Todd, Mom, and I were returning from a two-day trip to North Carolina on September 23rd. That morning, we had decided to take scenic Highway 64 in North Carolina that winds through the beautiful mountains and borders several waterfalls. We had already stopped to view two waterfalls and reached our third, Dry Falls. Dry Falls had two paths. One to view the top of the falls and the other to go behind the bottom of the falls. Todd wanted to view the top, and Mom and I wanted to view behind the falls.
Mom and I began our trek down the mountain trail that had several stairways along the path. Nearing the bottom of the mountain was a stairway that was wet from the waterfall and covered in leaves. Mom was wearing her cute little wedge sandals (the scenic route was an after-thought that morning on our way out), so I was turned on the stairs holding her hand and helping her navigate each step. (The following has been relayed to me because I do not remember it…)
My foot slipped off a step as I was turned and I fell backwards off the bottom of the stairway, bouncing my head off the side of the mountain and landing with my head on a large rock shaped liked a hatchet. My Mom got to me and grabbed me in her arms off the rock and began praying “God, please help us” over and over. And He did… the next person down the trail was a paramedic on vacation from Florida with his family. He took over attending to me while Mom retrieved Todd, who had already started down the trail. During about a 45-minute wait after the 911 call was placed, I was awake but noncoherent. Todd says he remembers thinking that he had lost me because I had a glazed look in my eyes, and I could not answer simple questions.
During the wait, Mom had taken off her jacket and used it to slow the bleeding from my head. Then two gentlemen coming down the trail stopped and asked if they could pray for me. Todd remembers them praying that God would show me that I would be okay. I kept asking “Where am I?” and “What is happening?” over and over. I still have no remembrance of these moments except a small flashback.
My first recollection came about an hour following the fall. I felt as if I were coming out of a tunnel in my mind. I remember such a wonderful presence of God in the center of my being. It is something I don’t think I will forget. I felt Him urging me to be calm, and I had peace that everything was okay. I came to awareness while looking into the face of an unknown paramedic and seeing blood covering my hand and on my Mom’s jacket. I knew at this point that something was wrong, but I didn’t know what had happened. Everything spoken to me was fuzzy and slow at first. One paramedic commented that I was like night and day. One minute, I was mentally gone and the next, I was answering questions and aware of my surroundings.
With awareness also came a lot of physical pain. My head felt like it weighed a ton! I remember being placed in a basket to get me up the mountain. While being stabilized and prepped in the ambulance, the paramedics were fist pumping as I continued to regain my memory and answer their questions correctly. I was given three shots of Zofran (for nausea) to prepare me for the winding roads to the nearest trauma hospital about 30 minutes away. I was so sleepy and in pain, but the paramedic riding in the back with me would not allow me to sleep and kept a steady conversation flowing…by the end of the ride, he knew all about my family, hometown, and life…lol! He radioed to the hospital that I was coming in with a “huge head hematoma”… it was a knot larger than a baseball on the back of my head. Todd and Mom followed the ambulance in our vehicle.
Once arriving at Angel Medical Center in Franklin, NC, there were two nurses and a doctor waiting for me at the doors. I was listed as high severity on my paperwork. They immediately began assessing me and had me situated comfortably by the time Todd could get access back into the ER. I can remember being so thankful because my nurse said I could doze off since they were watching me…I was so incredibly sleepy. Shortly after arriving, I was taken for a CT scan of my head and neck. Miraculously, the scan showed no bleeding within my brain AND no factures could be seen in my skull or neck! We truly believe that God performed a miracle on the trail that day. The paramedic riding in the back of the ambulance told me that they had been very concerned for a while. For my head to have hit rock not once, but twice, and to only have bleeding outside the brain and no fractures was amazing. Praise God!
Once we received the results of my scan, Todd began texting family the good news. In one text, he jokingly said to my Aunt Debbie that although my head was okay, I would never be able to play the piano again. For the record, I’ve never been a piano player! My Aunt responded so lovingly by saying, “That is okay, I will play it for her.”
My head wound was short, but deep, so it required stapling. The rest has been a period of recovery from the concussion, head wound, and initial bumps and bruises throughout my body. I’ve had several challenges with my eye muscles, vestibular system, and working memory. I have been so thankful for The Shepherd Center and their great care to get me functioning normally (or close to it) again. I have been in the care of a neurologist, nurse, and three therapists for different brain functions. They have been amazing, and I have made great strides according to them. I am hoping to be released soon after the New Year.
Since my head injury, I have heard several stories of head injuries that were so much worse and required months of hospital stays and therapies. And, I’ve heard stories of some falls that didn’t appear as critical as mine, yet the person sadly didn’t make it. I know that I truly have much in which to be grateful. I am thankful to Todd and Mom (who, to this day, do not like to speak of the event), family, and friends for prayers, calls, and food. My boss and work family have been so understanding and flexible with me. Most of all, I am so incredibly thankful to God for preserving my life on that mountain trail on Wednesday, September 23rd…a day I will not forget.
(The picture is the only picture taken while at Dry Falls…it was minutes before my accident.)