 03:08 AM

[mariab56]

hi everyone well my story is about my son he is 33 years old. well its been bout 9 months that my son was shot in the neck by a stranger right on our drive way funny thing is it was well lighted 2 a.m.but the light polls were giving alot of light. believe it or not my grandkids and my other son and his girlfriend were all outside, when out of the blues this person walk up behind my son and shot him he was well hooded.my son fell to the ground and my other son chased him and so did our neighbor. he must have been a kid cause he ran really fast.anyways well my son wasnt expected to live his injury is c1 spinal shock. that night and the next day in total he was resusitated 5 times.well after six months he is home still paralyzed and on a ventilator. we were trained to care for him but he is doing much better starting to get some of his feelings back. but see now we cant get help anywhere medicare medicaid and all the services you can think of say my son doesnt qualify for any thing, i mean isntt that mean we dont know what to do anymore we are paying for almost everything oh forgot to say he is getting checks for his payments and believe me almost all the check disappears just on his truck and two other payments he .i was wondering if any one out there can tell us where to get help for his medications and his therapy help please we are getting low on our money we pay for his meds and his supplies thanks i mean just writing all this down is getting it off my chest i feel a bit better will someone please respond thank you

[Trinity]

mariab56, on May 26 2009, 02:23 AM, said:

i was wondering if any one out there can tell us where to get help for his medications and his therapy help please we are getting low on our money we pay for his meds and his supplies thanks i mean just writing all this down is getting it off my chest i feel a bit better will someone please respond thank you

Several other people on the forum have had good results holding fund raising events involving the community they live in, I'm sure it's a lot of work but it seems to be worth the effort.

[MichaelD]

I Jumped off of a bridge onto a Moving Train going 50 mph. I feel emberassed all the time. It was a dumb thing to do but i didnt think that i would get hurt. I shattered my L3 incoplete and am working to walking again. I have a son and i let him down. I was not drunk or high, just looking for a rush that night. It happened in april 08 and it still haunts me every day.

[CrazyLucky]

MichaelD, on Jun 6 2009, 03:43 PM, said:

I Jumped off of a bridge onto a Moving Train going 50 mph. I feel emberassed all the time. It was a dumb thing to do but i didnt think that i would get hurt. I shattered my L3 incoplete and am working to walking again. I have a son and i let him down. I was not drunk or high, just looking for a rush that night. It happened in april 08 and it still haunts me every day.

Wow. I just shuddered. My son was 3 months old when I got hurt and I had to relearn how to walk as well. For a while, just looking at him made me feel like the worst father on the planet. Mine happened in Oct. '07. You came to the right place and you're not alone. I beat myself up so much...still do. For what it's worth, you may have let your son down, but you can also show him what you're made of by trying to get a handle on things. Sooner or later, he will fail or do something stupid. How you handle your own mistakes will teach him a lot. Try and find some level of forgiveness. You can't undo what happened and it's important to give yourself times to be angry. But try and focus forward. No matter what your level of recovery is, your son will learn from your effort. Let him motivate you. If you need anything, feel free to shoot me a message. Good luck to you.

This post has been edited by CrazyLucky: 07 June 2009 - 04:50 AM

[Jamie Stewart]

My boyfriend, is only 21, but he has a non-traumatic spinal cord injury.

On May 8th 2009 he was in class at Western Kentucky University when he started having chest pains and couldn't control his arms. The professor contacted the emergency room and by the end of the night Dustin couldn't move anything below his neck or breathe on his own. The good news, he's never lost sensation and his breathing is beginning to improve.

He is now at a rehab facility in Atlanta, GA and the doctors aren't being optimistic at all. It's very hard to stay strong but I do understand that this isn't the end.

If anyone has any advice, suggestions, words of wisdom, prognosis', anything please let me know. I can be reached on here or at Jamie.Stewart804@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Jamie

This post has been edited by Jamie Stewart: 09 June 2009 - 01:58 AM