[FULL STORY] Melissa Was Nearly Paralyzed After Car Accident in New Paltz; Garnet Health Patient

Video Transcription:
Sometimes I think about what my life would be like if I didn't break my neck and - I mean, nobody really wants to go through that, but I've learned to see the silver linings in a lot of things. So, a lot of good things did come out of it.
My best friend Jess - it was her 23rd birthday, so we all went out to New Paltz to celebrate. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and we all fell asleep and unfortunately the driver fell asleep too. We went off the road into the trees and the sound of my neck snapping is what woke me up.
I, at that point, couldn't feel my arms I was screaming to my friends that, ‘Guys. Help. I can't move my arms. I can't move my legs.’ So we all got out and sat at the side of the road. The ambulance came that's when they saw that it was actually a severe trauma and they got in touch with Dr. Oppenheim's team.
“She came into the hospital still able to move but with a very unstable fracture that threatened her. That if we didn't act and didn't act quickly she could have wound up just like Christopher Reeve. Quadriplegic - in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, but at Orange Regional Medical Center, we have the ability and the tools to be able to prevent that from happening to her.” - Jeffrey Oppenheim, MD
That's when I realized that it was an extremely risky operation. There was a lot of things in line. I could have been paralyzed. I could have not woken up from a surgery. But I trusted Dr. Oppenheim. He came in the room confident he came in there knowing what was going to happen he's told me he's done this a thousand times before.
“So, we took her to surgery, performed a fusion on her using micro surgery and the tools and the team that are available at Orange Regional Medical Center to provide this kind of critical life-saving work. By being able to do that we could return Melissa not only to the activities that she would enjoy - athletics and being able to be an active member of her community, but also allowed her to fulfill her dreams.” - Jeffrey Oppenheim, MD
So my mom has been a nurse here for 30-some odd years and obviously she wants the best care for me. She knew that Orange Regional was the best care. I realized that not everything was a big deal anymore so I found more pleasure in tinier things in my life.
So, I journal-ed for an hour every day and I would write down the incident over and over and over again because that's the way that you get over trauma is just desensitizing yourself to it. I did a lot of arts and crafts. I did a lot of coloring. I painted this little bottle of the Mohonk skyline. I read a lot of books. I wrote my friends letters and postcards once a month - just to let them know how I was doing. I played the guitar a lot. I went on a lot of walks around the park.
“Melissa's gonna now go on and work in the medical profession and get a degree and spent her life giving back. And that's a really deeply touching story. She is now going to be doing for other people what Orange Regional Medical Center in our community was able to do for her.”
Being a community hospital they had everything within their reach that I needed. They have the technology. They have the resources. They have the intelligence to do it all.
To learn more visit: www.ormc.org

[@soon.5776]

God bless anyone watching this video.

[@jessi10808]

Now I get to work with her she is which a happy soul.
Jessica