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 Hometown:
Hudson, MA
Injury Date:
August 5, 2007
Diagnosis: C4-6 Complete
Justin's Story:
Many of us at one time or other make honest misjudgments
as part of the process of living. While most of
us are fortunate to escape any major far-reaching
consequences for our actions, for some of us there
is a higher price.
Justin, an affable young man who attends Boston’s
renowned Berkley College of Music, was excited to
enjoy a summer weekend that would turn out costing
him a great deal. He left his job early that day
anticipating a fun-filled weekend in New Hampshire
with friends. But when Justin arrived at the apartment
he was staying at for the weekend he was stunned
to find that he was locked out, so he went for the
patio door.
This would prove to be Justin’s first defining
life moment.
He then decided that he would climb down to their
second-floor balcony from the third floor. It seemed
like a reasonable idea at the time. Suddenly, however,
he lost his footing and fell into trouble. Justin
would essentially freefall three stories or about
22 feet before landing hard on his head and neck,
face-down. He broke his fourth and sixth vertebra
while shattering his fifth; crushed his jaw, right
cheekbone and sternum; collapsed a lung; and was
left with a gash in his head that now lay unconscious
in a pool of blood.
When he came to, he noticed his neck was out of
alignment and knew right then he had made an expensive
decision. After being rushed to a hospital in Dover,
he was airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock. It was
there Justin realized that he was completely paralyzed
having just minimal movement in his shoulders and
arms and no ability to move his hands. He then underwent
surgery to repair his shattered fifth cervical vertebra
and insert two metal rods in his back for spinal
support. He would also undergo 23 hours of steroid
treatment before waking to learn of the ordeal.
Justin’s second defining moment would take
place when he moved into Spaulding Rehabilitation.
Although his doctors gave the standard prognosis
that he would never walk again, it was during this
time that Justin met another soon to be client of
Journey Forward (Kevin Chambers). While in a support
group Kevin and his family reached out to Justin
and told him about Journey Forward and their unique
recovery program of intense exercise-based therapy
that was coming to the area.
Justin’s been with us since the start and
has seen significant improvements. His ultimate
desire is to once again be able to walk, but he
has immediate goals of gaining use of his hands
and then standing and transferring independently.
They say Justin shouldn’t have landed on his
head; that he should have landed legs first, which
would have avoided cervical injury. For some of
us there is, for reasons unknown to us, a higher
price that we pay for our actions. But with that,
there is also a greater payoff that awaits us.
We at Journey Forward look forward to seeing Justin
experience those rewards.
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