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Therapists help Jacksonboro man make recovery by Michael Baker Public Relations Almost a year later, Jason Mitchell still gets very quiet when speaking about his accident.  “It happened so quickly, it’s difficult to explain,” the 22-year-old said. “I don’t remember much of it, just a lot of darkness. I guess I don’t really like to talk about it.” Last year, during the Fourth of July weekend, Mitchell’s drive home ended tragically when a car swerved into his lane and struck his truck in a head-on collision. Mitchell was thrown from his vehicle, landing by the side of the road and losing consciousness. At the hospital, he found out that the truck had rolled on top of his right leg, pinning it underneath the vehicle. Mitchell’s injuries were so severe that doctors were forced to amputate his leg at the hip.  After the loss of his leg, combined with various fractures and a spinal injury that initially left him paralyzed below the shoulders, Mitchell faced a long, arduous road of therapy. Still, he tried to maintain a positive attitude. “I was definitely hopeful,” he said, “even though the whole situation was kind of a shock. I’d never even been in a hospital before, and I wanted to see myself get back into the right condition.” Even so, he lapsed into depression during his first month of therapy, sometimes feeling too despondent to start his daily exercises. Sara Kraft, his physical therapist at Charleston Memorial Hospital, explained that although Mitchell’s therapy would be very difficult, there was still a chance that he could walk again with the help of an artificial limb. “Once he heard that he really could get better, Jason couldn’t be stopped,” Kraft said. Likewise, Mitchell promised to do whatever it would take to get back on his feet. He was very weak at first, so Mitchell had to teach his body how to perform the fundamental tasks that many people take for granted. Kraft helped him work on things like sitting and standing. Mitchell received full return of his limbs after his spinal injury but lacked the ability to sit up or keep his balance. Sitting was especially painful for him, but he gradually developed the strength to sit in a pain-free position. He then worked on more complicated maneuvers, such as transferring himself from his bed to an electrically- powered wheelchair. “Jason adjusted to his therapy more quickly than other patients,” Kraft said. “Once he got going, he was fabulous.” Together, they worked on strengthening his left leg, and although he still used the wheelchair for most tasks, Mitchell was eventually able to walk short distances with the aid of a walker. Upon leaving Kraft’s care, he was walking 10 to 12 feet at a time. Mitchell’s unwavering determination throughout his therapy sessions left Kraft visibly impressed. “Jason is the kind of patient who makes my job so rewarding,” she said. Having made such remarkable progress, he was ready for the next step in his recovery. Working with MUSC physical therapist Bruce Reeves, Mitchell began to learn more complicated, strenuous movements. Reeves was especially pleased to see that the young man had committed himself to the therapy and had built a solid foundation for his continuing recovery. “Our biggest concern was increasing Jason’s range of motion and improving his standing balance,” Reeves recalled. Accordingly, he put Mitchell on a program to increase his strength and stamina.  First, during what Reeves calls the “boot camp” portion of physical therapy, the two men concentrated on Mitchell’s ability to move his biceps and shoulder muscles. Combining gentle movement and stretching exercises with weight training, Mitchell’s rigorous therapy sessions continued until he could use his injured arm again for most functional purposes. Next, the men worked together on stretching, moving, and strengthening the muscles in Mitchell’s leg. Eventually, Mitchell’s growing stamina allowed him to perform his exercises and weight lifting regimen for up to two hours at a time. But a little over three weeks into the new therapy, Reeves got an even bigger surprise. “Jason had been using the electric wheelchair for a while, although he was making good progress on his crutches,” Reeves said. “Then one day, he just showed up for therapy without the wheelchair, walking on crutches.” Mitchell’s stellar progress was encouraging to both Reeves and himself. However, he still had to face one of his more daunting obstacles: learning how to use his prosthetic leg.  Walking with a prosthetic leg is extremely difficult for someone with Mitchell’s injuries. Unlike patients who lose a portion of their leg and operate on a partial prosthesis, Mitchell had to control his entire leg using just the muscles in his hip and abdomen. Walking was suddenly very different from the process that had been second nature to him. The burden of relearning something that had once been so easy was not lost on Mitchell. “Yeah, it still got me down at times,” he recalled, “but Bruce explained what I needed to do to better myself, and I kept my head up.” Mitchell’s dogged persistence and positive outlook paid dividends. He gradually became more comfortable using the prosthesis and learned how to walk with it. In early May, he finished his work at MUSC and returned home to Jacksonboro for vocational rehabilitation. Mitchell often has to walk with a cane or crutches, but he still feels lucky. “Sometimes it’s hard,” he said, “but when I look back to see how things began for me, I’m proud that I did every step. I’m making it so far.”       Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. 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