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Taylor had just finished his first semester of college and was on the road to a bright future in biomedical engineering. A terrible accident changed everything on his 19th Birthday. While riding an off-road vehicle in the woods of Northern Arizona, he lost control and crashed into a tree. The impact was devastating. Taylor suffered severe head trauma with numerous skull and facial fractures resulting in a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The impact also caused multiple broken bones, and the collapse of both lungs. The emergency care team had very low expectation for Taylor’s survival of this horrific accident. Life-Flight transported Taylor to Flagstaff Medical Center, where for two weeks in Trauma ICU Taylor’s life hung in the balance. When determined Taylor could survive being moved he was transported via helicopter to Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, where he spent the better part one year in the Neuro ICU. He has been fighting his way back every step of the way. |
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| It was explained by the medical and therapeautic teams that his recovery of fine-motor skills would not likely happen for years, if ever. But Taylor was able to move his arms and legs, which was a huge relief. Occupational therapists visited Taylor at his bedside to help him attempt some basic tasks. Four weeks after the accident, they helped him pull on his shoes, explaining again that over time he would need to re-learn to tie them. But Taylor reached for his laces, and to his therapist’s astonishment, continued to tie them perfectly and made even a double-bow. To this day, Taylor continues to amaze his caregivers, surgeons and therapists. Anyone who has worked with Taylor quickly sees his determination – and his sense-of-humor. | ||||
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His journey has been very tough, and very unstable. Just as he gained some ground, severe medical complications caused repeated set backs. Because of the extent of his facial and cranial fractures, it was extremely difficult to contain the fluids that surround and protected the brain. Taylor underwent three different neuro-surgeries to repair the fractures and safely re-confine his brain. After the neurosurgical repairs and some in-patient rehabilitation – came the next chapter: he would be released from the hospital. His condition was “stable” but he had lost approximately 60 lbs, was in a wheelchair, and had staples across his head from ear to ear from the last neurosurgery – which had just taken place one week prior. It was strongly recommended for Taylor to be placed in a nursing facility where he could receive constant medical care, and social workers had recommendations as to which ones were appropriate. But it would be ‘warehousing’ with a much greater nurse-to-patient ratio, more than any kind of rehabilitation. The chances of Taylor’s recovery in this environment were slim to none. At this point he still required major facial reconstruction to repair the jaw injuries – which left him without the ability to chew or swallow. All nourishment, water and medications that were not injectable were administered via feedings tube directly into his belly. Also, the brain injury jolted his endocrine system that controls all hormonal function and brain chemistry, which requires 24-hour monitoring and injections multiple times a day to regulate. Taylor’s dad, Ron, has his home in Flagstaff where Taylor grew up, but it was over two hours from the supervising hospital with zero therapies available for traumatic brain injury recovery. And his work is on the road 90% of the time. He had been out of work for the better part of that year to be with Taylor and money was running out. Both sides of the family live in Minnesota, but Taylor was far too unstable to make the trip at the time. Taylor’s mom, Lisa, was living in Los Alamos New Mexico at the time of the accident, where she held a science position at Los Alamos National Lab, and where Taylor graduated high school and attended the University. During Taylor’s stay in ICU she had boxed and moved their belongings into storage. Her career completely on hold; she napped in her car in the hospital’s parking lot or slept in cheap hotels to be by his side in ICU. Out of savings, her next move was almost impossible to see. Lisa became Taylor’s full-time sole caregiver and primary life line. The only road to recovery his dad could see, was for Taylor to move in with his mom near the hospital, and his dad did what he could to manage the additional financial burden. A home was rented for Lisa and Taylor so she could attend to his 24-hour medical needs. Outpatient therapy was limited and most often not prescribed at all due to his medical conditions, and the home gave Lisa a safe and appropriate environment to provided the therapies he needed, and the best possible recovery outcome. Lisa, a certified (volunteer) first responder since 1997, was also a certified yoga therapist. The rest she would have to learn. |
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Taylor is finally medically stable, but his baseline still requires 24-hour care. He takes all nourishment through a port in his belly, and will require extensive orthodontics as the last phase of his reconstruction in order to chew food and eat again. He is VERY looking forward to that! He is also legally blind as a result of his injuries, and will require extensive ‘transition to blindness’ training, likely for years to come. As of Sept. 2015, Lisa and Taylor are now in Minnesota. This brings them near family members, and most of all, offers additional State supported programs to augment Lisa’s efforts to help Taylor.
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