Jeremy Kerr

My car accident occurred on March 2, 2001. I was 19 at the time and was full of energy and enjoying life to the fullest. Then I woke up and found out I was a T4-T5 para and that I also broke C5-C6 vertebrae and must wear a halo for nearly four months, all while doing physical and occupational therapy. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I knew God gave me a second chance for a reason, and I was determined to make the most out of my life regardless of if I was rolling around or walking.

The day before I was supposed to start my first physical therapy session, the nurses had a wound specialist look at my sacrum, and they determined I had a stage 4 wound, and it was about the size of a fist. So, they immediately put a wound vac on, which helps draw more blood flow to the area and increases the chances of the wound healing. Then I did physical and occupational therapy with a halo and a wound vac. I made the best of the situation and was able to make it through all my time while in rehab at Roger C Peace. I was able to go home about four months after my accident, and I continued to have a home health physical therapist come and a wound care nurse once a week. I had to sleep on an air mattress that the doctors at the hospital recommended, and finally, about a year later, my wound was healed.

After dealing with a wound of that size and spending a great deal of time laying in the bed, you constantly think about doing weight shifts and ensuring you're not dragging your rear end across anything too hard that avoid reopening the wound.

Let’s fast forward ten years after my accident. I was then a 911 dispatching supervisor at my local sheriff's office and getting ready for work when somehow I managed to fall out of my wheelchair, and later I realized I had reinjured my old stage 4 wound. I was told to go to the hospital twice a week for wound care. They tried the wound vac again for about six months, and I had to go to work and do everything with that stuck to me. I finally got tired of doing that and talked to a plastic surgeon about doing skin flap surgery. He was confident that he could get it healed up, and I would be less likely to have any more issues with it if I did my weight shifts every 30 minutes. So, I ended up going through with the surgery. I was in the hospital for a week, and then they sent me home, where I had to lay in a clinitron bed for eight weeks straight. That was the longest eight weeks of my life! I watched every season of “Scrubs” and “Friends.” I joke that my wife was the happiest she’s been in our marriage because I couldn’t destroy the house.

Finally, I was able to get up after eight weeks and went and saw the plastic surgeon, and he advised me that it looked great and that I don’t need to come back but to be sure to always do my weight shifts.

This coming March will make 20 years of living with an SCI, and I am thankful that I haven’t had any more wound issues. I just want to encourage all new and veterans to SCI to continue to do their weight shifts and to always check their skin to ensure nothing is breaking down because it can happen so fast! Also, if you notice a wound starting, go to a doctor immediately and stay off it as much as you can!

I can list a few more challenges that I had to overcome, but this was one of the toughest challenges to overcome twice. My advice is to never give up, stay positive even in the hard times of life, and keep rolling forward! God Bless!