I was in a razor wreck on August 11th, 2019. I was 13 years old and turned 14 in September with my halo on. I had a C1 and C2 fracture and an AO joint fracture, broke my ulnar styloid, had a 3rd degree burn on my wrist, a pulmonary contusion, cardiac contusion, concussion, brain bleed and traumatic brain injury. I was flown from the scene of the accident which my friend’s grandpas farm. A breathing tube was put down my throat and it was terrible. I remember having the tube the whole time and hated it. I had bruises all over my body and could have been much worse than I was. I started responding to my parents the night of the accident with thumbs up and squeezing of my hand. My mom says I was a trooper the whole time. Day two in the hospital, I had surgery and had a halo put on. This had to stay on for 12 weeks. This was the worst thing I had ever experienced in my life. Pin care had to be done daily and washing my hair was extremely painful and I hated when I had to have my hair washed. It was extremely difficult for me to sleep, but my mom and I figured the best position. My mom slept in a recliner bedside me as I slept on an air mattress in the living room for the entire 12 weeks. I was a trooper during the 12 weeks, but I was so ready to have the halo off!!! On November 7th, 2019 the halo came off!! From that day forward, my mom says I didn’t complain one word and started physical therapy at Elite. This was truly the light at the end of my tunnel! Everyone was so nice and encouraged me everyday and with every exercise rewarded me with excellent encouragement and talked about how much progress I was making. I knew Jamie Demonbreum, PT tech before I started therapy and I loved seeing her each time. She was so encouraging and treated me as a person, not a patient. Josh was amazing and I was so glad to have him as my therapist. I liked that he was a guy and we were able to have just normal conversation. Deborah taped me many visits and I loved seeing her as well. Honestly, I enjoyed therapy so much. When I started, the balance room was very difficult and at the end of therapy, Josh printed out the results of how much I had improved and it was so cool to see that on paper!!! I looked forward to going to Elite every visit and honestly they were the light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
