Hometown: Hopedale, MA
Injury Date: August 19, 2007
Diagnosis: C4-5 Complete



Kevin's Update:
We are just passed the One Year mark of participating in our program at Journey Forward, Kevin is becoming more independent every day. Before beginning Journey Forward, Kevin had very limited movement and severe pain in his shoulders, specifically the right side which further limited his function and mobility.

Barely able to operate his power wheelchair without assistance, Kevin has persevered through hard work and determination to overcome the limitations of his pain. Through active range of motion and resistance exercises, Kevin has seen a tremendous increase in function and strength.

Initially having only slight movement in his left arm and no movement in his right arm, Kevin is now able to perform a variety of upper body exercises that were thought impossible before, which include bicep curls, arm raises, arm cycle, and pull ups. Kevin can now also get into an elbows and knees position without pain, which is enabling him to work on shoulder strength and start assisting in the ability to roll over.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to ask others for help, and today Kevin is working toward the day that he doesn’t need as much assistance. Working on his core strength and coordination, Kevin is now able to perform a variety of balance and coordination exercises that have enabled him to be more independent. Not being able to operate a power chair is a thing of the past. Today Kevin is performing a variety of day to day tasks that were impossible before and are sometimes taken for granted. These tasks include feeding himself, turning on and off the TV and lights, opening doors and assisting in dressing himself.

The Journey Forward for Kevin is long, but he has done a great job since day one to stay positive and to always look forward toward his future. We look forward to helping him every step of the way. Over the next few months we will be working hard on all aspects of Kevin’s training to see the continued increase in his independence and in his overall strength and function.

Kevin's Story:
It was a warm summer night and Kevin was at a friend’s house when he decided to cool off by jumping in the pool to go for a swim. Kevin dove right in like he had done some many times before, but this time was different. Kevin hit the bottom of the pool and quickly realized that he couldn’t move. Kevin unable to move lay there face down in the water for a few minutes before passing out. Finally friends saw him and dragged him out of the pool, once he woke up he realized he was hurt and couldn’t move. When the EMT’s arrived Kevin realized he was in safe hands passed back out.

Kevin was immediately sent to the UMass Medical Center in Worchester, once there they ran a series of tests and concluded that Kevin broke his neck and needed to have surgery. Kevin and his family agreed to the surgery but they were told that after he wouldn’t have use of his arms or legs. After surgery the next 20 days were spent in the ICU where Kevin tried to recover from a collapsed lung, reoccurring fevers and water in his lungs.

Finally when Kevin was out of the ICU and started his rehabilitation, he was still very limited in what he could do because of weak shoulders and very low blood pressure. After nearly two months into rehab Kevin finally started seeing some results and started feeling better. Before Kevin was out of rehab his family realized that he needed to continue on working toward his recovery, and the place for him to do that was Journey Forward. Since starting with our program Kevin has regain strength and function in both of his arms and his overall nervous system activity has increase tremendously. We look forward to working with Kevin and his positive attitude toward his recovery.





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