Imagine
being seventeen again, having your whole life ahead of you
and suddenly having your whole life change in an
instant. Samantha B., understands what that is
like. She was an active high school student when an
accident altered the rest of her life.
We asked Samantha about what happened:
I'm
nineteen now and I was in a car accident when I was
seventeen years old and I broke my neck and suffered
a C-4 spinal cord injury. When I woke up I was in
total shock. When someone tells you that you are
never going to walk again it's one of the worst
things that you can hear, ever - especially
when you are my age.
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Samantha
B., a young person who has been through so much but who has
so much to look forward to. |
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Samantha was rushed to the hospital in serious
condition. At times it didn't look good for
her.
I
don't remember being in the hospital initially. I literally died
five times. I remember one time there were people in the
room and their voices just started fading away and I was fading.
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The
worst of it passed and Samantha was soon transferred to
another hospital where she began her rehabilitation.
Then she came to Northeast Center for Special Care.
When
I first got here I was nervous because I thought I would be the
only young person but when I arrived at Northeast Center I was
on a unit with a lot of young folks and that helped me to
quickly adapt. The staff and friends I met here made me feel
very comfortable and that helped a lot.
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Samantha
enjoying some sun on the Northeast Center campus. |
Coming to an active, therapeutic community of people striving
to re-learn and re-gain abilities lost through injury and
seasoned professional therapists who share a common mission of
rehabilitation and recovery for the Resident-Neighbors they
work with, the effect of her new environment was positive for
Samantha.
I've
gotten my self-confidence back. I can use a computer. I have
Dragon-Dictate software and that helps me to control the PC. I
can also use a cell phone with an adaptive device. I've worked
hard in physical therapy; I use the tilt-table a lot with my
physical therapist. I've learned how to be independent
again.
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Rehabilitation and recovery naturally lead to reintegration in
the community and Samantha is making another
transition.
I
am going to move to an accessible apartment close to my
family. My community reentry case manager and I are
working to set-up the services I am going to need. I am
excited about going and a little bit nervous too so the first
thing I am going to so when I get home is just adjust.
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But
Samantha has goals and she plans on pursuing them once she
gets home.
I
don't want to go back to high school so I decided that I'm going
to get my GED and then I want to go to college. I'm going to
study landscape design, its something I am interested in, when I
was in high-school I worked in lawn care - I was good at weed
whacking and I mowed better than the guys! Like I said I
can use a computer with adaptive controls so this is a
possibility for me.
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Samantha
and unit staff members, Left to right: Rich Roman,
Recreation Aide, Erika Dennison, CNA, Sue Benson, CNA, Eric
Vedder, RN Nursing Supervisor, Samantha B., Sara
Bockelman, LPN, Adessa Fairly, LPN. |
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Going through so much at a young age Samantha is philosophical
and offers this comfort for people who may be going through
what she has experienced:
What
I would say to someone who has gone through an injury
like me is that you never really get used to having a
spinal cord injury. You feel sad for awhile and it
takes time to adjust to it but you can have a life,
you will still have feelings about what happened but
you can have a life.
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Finally we asked Samantha about her experience at Northeast
center for Special Care:
Northeast
Center is a place that can help you. My therapists
were great. Laura, my occupational therapist helped
me get the adaptive things that I needed to be more
independent and to learn to use them. She also helped
me with organizing my time and my therapies.
Laura was the person who got me to go the art
studio. I worked a lot with Diane in the art
studio painting. I have made Mandelas with
colored pencils on black paper - Paul who does assistive
technology modified an easel for me. Bill,
another therapist, helped me a lot with range of motion for my
arm. There are
a younger group of folks here and that makes a big
difference.
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Northeast Center for Special Care helps people like Samantha
every day. It is what we live to do. Our mission
drives us to assist our Resident-Neighbors to transition to
rewarding, full lives in their home communities.
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