Wes’ Road to Recovery

On Sunday, April 2nd, Wes was involved in a serious mountain biking accident. He was rushed to the ER and admitted to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center with an extensive list of injuries (see below). Doctors said he was extremely lucky; the most severe of all his injuries was a fracture of the C1 vertebra. This is a life-threatening, potentially fatal spinal cord injury, sometimes resulting in paralysis. In addition to multiple neck and back injuries, Wes suffered major damage to both hands/wrists. After undergoing major spinal surgery and multiple orthopedic surgeries to repair his hands, Wes spent a total of 11 days in the hospital. Even though he was initially set to transfer to an acute rehab facility, plans changed and he was sent home to begin the long, challenging journey to recovery.

Wes will be in a cervical collar and have casts on both hands/wrists for the next 3 months, but the healing process is expected to last at least a year. While some aspects and milestones of this process are well defined, other components remain uncertain (financially and otherwise), which is why we are asking for your support to help ensure that he has the resources necessary to try and make a full recovery.

Injury List:

- C1 arch fracture

- T2, T3, T4 transverse process fractures

- T2 and T4 vertebral fractures

- Manubrial fracture

- Left metacarpel dislocation- all fingers

- Left avulsion fracture of 5th metacarpel base

- Right 3rd and 5th metacarpel fracture

- Right 2nd, 3rd, 4th metacarpel dislocation

Surgeries:

-Cervical 1 laminectomy + occiput C1, C2, C3 bilateral arthodesis

-Closed reduction rignt metacarpel dislocation 
-Closed left carpometacarpel dislocation

-Left 2nd-4th open reduction and internal fixation

-Left 5th closed reduction and pinning carpometacarpel joint

-Right 2nd - 4th carpometacarpel closed reduction and pinning