"I knew something was off this morning. I could just feel it," Alice confessed to me as we sat in the waiting area of the ICU at Renown Hospital. "When he kissed me goodbye, I wanted to tell him not to go, but I was too wrapped up in my work." I clenched her hand tight. "It's Monday. He usually doesn't work on Mondays," she continued, "but there was a new guy starting and your father felt he had to be there. I wish I made him stay home." 

That day my family's lives changed in an instant. My father, Rod Burt, the nicest guy in the freaking world, suffered a life-changing injury while working. He fell, injured his spine and was paralyzed from the shoulders down. I'll never forget the panic we experienced as we called around to hospitals trying to find out where the ambulance was taking him after Alice, my father's fiancé, received a hysterical call from the other painters on the job. Taylor, my partner, works in crisis intervention and called REMSA directly, who put him in contact with emergency services in Storey county. They told him that they were transporting someone to the main Renown Hospital campus in Reno. 

"The guy who fell on the bedframe, right?" They asked Taylor. 

"Bedframe? What do you mean?" Taylor was confused. We thought for sure it must have been a fall from a ladder. 

"Yeah, we're transporting a guy who fell on a bed frame. It's the only ambulance heading down the mountain, so that's got to be him. We didn't get his name, though." 

There are no words to describe the emotions that go through your body when you arrive at a hospital after a loved one has had an accident and you aren't sure if the doctors or nurses even know his name. Luckily, I had beaten the ambulance to the hospital and the emergency teams were ready to receive him. They placed me alone in a stale gray room where I sat waiting for someone to come and deliver devastating news. Alice joined me once she arrived at the hospital and we held each other until a social worker came into the room and told us that they were admitting my father into the ICU. She was unable to give us any answers about the severity of his injuries. 

My sisters met us in the ICU waiting room where we sat and waited for what truly felt like an eternity hoping that a doctor or a nurse or someone would come to tell us how he was doing. We held each other and tried to talk each other through our feelings of grief and panic. Finally, they said we could come in to see him, but with the COVID-19 protocols, they were only allowing two people in at a time to visit. At my father's request, my sister, Ciara, and I went in first, after donning what felt like Darth Vader-style PPE. 

 

 

The sight of my father lying there in that hospital bed was devastating. I grabbed his hand and he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Are you holding my hand right now? I can't feel it." 

 

 

My father has been in the hospital since May 24th, 2021. On June 16th, they moved him to Craig Hospital  in Colorado, a facility that specializes in spinal cord injury rehabilitation. 

 

 

Luckily, Alice was able to accompany him to Colorado. She is still by his side and fighting for him to receive the best care at all times. I am eternally grateful to the universe that she has come into our lives. 

 

 

She and my father are so much in love. We kids joke that they are like little teenagers together, constantly giggling and canoodling. Their love has been so fun to watch grow. 

 

 

Despite my father's devastating injury, their love is strong and they are still constantly giggling whenever we FaceTime with them in Colorado. Thank god the angels have brought Alice into his life to help him smile and laugh through his recovery. 

 

 

We've been told that my father has a long road ahead of him in terms of his recovery. Even with the state-of-the-art therapy that he is receiving, we're looking at years of recovery. The doctors still are not positive how much of my father's mobility will return, in the end, but we are seeing some positive results. The other day when we were FaceTiming, he was able to turn his wrist and give me a thumbs-up. Little victories are huge for us right now. We all keep reminding each other that this is a marathon and not a race. We also keep reminding him that he is strong!  He's Batman! And hey, Batman even broke his back once and was able to recover. He's got this! 

 

 

We've been informed that my father will be at Craig Hospital until at least mid-October. He is fighting so hard to regain more and more independence each day. They have him in a cool wheelchair that he can control with his mouth and eyes (don't ask me how that works).

 

 

As my father prepares to return home, my family is faced with a whole new reality, especially for him and Alice. The funds donated to this campaign will be used to provide personal care services for my father, self care for Alice, travel expenses for family, intensive therapies, facilitating mental health care, and medical expenses.  We want my Dad to focus only on restoring his body and getting that guitar back in his hands so he can rock the stage again!