Sam's Recovery

Our son, Sam, was in a horrific dirt bike accident on August 7, 2014.  When we arrived at the hospital, we were unsure of his actual condition.  The first thing we were told was that Sam had suffered a fractured skull, which in turn would mean a severe brain injury.  Thankfully, the x-rays ruled out a fractured skull, although he has suffered from an injury called shearing.  “The jarring of the brain against the sides of the skull can cause shearing (tearing) of the internal lining, tissues, and blood vessels leading to internal bleeding, bruising, or swelling of the brain.”

 During the process of ruling out a fractured skull, we had come to find out that Sam’s left collarbone was broken, he had multiple broken ribs, his right lung was collapsed, his sternum was broken, his right wrist was fractured, and he has suffered a severe spinal cord injury. 

On August 8, 2014 within the 24-hour period, UC’s Neurological Spinal Team was able to operate on Sam’s spine.  Sam’s T2-T3/4 vertebrate suffered severe fractures.  Therefore, they had to add rods and bridges to Sam’s T1-T5 vertebrate.  In addition to the fractures, Sam also twisted his spine, which lead to the pinching of his spinal cord.  This means that although the spinal cord was not severed (which would mean definite paralysis) he did severely bruise his spinal cord.  The doctors are unsure as to whether or not Sam will ever walk again.  They stated it could takes several months up to a year or two before they will know the damage and whether or not Sam will get sensation back in his legs.  Therefore, until the good Lord blesses us Sam is now considered a Paraplegic.  We are remaining hopeful that Sam will in fact walk again.

Sam suffered from severe lung trauma.  On top of the collapsed lung, Sam now has what they call ARDS.  This stands for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.  Sam’s ARDS began to develop 3-4 days after his accident.  This was an up and down battle for Sam.  Sam has been on a ventilator since the first day, but in addition to that, they also added breathing treatments, Nitric Oxide, and Sam was on a rotoprone bed.  With today’s technology and knowledge, the survival rate of ARDS has increased.  On Sam’s 19th birthday, Sam went under for a tracheostomy, and although Sam is now off the ventilator, the trachea is still in due to his ARDS, which will be present in his lungs for roughly a year or so.    

On September 22, Sam was moved to the Daniel Drake Rehabilitation Center.  He is in the LTAC unit, Long Term Acute Care; this is where Sam will remain until he is healthy and strong enough to go to Health South.  Health South is a rehabilitation facility within Drake; they will help Sam with his traumatic brain injury and his spinal cord injury.  During the rehabilitation process, the TBI team will help Sam to relearn many things, such as, reading and writing.  In addition to the things we take for granted, Sam will also have to relearn many personal things.  The Spinal Cord Team, at the same time will be helping Sam to build his strength up so he can move himself from say his chair to a bed. 

This process is going to be a long road for Sam and we as his family are trying to make it as comfortable and easy as we can when Sam comes home.  My husband and I are very proud people, which is why writing this letter is so difficult.  I am hoping that your organization would be willing to help a family in need.  We are hoping to acquire enough supplies to modify our home enough for Sam’s needs.  We have had a lot of support from family and friends; however, modifying our home is financially turning out to be a bigger challenge than we were ever prepared for. 

Thank you,

Ami and Bryan Jordan

 You can either make donations directly through this website or they can be mailed to -

Ami Jordan
12610 Chesterville Rd.
Moores Hill, IN 47032

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