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Tyler's Journey with a Spinal Cord Injury

Tyler is a 23 year old full-time student at the University of Memphis. On June 11, 2016, he was dropped out of a helicopter, resulting in 9 broken ribs, a broken sternum, a broken shoulder blade, and two broken vertebrae (T7&T8). One of the broken vertebrae cut into his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Tyler spent 3 weeks at the Shepherd's Center in Atlanta, receiving PT and OT ~4 times a day. They worked with him on regaining upper body strength and adapting to life in a wheelchair. He stated that the therapists at Shepherd Center were very positive about his condition and helped him keep an open mind about what was to come. The occupational therapists were significantly helpful by teaching him new ways to dress himself and brush his teeth. Tyler remains very physically fit and goes to the gym 3x a week with no adaptive equipment. He tries his best to live a normal lifestyle that is not centered around his disability. In my opinion, Tyler is an extraordinary Spinal Cord Injury case because he manages to stay positive and continue living his life as a student, brother, and son.  His long term goal is to regain some voluntary movement below his T8, and then continue receiving therapy and making progress from there. Although there is only a 5% chance of full recovery, he has faith that he will walk again one day. For now, his short term goals include maintaining a healthy lifestyle and finding new research options for SCI. I have learned through our study that spinal cord injuries can be very different based on where the injury occurred; however, the main goal of the occupational therapist and the client is to regain independence and maintain a fulfilling lifestyle. I think Tyler is doing a great job accomplishing this.

Comments

  1. MacyApril 24, 2017 at 11:34 AM

    Awesome post!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ValerieApril 24, 2017 at 11:39 AM

    Loved reading your perspective!

    ReplyDelete
  3. CaitlynApril 24, 2017 at 11:42 AM

    This is awesome and so inspiring!! I like that you underlined "and" in the sentence, "the main goal of the occupational therapist and the client is to regain independence and maintain a fulfilling lifestyle". That goes along with everything we've been learning in school. Having the same goal is so important!

    ReplyDelete

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