[rollingpix]

I was at my best friends b-day party. Just got off my job, drove to his house and was getting ready to go wakeboarding...Lake=water=shallow
water=brokeneck. Transverse fracture C5,6,7. I had dived off that dock 100+times before that day. Charlie, my b/f was inside, I went outside to go for a swim, dove in, broke neck and was floating, conscious and all by myself. After a minute (lifetime) went by, I heard Charlie screaming, Ralph! quit "expletive" around. He realized I wasn't, jumped in and saved my life. That was my story, 7+ years later and I'm still here. Charlie's gone (as a friend) but I'm still here.

Ralph
http://rollingpix.blogspot.com

[Carly/Kevin]

My girlfriend told me about this site and i came across this blog and thought to tell my story.

The day my life changed: On December 4, 2005 my girlfriend and I had just came back from Dallas for the weekend. I had dropped her off and right before she got out of the truck she told me, "you better be careful, I know how you are when I'm not around. I love you!" The reason she told me that is because she knew that I was going to meet my friend, and we like to race. Well, I'm only 19 and I never think of the consequences that can happen to you. I thought I was invincible (now I know I'm not). Anyway, I was stupid went racing and as we came to a curve i missed the curve went sliding and hit a tree going about 100+ mph. I had wrapped the truck around the tree. Luckily for me, I had a new truck the airbags did help and the fact that it was a large truck helped it too. If I was in a little car or truck I don't think I would have made it. My brake was L3 and its incomplete, punctured a lung and broke 2 ribs. Everyone told me I was very lucky to even be alive, and I am very grateful to be alive and still have my girlfriend standing beside me through all of this. I wish I have pictures to show but I don't. So, that's my story.

[Chase]

Hey Anthony,
I was admitted to Craig due to a classic diving accident prior to your admission. As you know, Craig has a tendency to let the word get out about other patients. Due to me still being so ill I was still on the west side when you were admitted. I ended up knowing your roommate when I moved to the east side. My dad and I have heard your story and found it quite tragic, but also heard about, what Craig ended up doing and I am quite curious to hear your side of the story. Please feel free to e-mail me if you'd like.

[keps]

I didn't have an accident.

On September 30th 2004, I was woken early in the morning by chest pain. I thought it was severe indigestion (as did my boyfriend).

The pain just kept increasing, until it was so unbearable that I thought I must be having a heart attack.
I'd been through to the living room, thinking if I had a wander it might take my mind off it. I then decided to get back on the bed, and try to relax and watch a dvd.
Eventually I was in so much agony, I decided to go to the living room (where my boyfriend was) to tell my boyfriend that I needed to go to hospital.

I got off the bed, then promptly collapsed on the floor - my legs had gone (I had felt a warm flash in my legs, then nothing). My boyfriend was terrified to find me on the floor unable to get up.

He called an ambulance, and I was soon in hospital. A nurse there seemed to think it was not too serious - we think she thought I had indigestion.
That was until I realized she had taken my socks and shoes off, and I hadn't felt it.
She went to get a doctor when she heard me asking my boyfriend if my footwear had been taken off, he said yes, then panicking when I told him I hadn't felt it.

A doctor then scraped his keys up my foot, and when he said "no plantar response" things moved very quickly. I was soon in an MRI machine, and was swiftly told I had something on my spine.
I was transferred to another hospital, where the same day I had a 5 hour operation to remove a huge blood clot.

I was told before the operation that what was on my spine could be blood, or a benign or malignant tumour. My blood ran cold when I heard the word tumour.

The operation was a success, in that it removed the blood, but I am still paralyzed.

Edited for typos

This post has been edited by keps: 17 January 2006 - 03:35 PM

[C6-JEN]

Hey all
I was left paralysed from C6 level on july 27th 2004.I was 19 at the time . I was out for a drive with my then boyfriend and his cousin, we hit a stretch of road with 2 cars in front who were driving incredibly slowly so he decided to over-take the two cars. We pulled out and sped up then the car infront of us decided to pull out. My boyfriend tried to brake but we clipped the opposite kerb and spun the car back across the road in front of the 2 cars and into a field. The car fell down a 5ft drop then proceeded to flip 2 or 3 times eventually stopping on its roof. I awoke to find myself upside down in the front passenger seat, with my boyfriend screaming at me to get out, when i couldnt move he and his cousin (both uninjured) pulled me from the car. I ended up spending 11 months in the southern general spinal unit in glasgow (brilliant place!). As for the boyfriend, he comes and goes as he pleases lol

Jen XXX

[sarah o]

after reading all of your experiences, i really feel like i asked for it with my accident.

i was camping all by myself in the Smokey mountains near the border of Georgia/North Carolina. pretty much the only thing i did that was smart in the whole thing was telling people that i was camping and when i planned to return to the cabin.

i spent one awesome night under the stars and woke up very blissful and happy to have a nice sunny day ahead of me to explore. i went down to the river, made some coffee, ate a snickers and took a few bong hits

i had my period so i had to wash my clothes in the river and left them on the rocks to dry. then i went up river (naked) looking for one of the many waterfalls that i had found on previous trips ~ and planned to move camp to be near one of them.

about an hour into my journey, i came along a really tall (turns out it was 100 feet) nice white cliff face. i was really into rockclimbing and unfortunately had a bit of skill and experience. went to the climbing gym every week and had done a bit of climbing in the states and in Thailand ~~~ but ALWAYS with a climbing partner and ropes !

well, i hadn't really planned on doing an official climb, i wasn't THAT stoned, but i was stupid enough to climb up the side of the cliff where there was lots of vegetation (roots and bushes) that you could use to pull yourself up.

i got safely up to about 90 feet where there was a wide ledge that you could just walk across that took me to the middle of the cliff-face, 10 feet from the top.

i did one of my new rockclimbing moves ~ without giving one single thought to the danger of it. i ended up with both hands on the top of the cliff, my feet in good footholds, but with absolutely nothing to pull myself up further. the top of the cliff was smooth, rounded and was covered in wet moss that came off on my hands. nothing sharp to grasp.

so i was holding on with just curved hands and this tiny muscle in my forearm. there was nothing i could do. the tiny muscle finally burned to the point of going numb ~ i realized for the first time that i was in a pretty bad situation. terror took over my heart and at the same instant, an Angel (or something?) came.

there is a long story to this, but the highlights: i fell.

i laid at the bottom of the cliff for 54 hours. no one looked for me until the next day when i didn't show up at the cabin. finally a search team went out 2 days later and they did find me. while i laid there, bloody, paralyzed and with a punctured lung, something literally said "you will be rescued. they will come up the river and you can't be seen from the river where you are laying now."

there was evidence that i had dragged myself 50 feet to the river from where i'd landed but i dunno how the heck i could have done that and i don't remember.

the temp had dropped to the 40's during the nights and the docs said that because i had no clothes, i was able to warm up with the sun ~ otherwise i would have died from hypothermia.

it took them 8 hours just to get me out of the mountains to a place where the helicopter waited. the vegetation was too dense for the heli where i was ~ i officially died 5 times while they rescued me. met Jesus and He kept helping me to find my body to come back to it, and helped me to WANT to come back.

the heli phoned ahead to the hospital in a small town in georgia ~ don't worry about preparing for us, they said, jane doe (they didn't know my name) won't be alive by the time we get there.

when i was cognizant enough, about a week later, a nurse leaned down and told me this story: when i arrived i didn't even look human. blood and mud covered a horrifically swollen body. they worked and worked to raise my temp enough to get my blood out and into a machine that would warm it up. it was so cold it wouldn't even register on the thermometer. after an hour the team of docs gathered outside the room and collectively decided they had done all they could do and would just have to let me go.

this nurse went and got HAIRDRIERS and wet towels and saved my life by blowdrying me !!!

BELIEVE IN MIRACLES !!!!!!!!

[sarah o]

oh yeah, i forgot to get to the point: my t-4 was smushed to one-third it's normal size ~ bone fragments from t-4 and t-3 went into my spinal cord. they said my spinal cord was bruised.

[Kaani]

Hi everyone..
well i got my injury T-9 level while i was in the army..
its been 3 and a half years and its been a rough going.. bedsores and stuff.. UTI n all.. problem here is tht we dun have much of knowledge about spinal injuries in pakistan and not any full fledge rehab centres.. so its pretty much on ur own tht u got to do everything..

this forum really helps though i spend hours reading stuff n learning..
good luck all..

[sjean423]

I broke my back (T7-8) sledding with the kids in The grandparents back yard. I was on one of thos blowup snow tubes, lost control and veered off the course, right into a tree. Luckily my sister in law, a nurse, was there and wouldn't let anyone move me, called for an ambulance right away. It just goes to show, it doesn't take anything that seems "dangerous" .....

[Jodie Lynn]

Hey all you guys I am Jodie, I am 28 will soon be 29 in may I am a T-7 incomplete , I was in an automobile accident May of last year I was taking my daughter to the hospital to get her checked out and on the way to the hospital which was only about 16 miles away, something went wrong with the truck I was driving the rear axle broke some how it sent us flying over a forty foot revene threw me out on the third flip my daughter went out the back glass on the fourth flipp but thank God she just recieved a couple of scratches, I broke my back at the T-7 veretebrate, my left femur twice my right knee and all the ribs on my right side I am trying hard to recover from this and still raise my daughter at the same time I am able to walk using what I call my walking stciks and am slowing getting back my bowel and bladder so I would love to hear from all of you, and make some new friends I live in a little town in Missouri so there are not to many people around here who know exactly what I am dealing with..... So feel free to contact me at anytime....






Jodie

[dom]

Hi chris -and everybody
I have'nt even told my parents what REALLY happened to me cos of embarrasment
in dec 2001 i was working as an english teacher in Slovakia the real reason i was there was bcos i had a long time girlfriend,the job was poorly paid but i was provided with a flat
It was on the first floor, at the time i was having money problems and generally depressed cos i wanted to marry her and come back to England ,i'd had enough of the hours and poor recompense
Anywas her nephew said he had some weed to smoke , i had'nt smoked pot since my college days [20 yrs ago] even then only once or twice in the evening i had a joint and smoked it straight off
We wentout to go to the centre of town as soon as i hit the fresh air i felt light headed and EXTRMELY paranoid everybody was milling around he tram stop speaking their language i understood parts of it but it seemed as if they were threatening me
I ran back to the flat with my girl and nephew hot on my tail, we went up to my flat and they were asking me what was wrong? i said 'leave me alone in peace' but they were obviously concerned
my nephew went to make some strong coffee but i just had to get out as i felt i was being interrogated by a secret society
i ran headfirst for the window and what seemed like an eternit y spun through the air in the dark finally landing on concrete on my back
the pain was excrutiating , i lay on my back fully awake but wondering what had happened my girlfriend joined me and pleaded with me not to get up, i nearly did but seemed to come to my senses of what the reality was
apparently i passed out and after an hour the ambulance came and i was taken to hospital -three wks there and flown back to England to have my op on new yrs eve
i have L1 incomplete and can walk but b/b problems, a year later i went out there again and married my girl
we are still both together and happy
I know i was stupid and will never try that again but then i have probably risked worse things [driving too fast etc] and got away with it its easy to look back and say 'what if '
good luck and god bless all of you dom

[lilbit]

Hey, all, Im new, and enjoy this sight alot.. I used to race Harley Davidsons
in Alaska at the Palmer race way.. After the race we partied with a truck
full of crushed ice, lots of beer, can & bottles. I had to drive the Butte Rd.
lots of sharp corners, the optical aloution of the turn looked like the raod
was straight, so at 65 mph I hit my face on a sign, never letting go of my bike
I slamed into a colvert, face down, my fellow driver pulled me out of water.
in two hours for paramedics arived from Anchorage.. I spent 6 month in Anchorage
and 3 month of rehab. at the Washington university. I am a T-7-11 woman
My accident happened at age 19, 1982. I am a mother of 1 son age 20 yr. now and
I am 43 yr. old, 44 in July.. I still love to take spins on Harleys when offered.
I remember after my wreck I bought a tryk with VW engine so I had reverse.
Then I got me a couple dogs to pull me around in my chair, huh! I even made the
Enquire news paper, with my dogs in North Pole Alaska. I also went and got flight
instuction in New Hamphere, I made the front page of the Union Letter news paper.
I worked at the manchester air services, with my 1 yr. old son at the time, I think I was 23.

its amazing the things we can do but just might take time and a little help.
so go and make a challange work in our favor.. Sometime living out loud is a good thing.

lilbit

[In The Wind]

Oh yea, a Mountain bike.
Silly little log pile, normally nothing at all,
I got a little tangled up and ended up doing a complete flip and landing square on my head (yes, I was wearing a helmet and full body armor) , I don’t remember anything past getting tangled up in the handlebars, I just woke up on the ground next to my bike unable to move. Luckily I was with my girlfriend and one of her cousins, the next guy down the trail was a doctor with a cell phone… still took 2 hours for the ambulance to get to me (we were at land between the lakes in Kentucky), no helicopter due to the hail that started as soon as I crashed….
C-5 C-7 Incomplete, decent sensation most of the way down, left side toes wiggle..

[Lucky]

Jon-Paul’s experience.

It was May 4th 2003 and my girl friend Alison and I were on our way to Manchester from our home in Newark, Nott’s to spend the night before catching a plane to Mexico for our first holiday abroad together. We arrived at the Marriott hotel and parked our car for the 2 weeks we would be gone. We had a great time at the hotel where we swam in the pool, sat in the sauna and steam room and also had a few minutes on the sun beds. We ate dinner, had a few drinks and went to our room for an early night, ready for the flight at 9.15 am.

Alison and I awoke and jumped on our transfer to the airport. We boarded the plane where we were to spend the next 10 hours until the plane touched down in Cancun, Mexico.

We were there! 2 weeks of all inclusive Caribbean paradise. Over the first 5 days, we went on water sport days, snorkelling adventures and trips to the markets as well as beach sports and lazy days around the pool and beech. But it was day 6 that I was really looking forward to!

We both awoke nice and early as we had booked for an all day sea fishing trip to try and catch sail fish and barracuda. We arrived at 7ish and were sailing out to sea by 8. It was a brilliant day, apart from Alison being sea sick the whole time. We were there with 2 other couples, both from the U.S and between us we caught many fish including sail fish, tuna and almost barracuda but the time had reached about 4pm and it was time to head back for shore. Alison and I had a sleep that late afternoon and didn’t go for dinner until about 8ish.

After dinner we went to the shack on the beech where drinks were free all day and night and most people from the complex spent their evenings. We had a couple drinks and then got talking to a nice couple from Kent that we met the night before and another couple that they had met too. Our intentions were to go back for an early night but we all got chatting and decided to stay out. Then I had the bright idea of getting our shorts on and having a dip in the sea, which we did.

The next thing I new was awaking in hospital very heavily sedated with drugs and in a right state staring at my mum. I was in a neck brace and connected to a number of drips, fighting the doctors and trying to get out, so much that they had to tie my arms to the bed. For the next 2 days I would repeatedly fall asleep and awake having the most horrific nightmares, not knowing wether it was night or day. I came round after a couple of days and was moved from the intensive care unit to my own little box room with no window, just a bed, chair and mini bathroom. My mum, as well as Alison, my sister Emmeline and Alison’s mum Delia were there with me. They had flown out from the U.K as soon as they had been told what had happened. Alison had called my mother and handed the phone to one the main surgeons, Dr Carrillo. He told my mum that I had dived into the sea and hit the bottom, breaking my neck and drowning. He also said that he needed permission to operate as my brain had swelled and I needed to have my chest drained and I had a collapsed lung and that I wouldn’t make it to Miami. My mum said do what-ever it takes but just keep him alive. The doctor said he couldn’t guarantee anything which put my mother into despair. I also caught pneumonia which I believe to be quite common with an accident of this nature. Because the hospital never had a spinal table, I was operated on lying on my back. They took a piece of bone from my left hip and placed it in my neck, next to the place it had broken (which I later learned to be C4-C5). All I can remember of the rest of my time in Mexico is not seeing the light of day for a further 7 days and slipping into those horrible dreams again.

Although being completely paralysed with just some slight arm movement my spirits were high and it didn’t occur to me what was to follow. I just couldn’t wait to get home, have a week in hospital and go carp fishing for a week until I had to return to work…..as a steel erector!! (Yeah right). My hands had really swelled up and although I had hardly any movement, I could feel everywhere on my body when touched. That was the reason why I kept quite calm I believe. 2 years previous my good friend and steel erection partner Jake had been involved in a fall whilst we worked and broke his back, completely paralysing him from the chest down.

I remember thinking how I would not be able to cope like he had, but here I was now in a similar situation, spooky. For the rest of my time in Mexico, I would eat melon, jelly and soup and drink apple juice. It was also a shock having to be cleaned all over by the tiny little Mexican women who worked there. Having been there 4 days, measures were put into place for me to be flown back to the U.K to receive proper treatment from a spinal unit, which was later to be decided on the Northern General (Sheffield). Luckily, we had good insurance which would later pay for the £16,000 surgery and £30,000 for the private plane home. Although they charged Alison £600 for the C.T scans and refused to operate until it was paid. Later everyone had a whip round for the 3 pints of blood I lost.

The day came for me and my girl friend to be flown home and we said our good byes to all the doctors and nurses to who we had become so attached. A group of 3 American doctors came to escort me to the airport and would stay with me until I reached the Northern General hospital.

The flight home seemed to take forever, stopping at Long Island and St Johns to refuel. I was given as much valum as I wanted but it never really kicked in.

Here I was, the Osborne building of the Northern General hospital. Alison and I were greeted by a whole bunch of nurses which clean me up and moved me to the H.D.U (high dependency unit). It felt really good to be back in the U.K even if I was still 50 miles from home. The others were still in Mexico waiting for the next flight home and my dad was on his way to Sheffield.

Later that day I would be visited by a man named Mr McClelland, a consultant at the hospital. He was to confirm that I had incompletely broken my neck at C4-C5 level and then told me something that I was not expecting, I was likely to spend the next 6-12 months at the hospital and the first 3 of them on “bed rest”. My heart sank, I wasn’t expecting that. That was the moment reality kicked in and the thoughts of never walking again started going through my mind, not very nice, I can tell you. But like I said before, I knew I could feel the whole of my body and that was the reason from that point on, there would never be another doubt in my mind. I was going to walk again and no one was going to tell me otherwise.

My first night was really weird, I never slept and I was starting to get to know the tiled ceiling very well, making strange faces out of the dints and the textures of each polystyrene tile.

Morning came and it was to be the first of many hectic starts to the day on Osborne 1. I was to be added to a routine of waking at 7am for medication and suppositories, followed by breakfast at 8. Then between 8.30 and 10.30am would be bed bath time, which if carried out by the female nurses wouldn’t be so bad. But it wasn’t always the female nurses and that’s when I started to feel my dignity go out of the window. A physiotherapist came to see me later that day to start a routine which I was to do 6 days a week for the next 3 months. It consisted of him passively moving my arms and legs, to stop me seizing up for when I eventually got out of bed. I was later moved from the H.D.U to a bed in one of the bays. Over the next few days, I had to go for C.T and M.R.I scans at another part of the hospital to try to get a picture of the extent of the damage. I used to like those “trips” out in the ambulance, they used to break up the day.

It wasn’t long before I met Ravi, another top consultant at the spinal unit. He told me in more detail what the surgeons in Mexico had done and how a metal halo would have been used if I had been in the U.K, but I wasn’t about to moan. They saved my life and in a third world country, that was good going. I was told I would stay in bed and they would keep monitoring my bones to make sure they were fusing o.k. So that was that, the start of the waiting game.

Over the next few days, my friends and family started to trickle in, a little surprised as I think I looked some what better than what they had expected. I was very fortunate that the only pain I experienced was the pain in my hands. They hurt bad, so bad that I couldn’t bare to touch anything apart from my own skin, so I rested them on my chest for the whole time. Every Monday and Friday would be the days for “ward round” when the consultants and various doctors would test my strength and stick pins all over my body to see how much sensation I had and if it was improving.

About 4 weeks into my time there, a new patient was moved to the bed next to me. His name was Ray, he was about 30 and he had been involved in an R.T.A (road traffic accident). A deer had run out in front of his motor bike and he hit it full on, knocking him from his bike. He might have had a lucky escape if it wasn’t for his mate who then ran over him, breaking his back quite high up. Our parents introduced us both and although I couldn’t see him we talked and got on well together.

It was also about this far in that I started to move my first muscle. It was my inside left groin and over the next week or so it just got stronger. Then the whole of my left leg slowly returned, not drastically but enough to see it move through the bed sheets and later enough for me to completely raise it from the bed for a split second. My family, Alison and I were over the moon, this gave us all great hope. But my right side was lagging and well behind my left side, only flickering and really weak. By this time I was worrying about my hands, everything seemed to be coming back slowly apart from my hands, which were still in immense pain. But when I asked the consultants if they would get better, they said the same thing as always, “nobody knows, we’ll just have to wait and see”. It was the same when I asked if I would ever walk again, “We can’t say”, but I knew that they knew and just wouldn’t like to say.

While on bed rest, I struggled to eat and completely lost my appetite. I would eat hardly any hospital food and the food my family would bring me wouldn’t get much of a look either. I went from a healthy 11 and a half stones to 9 and a half. I looked very unhealthy and because of the bed rest, my muscles had started to waste too. I never drank enough either and was repeatedly told that unless I did, I would get a urine infection and they were not nice. About 9-10 weeks had past and it was ward round time again. In came Mr McClelland and his entourage. They pin tested my body and then requested to look at my hands. The consultant gripped my wrist so that I didn’t cheat and asked me to grip. My left index finger started to twitch, I was a very happy man. After that my hands would slowly get a little better each time they were tested. But as always there was a spanner to be thrown into the works.

I made a visit to the ground floor one morning for some x-rays and when the images came back, they showed that the bone which had been removed from my hip was not fusing as it should be. The consultants told me that they thought I had an infection in my neck, some sort of fluid which was stopping the bones from fusing together properly. If this was the case, they told me that I may have needed surgery to fix my neck with metal but this posed 2 big problems as well me requiring more bed rest. While opening me back up, I could get an infection from the foreign body that would be used. Also, the surgeon who would of carried the operation out was worried that he was going to need to get so close to the spinal cord, that any movement I had got back could be lost if they nicked the cord.

They decided that I must go for a biopsy. This would involve me being placed under the C.T scanner so that the specialist could see the syringe head on the monitor and inserting it through the front of my neck and taking 2 samples of fluid from around the fusion area. Brilliant, all I needed, but I suppose it had to be done. So the following week, I had the biopsy. It didn’t hurt as such but was quite uncomfortable and nerve racking.

When the tests came back, they said they still weren’t sure if it was an infection or not, and put me on a course of antibiotics with more x-rays.

About 12 weeks had passed and the time I had been waiting for had come, I was about to be “racked up”, which meant gradually being raised, a few degrees at a time in my bed. At first I was only racked a few degrees but even that was enough for me to feel slightly dizzy and that I could fall from the bed. Over the following few days I would be racked enough to see a whole new ward. Over 3 months staring at the same ceiling is very boring and at last I could see the window, the walls and even better, the other patients. Still rather dizzy, I asked to face Ray in the bed next to me, the man I had been talking to for months without seeing. He looked different to what I expected but I knew he would. That was quite an experience. After 10-15 minutes I had to lay back flat as I had a chronic pain in my left arm, a pain which I was to have for quite some time. I was told it was a nerve pain and it would slowly go. I could now also see the nurse’s station where the 24 hour noises would come from and the old git in front of me who never slept and did nothing but moan, moan, moan. He used to shout at me in the night and ask if I was awake. “I am now Jim” I used to say. I could also see the bloke who used to grind his teeth so bad, I would have to be moved for fear of going insane.

I awoke one morning to find a wheel chair at the bottom of my bed. It was a massive chrome thing which must have weighed a ton. The time was coming for me to leave my bed. 13 weeks of waiting and now it had come, I wanted to stay in my bed. But the following day, 5 or 6 nurses ripped the curtains apart and brought in a hoist which would carefully lift me from my bed and place me into my wheelchair. After 10 – 15 minutes I was in the chair, and I have never felt so ill in the whole of my life. I was hot and immensely dizzy, feeling very sick, so the ward manager tilted me back onto the bed. That felt so much better. But I had to lie down again so I went back to bed.

It wasn’t until about another week that I would be able to tolerate staying in the chair for some time. I used to push my self around with my left leg going backwards.

It was also time for me to start going down stairs to start my more intense physio and occupational therapy (O.T). On my first visit to physio, I was strapped onto a flat bed which tilted from horizontal to vertical that would prepare me for my first stand.

I was then hoisted to a bed and all of the physio’s came over. They told me I was going to stand, which I wasn’t ready for. They took me under my arms and after the count of 3, they lifted. I was stood, it felt brilliant, and then they asked if I was o.k? Before I could say yes, I started to pass out and they quickly layed me flat to control my blood pressure.

Over the next couple of weeks I was preparing to be moved to Osborne 3, the rehab ward. This would come as a big shock. Leaving the bunch of nurses that I had become so attached and used to would be hard but it had to be done. The porters came in one Sunday and started to clear my bed and I was to follow. It seemed so quiet on this ward and I didn’t like it from word go.

My first night had come and I was feeling so so ill. It turned out that I had developed my first urine infection, I was so fed up. That was the first time since the accident that I cried, but I felt better after. The reason I got that urine infection was because I had just had my catheter taken out, and that stung a little too. Having the catheter in for so long made my bladder shrink and would cause it not to function properly and it was going to take some time to train it to work again, that’s if it would work again! I drank like crazy and that night had my first proper wee for months, although I was lying down. O. T started around this time too. This was an hour a day concentrating mainly on my hand function and transfers from beds and cars as well as cooking etc. that is also where I started to get into computing which I rate highly and passes so much of my time.
The time in physio had come for me to be put between the parallel bars. Most of the therapists were watching as was the other patients which made me a little nervous, but I was helped out of the wheel chair and slowly started to walk off, gripping the rails with every thing I had. That was amazing and felt unreal. After that day, I walked with support from the physio’s and eventually got a walking frame and after I’d mastered that, crutches, but I could still only walk a few yards very nervously and shaky.

One day, me and some other patients gat the opportunity to go out for the day and test out some hand bikes. The trip to Rotherham felt so weird, away from the safety and understanding of the hospital and being out in the public seemed so strange too. But over the next couple of months I would make steady progress at every day things like feeding myself, getting dressed in the mornings and brushing my own teeth which was something of a blessing. Also things like using the toilet and getting in and out of bed was something I started to do on my own. I was getting back, a lot of my independence and it felt good.

5 months on and I was about ready for a home visit, so my girlfriend picked me up one Saturday and we made the trip back to Newark. 5 months away from home was a long time and to see my house for the first time was unbelievable. The saying “there’s no place like home” is absolutely correct and it felt good to be back, even if it was for the week-end. I very cautiously tackled the stairs that night and my first night in my own bed was wonderful, but before I knew it I was back at the hospital. Being in hospital had only 1 plus, it would make me give up smoking, but the night I went back I tried a cigarette through boredom and it nearly made me sick, so sick I had to sleep it off.

After a few more home visits the consultants said whenever I was ready to go home for good, all I had to do was say. So I did, and 1 Friday I packed my bags, said my good byes and got the hell out of there, only to return for check ups

Exactly 1 year on from leaving hospital and I can walk round a super market or to the local shop and back (a good 700-800 yards). I have a new car (auto) and get out quite a bit, although alcohol really tires me out and stops me from walking. My bladders not far from being normal but I still need my fletchers. I have a splint for my right foot as it drops quite a bit. And I take every day as it comes and although some days are crap!

Most days aren’t too bad.

Written 1 1/2 years ago....

[4estGimp]

I was 16 years old and riding my motorcycle home at about 11PM. A 14 year old in a full sized pickup was stealing watermelons. He had his headlights out and ran a stop sign. I T'ed into the truck at 60mph. The sick irony? The truck was a Dodge. T5-T6 were crushed 20-30% and my spinal cord was "pulped" as the Dr. put it. Somehow I've been getting very slow regeneration over the past 21 years.

[linda]

Hello all I am new, I too foun this site while looking for spinal cord injury info. My daughter has a C5 spinal cord injury she was born with hers. Because it is not common for a person to be born with such a injury the doctors thaught she had Cerebral Palsy. When she was 8 years old they then told me they thaught she had a congenital spinal cord injury and proceded to do testing. The testing confirmed she had a c5 injury. The doctors never explained to me that ther was such a thing as a complete and incomplete. My daughter is now 20years old, I just found out two years ago that some people have complete injurys and others have incomplete. I found this while looking up info as to why she has full feeling in all her extremities. I was always told that she shoulnt have feeling in all her body parts. Is there any one who can explaine to me why she has full feeling? why she has full controle over her bladder and bowals? Does all this have to do with the complete or incomplete thing? Thanks a bunch to those who can help!

[John Anderson]

Car accident...


Going to a party 2 days before my freshman home coming game. Driving across the intersection, someone on the cell phone decided to try and catch his red light. He didn't make it, and ran right into me. I was driving at the speed limit, he was driving over 30 miles over the speed limit.

That was 2 days before homecoming game....I played QB on the Varsity level, so I didn't play cuz I was in the hospital, and our replacement QB lost us the game, till this day I feel like it's my fault that we lost the homecoming game....

[tripleexpansion]

I fell asleep at the wheel

car went straight ahead at the corner Hit a power pole and burst into flames. they estimated my speed at about 140 km per hour that's about 85 miles an hour. My foot must have gone down on the gas when I fell asleep. It was on a country Road. I had had a couple of drinks and smoked a bit of weed but I was not over the limit luckily, although I do have to pay off the power pole destroyed which is costing me about $8,000.

the moral of the story is don't work to jobs at onceand try and keep up your social life at the same time.

once I had my accident my girlfriend of eight years was really supportive for the first few weeks and then she took off to England because she couldn't handle it. initially,that was harder to deal with than the accident itself.


this guy pulled me out of the car and I haven't spoken to him yet, although it turns out that I actually know the person.luckily I didn't get burnt! I spoke to someone who spoke to the guy that rescued me after my accident and it brought back bad memories, that's why I haven't contacted him. It's been just over 12 months now and I am c6 complete.

luckily I didn't hurt anyone but myself.

I still seem to be getting some movement back so I'm sceptical about my diagnosis being complete.

stem cell research (nose stem cells) is not illegal in New Zealand and are registered for a pilot program starting next year which is free so all keep you all posted.

[THERESSA]

Guest, on Oct 7 2005, 12:08 PM, said:

Hi Kris

No need to be embarrassed, you sound like me. I had always done stupid things after a drink but nothing that seriously damaged me until I decided to dive into a lake at midnight in December, without checking that it was only knee deep. Broke my neck c5/6 - worst hangover I've ever had

I need to speak with you more... You're injury is the exact same as my brothers. He recently dove off a dock into 3ft of water, drunk, 2am and as a result is a C5/C6 quad. This only happened July 2/06 and right now am scared as hell for him and feel like I could die.

Hearing more of your story could help more than you know.

Theressa

[THERESSA]

In The Wind, on Apr 22 2006, 04:07 PM, said:

Oh yea, a Mountain bike.
Silly little log pile, normally nothing at all,
I got a little tangled up and ended up doing a complete flip and landing square on my head (yes, I was wearing a helmet and full body armor) , I don’t remember anything past getting tangled up in the handlebars, I just woke up on the ground next to my bike unable to move. Luckily I was with my girlfriend and one of her cousins, the next guy down the trail was a doctor with a cell phone… still took 2 hours for the ambulance to get to me (we were at land between the lakes in Kentucky), no helicopter due to the hail that started as soon as I crashed….
C-5 C-7 Incomplete, decent sensation most of the way down, left side toes wiggle..

Hi.. I need to hear more in terms of your mobility (if you wish to share...) It sounds like you have an awsome attitude and your story coud really help me. Also how long were you in ICU? treac?

[Lucky]

onion, on Aug 4 2006, 04:52 AM, said:

August 1969 my husband dove into a four foot pool. He didn't have anything to drink, no drugs, he was just hot. He had a beautiful, hot, lavaish wife (me) and a 1 year old son and 10 day old daughter. He fractured and dislocated c-5/c-6. He fought to hold his breath as he was completly paralyzed under water. He surrendered and took that big gulp of water. He said it was very peaceful, calm, and there was a beautiful light.

Funny, I seem to remember the same thing, Even though it was dark out side. A flash of light, complete paralasis and very peaceful. Maybe we were just about to enter the gates of......?
Then dragged out and heart to heart, mouth to mouth etc.

[MelissaB]

Lucky/Onion,
My husband was injured (c5-6) in a similar way. We were at the beach getting ready to go home and he went in to clean the sand off of himself. I thought he was playing around when he was floating there. Thank god our friend, Doran, was like no, melissa he needs help. He saved Stephens life.
But Stephen says he had the same experience with the light. He says he tried to hold his breathe for as long as he could but then he couldn't any more. And he saw light.
Thankfully people on the beach that day were more capable than I was and performed CPR and he regained consciousness on the sand. I was freaking out and couldn't stop crying.
But I'll never forget seeing him pulled from the water, he was so blue.
It'll be a year in two weeks since he was hurt so I 've been thinking a lot about that day lately.
Melissa

[John Anderson]

MelissaB, on Aug 8 2006, 07:22 AM, said:

Lucky/Onion,
My husband was injured (c5-6) in a similar way. We were at the beach getting ready to go home and he went in to clean the sand off of himself. I thought he was playing around when he was floating there. Thank god our friend, Doran, was like no, melissa he needs help. He saved Stephens life.
But Stephen says he had the same experience with the light. He says he tried to hold his breathe for as long as he could but then he couldn't any more. And he saw light.
Thankfully people on the beach that day were more capable than I was and performed CPR and he regained consciousness on the sand. I was freaking out and couldn't stop crying.
But I'll never forget seeing him pulled from the water, he was so blue.
It'll be a year in two weeks since he was hurt so I 've been thinking a lot about that day lately.
Melissa

I don't remember much about the accident, I do remember looking at the car coming right at me. After that, it was all a blur...but I do remember seeing that light, and remember that I was very interested in looking and finding out what it was. The my mother showed up right along side of me. (She passed away from cancer a year before my accident) She told me, "John...I love you, but you can't go towards the light, not yet. Remember what you promise me. Now wake up, honey, wake up, and I'll see you in your dreams tonight." Next thing I know, I got my ex looking right at me and was about to say those darn words...

[cat lover]

Hey, Kris I have just joined this site. I was in a motorcycle wreck March 03, 2003. I am a C-5. I type really slow by using a pencil, eracer side down, in my wrist brace. Looking forward to chating with everyone.

Donna(cat lover)

[~!*Sunshine*!~]

Hey everyone! I remember some of you from other sites where I've wrote about my accident, but figured I would post it here just in case others were interested.

My story starts after a local beauty pageant less than 3 weeks before my senior year. A good friend of mine bummed about losing said the only thing she was doing the rest of the night was driving around and drinking. I knew without hesitation that it was my job to make sure nothing went wrong. Earlier that year a very close friend and classmate had a horrible car wreck and didn’t survive and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something fatal was gonna happen to this good friend now wanting to drink and drive. Why I had that feeling I don’t know, but thankfully the night/early morning went by with only minor problems. When we woke later that morning I drove my friends back to their parked cars and came back home to get ready for work. At about 4 o’clock I decided to head out but after starting my car and turning on the air I headed back inside for a quick drink of ice water giving the car time to cool down. On the way back out the door my stepsister yelled the usual, “Yeah! Get outta here and never come back!” Neither of us realized that 7 miles down the road those words come dangerously close to be reality. My boss was also a good family friend and hated me driving the narrow, windy roads but living in rural northern Missouri there is no way to avoid them. Cruising along singing along with the music I popped of a steep hill and the next thing I remember is opening my eyes to a broken windshield with a hay bale on it and thinking, “Ok...where did that come from cause I know I’m not in a field.” Within seconds I heard an older man asking someone if they were alright and another man yelled that he was perfectly fine but wasn’t sure about the person in the car. Instantly my thoughts went from questioning the hay to “Person...car... Why is there blood dripping down my face? Oh crap! That’s me!” The older gentleman opened my passenger door and slide in and began explaining that there had been a wreck with my car (a Subaru SVX) and a full-size pick up pulling a trailer of big round hay bales stacked two wide and one row in the middle on top. The roads aren't wide enough so the farmers always hang over the yellow line and never give it a second thought- that's just the way it's done and for some reason they aren't required to strap the bales down either. (About a year later I found out that when we caught our front wheels it bent my axle back which pulled me into the truck and trailer where the impact sent the top bale flying onto the top of my car and crushing my c-5.) My questioning of hay and broken windshield were now answered but then he started asking questions that made me wonder even more. After removing my sunglasses he explained that the blood was coming from a small cut on the top of my mind and then asked me to move my legs. I tried but had no success and he quickly suggested that it may be due to them being somewhat pinned in and said, “Ok, now try moving your arms Hun.” I strained with everything I had and managed to flop my arm from my lap onto the arm rest. He yelled for his wife to call 911 and to tell them to hurry and I began thinking about the situation and making my own assessment of damage. I honestly believed that I had broken both my arms and legs which was why my arms looked like Jell-o when I moved them (the affects of shock caused the Jell-o look I guess). “Ok, I can handle this. I’ll just be in a body cast for a while. No big deal.” Living in a rural community I knew everyone on the ambulance crew and we had a typical conversation about their kids/my friends and how they were doing while the Jaws of Life cut me out and waiting for the Life Flight to arrive. The volunteer firefighter that cut me out had a very attractive backside so that part was pleasant. (Sorry couldn’t help myself lol)After arriving in the ER things got crazy. I remember a nurse asking if it was ok if a good friend could come in since no family had arrived yet and said that was fine. The good family friend I worked for and standing above me (she had called my cell and my dad told her I was being flown to a hospital) and although I knew she was holding my hand I couldn’t feel it, but that’s not what got me- it was that she was crying (she was a very emotionally strong person) that made me think that is may be a lot more serious than I thought. Somehow I had remained calm this whole time with my only complaint being the stupid hard board hurting the back of my head, but when the neurosurgeon looked down at me and said, “Now Tonya we need to get you into surgery right away. You need to realize this is extremely serious and even if you make it through surgery you will never move or feel below your injury.” With the doctor’s words slapped in my face I replied with a simple “Ok,” and felt a couple tears roll down my face. I spent the next week and a half in ICU where I had more visitors and gifts than the had ever seen and even made the tough doctor that was always very negative cry because he was so amazed by my improvement and attitude. His head nurse later told me that I was the only patient he had ever talked or wrote about in a positive way. Even though I had come to realize neither my legs or arms were broken I still believed I would be walking out of that hospital and into my dream senior year of high school. I was only the second SCI patient my therapists had ever had and the first one refused to even get out of bed or try anything so they were definitely glad I was more than ready to get up and start working on my buffiness. I was released on October 1st, but not before modeling my Homecoming dress, earring and bracelet from my main rehab doc, and a feather boa to hide my neck brace that the other rehab doc gave me. Of course the look wouldn’t be complete without a stylish updo and french tip nails. Being that I was the only patient under 50 I got a little bit spoiled by everyone, but they were so excited about it I just went with the flow. Needless to say, as happy as I was to make it home before my senior Homecoming it was actually hard to leave and I started to wonder if I was really ready. Now 2 years after my accident I realize that there is nothing that can be said or done to fully prepare a person with a SCI to go back into reality, but with a positive attitude and a strong support system your life will move on just not in the way you had always planned. I’m currently getting ready to head back to college for my second year. Although there are bad days where I get frustrated with not being able to run wild with my friends the good in my life definitely outweighs the bad. I told a friend during a late night convo just days before my accident that I had a huge amount of respect for people with disabilities cause there was no way I could handle being in a chair for even a short period of time. Just goes to prove that God never give you more than you can handle, sometimes you just don’t realize you just don’t realize what you’re made of.

Keep On Keepin' On~
~!*Sunshine*!~