STARTED WITH A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT

Riding through the cold mountain air as the sun was setting is the last thing Clay remembers before seeing two stray horses inches from his front motorcycle tire. The resulting impact caused a spinal cord injury with quadriplegia, a condition that affected the use of his legs, arms and hands.

Rushed by AirMed to the University of Utah Hospital, he was semi-conscious and utterly overwhelmed by his situation. He didn't know if he would ever be able to work, spend time with his daughter, or enjoy the outdoors again.

LEARNING TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

Clay's doctors referred him to the Rehabilitation Center for comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation. He had to learn to do things differently, deal with the frustrations of learning to write left-handed, get dressed, and brush his teeth.

"My therapists at the Rehabilitation Center cared about me as a person," he recalls. "They were always finding ways to incorporate my personal interests into therapy. I learned new ways to tie fishhooks and hold my fishing pole. One evening my recreational therapist even drove me to see a motocross event, a sport that I love. I began to believe that I would one day be able to enjoy the outdoor activities that meant so much to me and my family."

Clay has a remarkable passion for life. He uses a wheelchair for mobility and he enjoys his job, plays rugby, rides a snowmobile, goes hunting, and prepares for national rock-crawling events and competitions. And, oh yes, he goes fishing.

Clay is the definition of recovery. When he arrived on Rehab, he had no movement below his neck. But as a patient, he did everything he needed to do to take control of his life again. He took all we had to offer and ran with it!
He now drives his car, he's raising his teenage daughter and has returned to work in the construction business.


Original Published Link STARTED WITH A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT

#AirMed, #ConstructionBusiness, #Motocross, #Quadriplegia, #Therapists #Orthopaedics

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breast Cancer Survivor Uses Her Experience to Help Other Women

Image
On a typical day at  Johns Hopkins Medical Imaging at Green Spring Station , patients coming in for imaging tests such as  MRIs ,  ultrasounds  and  mammograms have a comforting advocate available in the waiting room. Kate Pisano is a patient liaison — there to meet the needs of the patients by providing resources and support. With Kate’s smile and cheerful attitude, it’s not obvious that recently she too was a patient sitting in the waiting room confronting her own major health challenges. Two years ago Kate was fighting breast cancer and facing it alone as a single working mother of two teenaged sons. Months after a painful divorce, Kate noticed a lump in her breast while getting undressed. “I was afraid of what the lump might mean, so I waited several weeks before finally making an appointment with my doctor,” she said. That appointment led to a mammogram followed by a  biopsy . In April of 2012, Kate’s greatest fear was confirmed: She had breast cancer. “The diagnosis was a complet
Read more

Having pancreatic cancer a suspicious tumor on your pancreas

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=QDwctWY-DOQ Joseph “Cook” Edens III doesn’t let pancreatic cancer get in the way of living a full life. Edens was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent a Whipple procedure at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Unfortunately, a bout of pancreatitis returned, and in 2015, surgeon Christopher Wolfgang and his team performed a total pancreatectomy on Edens, removing his entire pancreas and spleen. The Arlington, Virginia, resident is now cancer-free and back to a busy lifestyle of work, sports and family time. About Johns Hopkins Pancreatic Cancer Care Having pancreatic cancer — or a suspicious tumor on your pancreas — is a frightening diagnosis. Johns Hopkins experts, some of the most experienced pancreatic specialists in the country, are working to dispel fear and create hope in patients with pancreatic disease. Pancreatic cancer, tumors and cysts are being treated with dramatic success at Johns Hopkins. The first step when dealing w
Read more

Howard's Weight Loss Journey

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfmgTU6L524 HOME››ABOUT LAHEY TEXT SIZE | SHARE | PRINT Howard's Story “I thank them for helping me get to where I’m at, and they keep telling me that it was all me doing the work. But, I know that if I wasn’t coming every two weeks to see them, I wouldn’t be this way.” They say timing is everything, and in April 2011, Howard Jardine was eager to change his life. Weighing in at 405 pounds, he decided it was finally time to join Lahey’s Medical Weight Loss program. Looking back, Howard says it was one of the best decisions he has ever made, as he found support from a team that encouraged and motivated him throughout his weight loss journey. At 405 pounds, Howard was the heaviest he had ever been, and the heaviest that he wanted to be. He was starting to feel the strain that the weight was causing on his relationship with his five-year-old daughter, and he didn’t want to miss out on her milestones. Howard’s mother was overweight and suffered a stroke a
Read more