Neuro Note 4: Spinal Cord Injury

 

Groom Paralyzed Playing Football Walks Down The Aisle: Inside Chris Norton's Story (FULL) | PeopleTV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNhLZedi3-I

The effects of a spinal cord injury (SCI) can present itself many different ways depending on a variety of factors. While no 2 SCI's will appear to be exactly alike, we can sometimes suspect function based off the level of injury, as well as the nerve status of the lesion (complete or incomplete). Today I am going to be discussing the story of Chris Norton, an ambitious football star whose life was dramatically altered by the SCI he sustained while playing college football. His injury was a vertebrae fracture at level C3-C4, which typically indicates from a clinical standpoint, that the individual will be dependent not only for mobility tasks but also for nearly all ADL's. For Chris, his biggest concern was being able to walk again, yet the doctors told him he had only a 3% chance of any movement below his neck, therefore walking was not achievable. 5 weeks later Chris would swear he felt controlled movement over his toe, but the doctors assured him once again this was not possible, the feeling was simply nerve phantom pain. 

Chris knew he was not going to settle on the possibility that his hopes to walk would never come true, and instead he would request more and more rehabilitation therapy to practice his skills. Chris's second concern was how he would find a woman to spend his life with despite his condition. Soon after Chris met Emily, who was, from the start, extremely encouraging in Chris's goals and determinations. As soon as he told her his goal was to physically walk across his graduation stage, she spent many days assisting and motivating Chris in his therapy sessions. Not only did he accomplish this goal with cheers and praise from his fellow peers but he also walked 7 yards down the aisle on his and Emily's wedding day surrounded by his greatest support system, his friends and family. 

I chose this story to share because it highlights an individual's power over the mind, and also how you can never say never when it comes to SCI injuries. Chris's experience with doctors' expressing the clinical probabilities of his functional outcome really may have been his driving force to defy the odds! Not only has Chris proved so many people wrong by achieving these goals, but him and Emily are also foster parents to 5 children. 

Instead of this story focusing on Chris's acquired limitations, it highlights the way he adapted in spite of them. As a student pursuing a career in occupational therapy, this story spoke to me in terms of how to address individuals undergoing SCI's. I cannot personally say that I would tell a college aged boy with this injury that his chance to walk again is only 3%. This may be the optimistic OT side of me speaking but I believe it is very important to find a fine line in-between realistic and hopeful for all medical professionals! 

Interested in the Chris Norton Foundation? It helps thousands of individuals who have suffered from SCI's just like Chris. Here is the link: https://chrisnorton.org/foundation/

If you would like to learn more information about Chris Norton's story you can follow the citation below. 

People Magazine . (2018, April 26). Groom paralyzed playing FOOTBALL walks down The Aisle: INSIDE Chris Norton's Story (FULL) | PEOPLETV. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNhLZedi3-I.