A rehabilitation patient at Sunshine Coast University Hospital was met with a crowd of cheers when he walked out of hospital this week, after a bicycle accident left him paralysed earlier this year.
39-year-old father of two Chris Perry was told he might never walk again after breaking his C3 and C4 vertebrae.
“I was on my bike and the next minute I’m on the ground thinking what’s happened,” he said.
“I put it down to a light switch turning your whole body off – obviously I was in spinal shock.”
Determined as ever, when Chris arrived on our rehab ward in July, he focused on just trying to get 1% better each day.
“I didn’t want to set too big of goals - this was all new to me and I never knew anyone with a spinal cord injury,” he said.
“I didn’t know the path I was heading down so I didn’t want to set goals too far ahead of myself so I could never really get disappointed.”
He spent hours each day working with specialist staff, and slowly regained movement.
In early September, thanks to his sheer determination and assistance from Sunshine Coast Health staff, he took his first steps on his own.
“It’s been a long road with still a lot to go but I really can’t thank the team enough here down to the cleaners, the wardies, the nurses, the physios, the OTs, they take the time to get to know you and really buy into what you’re doing for your recovery,” he said.
“Their attitude towards myself and other patients, they’re always there to help and get you better, and they do it with a smile on their face.”
Occupational Therapist Morgan Cordwell said it was emotional to see how far Chris has come.
“We’ve been working really hard to get his upper limbs to be functional again so everything from those small little muscles moving to now Chris has been practicing his handwriting, dressing himself, tying his shoelaces and even practising his golf swing sometimes too so it’s been really great to see him progress from needing a lot of assistance with his self-care tasks to being completely independent again,” she said.
Physiotherapist Sheridan Armstrong agreed and said Chris has worked hard in the gym every day to get to this point.
“We go along the journey with our patients so we have the ups and downs with our patients, but he’s been a delight to work with and as you can tell his very positive attitude – 1% better every day – has helped us get through this journey with him.”
Chris will now continue his care through Sunshine Coast Health’s neurointensive rehabilitation program, where he will get to go home to his wife and two young children every night.
“My wife’s been my rock the whole time,” he said.