Tell me your best "They said (s)he'd never walk again and now (s)he does gymnastics!" story...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Some friends of mine have two beautiful, fit, athletic, active thrill-seeking sons.

In the way of fit, athletic, active, thrill-seeking boys throughout time and the world, one of them now finds himself in a hospital bed, struggling to breathe on his own, forget walking.

He’s 20, incredibly healthy and fit, (drug and alcohol free). He was hit on his motorcycle a week ago last Sunday. From all accounts he didn’t actually strike much of anything with his body except the pavement when he landed face down.

His brain, face, and limbs are fine.

He broke nearly every rib, including some right near the spine. He punctured his lungs. He has been on a ventilator the whole time, they finally determined that his left lung is simply not healing and continues to fill with fluid, and he has a staph infection which is now under better control, having been identified.

His back was broken, multiple vertebrae in multiple pieces. No feeling or movement below the waist. (C5). The doctors were not remotely hopeful based on the X-rays and MRI, but after doing surgery to repair the vertebrae they came back with a much cheerier outlook without in any way promising or guaranteeing anything. No visible damage to the cord directly, although it was white.

In the days since the surgery there has been no recorded change in nerve activity of any kind below the waist, but the focus hasn’t been there because of his struggles with his lungs.

I feel absolutely certain that the issues with the lungs will be overcome, whatever and how long it may take. He’s an incredibly healthy young man, his body will pull it together.

But the looming question is, of course: what are the chances that he will regain feeling and control over the parts of his body that are currently 100% paralyzed?

I keep thinking of Christopher Reeve, who managed, after ten years, to regain a tiny bit of sensation and control over a couple of fingers. This was stunning, given the severity and age of his injury. But it gives me hope, and this kid is only 10 days out and still in critical care.

So tell me the happy miracle stories. I totally know about the sad stories and how rare recovery of this kind of damage is, but I also know that it is NOT unheard of. It is NOT impossible. So I just want some detailed stories if you have any.

Thanks.

2

My cousin, an all-state track star, was in a car accident at 17 coming back from skiing with some friends. They pretty much said he would never walk again, his legs were broken in so many places.

He not only walks, he can play lots of running sports like soccer or Ultimate Frisbee, even though he will never be a track star again, he can run just fine. You wouldn’t even know it, to watch him, that he had ever been so severely injured.

ETA: as far as I know he did not have a spinal injury. Still, his prognosis for being out of a wheelchair, ever, was very poor at one time.

3

Stephanie Nielson, of nieniedialogues.com, was in a plane crash. Something like 90% of her body got third degree burns. She was in a coma for four months. There was no earthly reason for her to survive… but she did. She woke up and has had a boatload of surgeries, and now cares for her four children, writes her blog, and doesn’t even look too bad anymore. There’s unfortunately a lot of Mormon/conservative glurge on her blog, but it’s an amazing story.

Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy was hit by a garbage truck and one of her feet was de-gloved (exactly what it sounds like). IIRC, doctors weren’t sure she’d be able to keep the foot, or if she’d be able to walk on that foot. But she healed, and with the aid of a special boot, she walks just fine. Unfortunately, her blog is very sad to read right now because they were trying to adopt a baby girl and it fell through.

4

Orlando Bloom, who is almost always doing very physical roles in movies, broke his back at the age of twenty-one. He was paralyzed at first and the doctors weren’t sure whether he’d regain control of his lower body again. After eighteen months of rehabilitation and surgeries, he was walking again.

5

I’m very sorry to hear of your friends’ difficulties. I hope the son has a speedy and complete recovery.

Here is the story of Eric LeGrand: Eric LeGrand takes part in Rutgers Scarlet Knights-Army Black Knights coin toss - ESPN

He was paralyzed from the neck down last October during an Army-Rutgers game. Doctors were pretty certain he’d never breath on his own again.

Two weeks ago exactly (Nov 9), he spent an hour on a treadmill.

If you’re curious about the injury, knowing he’s progressing incredibly: - YouTube

6

It wasn’t a spinal injury, but a little over two years ago I had a nephew who was in a bad car wreck, his car flipped 3 or 4 times. Thanks to his seat belt and the air bag his body wasn’t badly injured, but his brain was scrambled. “Severe diffuse brain injury” was the verdict, and he was in a coma for a couple months. The doctors thought the most likely outcome was a persistent vegetative state, and even if he did ever wake up he likely would be functioning about like a toddler, maybe a six year old, probably wouldn’t speak coherently, would be incontinent, unable to walk, blah blah blah.

This fall he re-entered college. He’s maintaining a B average last I heard. It wasn’t a spinal injury, but it certainly was a tremendous insult to his central nervous system.

Which of course, doesn’t in any way make any promises for the young man mentioned in the OP. However, doctors frequently are pessimistic because, first of all, they’ve seen many horrible things and secondly, no one complains if the patient does better than expected. Just after an accident things may look quite dire indeed.

I hope the young man in the OP is one of the lucky ones.

7

Our own Santo Rugger.

Not spinal cord but still remarkable progress.

8

I’m involved in the local circus scene- and recently found out that one of the guys who runs the juggling club was actually paralysed down his left side for around a year- from what he said it was after an injury followed by botched surgery, and he was told at the time he might never regain much if any use of his arm, or I think leg. He was probably in his late 30s, early 40s at the time, from what I can make out.
You’d never know there was ever anything wrong now- and juggling is not something you can really do favouring one arm.

Hope your friend’s kid does as well.

9

My cousin’s daughter suffered a devastating brain injury along with lots of bodily trauma in a car wreck a couple of years ago. The family wasn’t given much hope for her short-term survival, much less her ability to function independently if she even survived. Today, she’s grousing on Facebook that she has no time off to come home for Thanksgiving. She works as an RN in South Carolina.

10

A friend of my husband’s was struck by a van at age 13 (or so), he was in a coma for several months. This isn’t a full recovery story - he ended up with some permanent brain damage. He’s physically uncoordinated and has gone from working out all the math behind his favorite video game to enjoying playing video games on easy mode.

However, he’s still recognizably himself and is enjoying life. Thanks to a large insurance payout he’s financially secure for the rest of his life and has purchased his own house and had an addition built. He’s taking some college classes, will probably be able to manage his own money after his mom passes on, and got married last year. Not everyone comes back 100%, but many people come back far enough to have a normal, happy life. So long as your friend’s brain is intact (and especially if he’s got the use of his arms and upper body), he’ll go on to have a job, a family, and a good life as he chooses.

A lot of people with drastic back injuries get back on their feet again. Even if he doesn’t, he’ll be okay.

11

You’re about as likely to hear a physician straight out say “He’ll never do X again” as you are to hear a doc “give” someone only X months to live (with cancer or whatever).

All physicians can do when asked is provide an average outlook based on clinical experience in a given situation. “Average” means there are outcomes that fall on both sides of the mean. There is so much individual variation and luck involved that it is difficult to predict outcomes with confidence; for that reason it is rare to hear dogmatic statements from health care providers, especially flat-out negative ones.

If it gives a patient motivation to mistakenly believe that doctors are writing him/her off and they are able to pull off an unexpected recovery, great. However cussedness and/or “a positive outlook” cannot overcome certain anatomic/physiologic realities.

Sorry for the partial digression, but this “they said (s)he’d never walk again and now look!” stuff pisses me off.

By the way, one of the patients we were caring for during my med school surgery rotation had suffered severe head trauma and was comatose with no good expectation she’d ever come out of it. On the last day of my rotation she regained consciousness, though incoherent and with seizure activity. Never did find out if she was able to recover from her serious brain injuries.

12

Not the same as spinal or brain injuries, but here it is, for what it’s worth.

Years ago, a buddy suffered a horrific industrial accident–essentially, his right leg from ankle to groin was ground down to next to nothing. There was massive blood loss, his muscles were gone, the knee was beyond repair. For a few months afterwards, we had no idea if he would survive; and if he did, amputation of what was left was recommended. But there was no amputation–the physicians decided to do what they could with the little that remained. He spent close to two years in hospital, going through various surgeries, skin grafts, reconstructions, and so on.

In the end, a steel pin replaced his leg bones; and while he has no knee and gymnastics are out of the question, he manages pretty well–he likes to walk (which he does with the help of a cane), he had the pedals on his car moved so he could operate it with his left foot, and he even re-learned how to ride a modified bike (the right pedal doesn’t move, he just rests his foot on it). And he, who was never very good with girls, even managed to meet a pretty young lady. They’ve been married for years now, and have a couple of children.

13

Not spinal injury but polio and I can’t find the name… Aussies, help!

I one watched a biopic of an Australian woman who had been left almost completely paralyzed by polio as a child; she started swimming to get greater body strength so she’d be able to do more than lie down in bed, ended up winning Olympic medals (and introducing tight swimsuits, the hussy!)

Trying to find her name led me to find out about Liz or Lis Hartel, a Dane who won two Olympic medals on dressage after losing the use of her legs to polio (contracted while pregnant with her second child - there aren’t enough eeks); she could walk with two canes but needed help getting on the saddle.

14

Sounds like Annette Kellerman. She invented synchronised swimming and one piece bathing suits for women.

15

Could be, given how long ago I watched the movie. Thank you.

16

Keep in mind that even when the physical problem remains, there are still impressive things a person can do.

That little girl in the second link is just amazing. I can’t imagine how hard that had to be for her family to get through, and yet she’s bouncing around on her blade legs now. Maybe not quite as dramatic as Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius, but still incredible.

17

My friend was about 28 when he was hit by a speeding car during a blizzard on Boxing Day and spent a few months in a coma. Let’s just say that while he was in that coma, if something could possibly go wrong it did. He had septicemia, his brain swelled, etc. and the doctors said that if he ever regained consciousness he’d be a “vegetable.” His legs were also broken in numerous places. Very long story short: one day he wheeled into my store in a wheelchair. Next time he had a walker. Next time he had a cane. Next time he was walking without any aid at all.

This was 16 years ago and today he’s FINE, except for a couple of hearing aids and the fact that he can’t work a “regular” job or go to night clubs (the strobe lights could induce a seizure.)

Apparently one day he visited the Trauma Unit at Sunnybrook Hospital (Toronto) where he spent all that time in a coma. The nurses were all, “Nobody ever WALKS back in here.” :slight_smile:

18

I got mugged at work. I went to the ER with a “depressed skull fracture with subdural hematoma”. A cop hung around the waiting room with my parents, partly because he was a friend of mine, but partly in case I woke up enough to give a deathbed testimony. I could have died. I could have been a vegetable. I could have been a cripple.

The doctors cut my head open, vacuumed the blood clots out of my brain, and put in a metal plate to hold the pieces of my skull together.

That was over a decade ago. I have a few extremely minor problems from the brain injury. (“Direction of attention”, the shrinks call it. I am a little more easily distracted than I used to be, and I have a little trouble multi-tasking.) But the busted thumb gives me more trouble than the busted skull.