Motorcycle Miracle Man
On July 17, 2011 my husband was involved in a head-on collision, while driving his motorcycle home from work. The vehicle that hit my husband, swerved over the center line when the driver fell asleep at the wheel causing the accident. I arrived at the accident scene just in time to get in the ambulance for the ride to Vanderbilt. He was placed in the Trauma Unit, where he spent a total of 11 days. He suffered a severe brain injury…and a few head/sinus fractures, and knee fracture. The first 4 days in the TICU were the hardest, and scariest. Not knowing if your husband is or isn’t going to ‘make it’ is horrifying. July 18th, marked our 2 year wedding anniversary. I spent that day crying, scared, praying, and surrounded by our wonderful friends and family. My husband spent that day in the hands of an amazing, God-sent, brain surgeon, Dr. Peter Konrad. He had emergency brain surgery and part of his skull was also removed at that time to allow the brain to swell as it needed. My husband was given a second chance at life and love on that day. Happy Anniversary to us. He doesn’t really remember any part of his stay in the Trauma Unit…but we do. We communicated with him through a yellow legal pad that he would write to us on…he couldn’t speak yet because of his trachea. He also had some palsy on his left side due to swelling. As the swelling went down, the palsy subsided. He was released from the Trauma Unit, and taken to Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital where he spent 2 weeks in various therapies. When we got to Stallworth he could barely walk, when we left Stallworth he was walking, feeding himself, talking, playing his guitar, among many other things. We have been back home since August 11, 2011 and attend outpatient therapies 2 or 3 days a week at Pi Beta Phi Rehab. He is doing great and well on his way to recovery. He is a talented musician, family man, animal lover, athlete, husband, son, brother, uncle, nephew, grandson, friend, and Miracle Man.
