Interview with Natalie and Melissa

“Life is very precious and you don't know when it's going to be taken away from you.”

Natalie: Daughter who has a TBI

Melissa: Mother

Please tell me about yourself.

Natalie: I am 23 years old and I work at a coffee shop. 

Melissa: She went back to work limited hours, about 6-10 hours on the weekends. She had just started her college semester when she had her car accident but she is not in school right now. 

If you feel comfortable, could you please tell me the nature of your injury and how was it caused?

Melissa: When she had the car accident (January 19, 2024), she doesn’t remember anything about that day. We knew it happened in front of this girl’s house. Natalie reached out to her to ask some more in depth questions regarding what the scenario was when Natalie was found. It was amazing, if anything about this is amazing, that it happened in front of this girl’s house because her dad and brother are both firefighters. The girl heard the crash and ran outside to the car. At this point, people were starting to stop and wanting to pull Natalie out of the car. But, Natalie was really pinned in and the dashboard was in her lap. There was no pulling her out as she had to be cut out. The girl said that Natalie was not responding but she was gurgling. Then, the girl asked Natalie if she knew Jesus and Natalie nodded yes. So, she started praying with Natalie until the paramedics arrived and the helicopter landed in the middle of the highway. She was flown to another city nearby.

In the beginning, her vitals were amazing and the doctors said they did not see a life threatening situation. Natalie was put in an induced coma because her right foot was crushed, had a broken femur, a broken hip, her head was gashed open, and her left pinky finger was almost ripped off (which was luckily salvaged). The first 2 days she was having surgeries but on the third day, we found out she had a brain injury. We didn't know this in the beginning because of all the surgeries Natalie was having. When we found this out it was really scary because she wasn't really responding. They tried to taper off the drugs she was on for the coma to see if she would respond to anything and she wouldn't. On the fifth day, we got a phone call that she was responding and stuck her tongue out on command. But that very night, she aspirated. I get very emotional talking about this part because once she aspirated, everything went downhill from there. She got pneumonia and then developed MRSA in the lungs (which is staph infection in the lungs). And then the next day, we were told she has ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) which result in your organs shutting down because your body is in such distress. Her lungs were filled up with fluid. It was such a dire situation. I don't think the doctors knew what to do. Natalie’s case became critical and they were scrambling to decide what to do. On the seventh day, I called our church to ask if we could put a prayer meeting together and on the eighth day we all met. I have a cousin, who used to be a nurse, who said that she needs an ID (infectious disease) doctor. And I didn’t really know what that was. So, I went to the nurses and asked if Natalie has an ID doctor. It looked like the nurse's blood drained from her face after I asked and responded by barely nodding her head and said, “we are doing everything we can for her.”

A couple days later, a man named Mario pulled me to the side and became a pivotal part of our story. He had just moved to this hospital days prior to Natalie’s accident. He worked for several years on an ECMO unit which is a machine that supports the function of the heart and lungs. It pumps the blood out of the body, oxygenates it, and returns it to the body which provides time for the lungs to heal. He said that he is trying to get Natalie a bed in an ECMO unit because that is what she needs. This machine was not present in our hospital but Natalie was too critical to fly. So, this man had connections and flew 2 helicopters to our hospital, bringing the medical team and the machine which is unheard of! The surgery went well and then had her flown to a bigger city where she was still in a coma. When she got there, she was 1-on-1 with her nurse where Natalie was watched very carefully. A couple days after she got there, Natalie went septic because the staph infection went into her blood which was just another scary thing we had to deal with. The doctors tried to give her an antibiotic but Natalie was resistant which led to them giving her a bunch of different medications until they found the right one. After a couple of days, the infection moved out of the blood and she got better. She was still in a coma at this point (26 days total). Mid february, her eyes started to open and she responded to the doctors with a thumbs up and a peace sign! But, when she first woke up, one eye was straight and the other eye was looking sideways. I came to find out that she could hear me but couldn’t see which lasted 3-4 days.

She slowly began to get better from this point. All this time, she did not have the surgery on her foot because they decided it was the least of their worries at the time. Thus, her foot was healing in an external fixator. And they could not do an MRI on her brain until all the metal in her foot was removed. So, the day after her foot surgery they were able to do an MRI. They said there was a little bit of a brain bleed but it was definitely healing itself. But, she was still kind of staring into space, kind of there but not completely. She eventually started to come around and come out of that state. Her eyes started tracking and one thing led to another in the positive direction. Once she left the ECMO unit, she went to trauma ICU and was only there for 5 days. From there, she went to a step down unit where she actually developed a blood clot in her left leg at the cannulation site from where the ECMO machine was hooked up. After administering medication, the clot began to dissolve itself. On March 16, Natalie was able to leave the hospital. 

After the hospital, she went to a neurorehabilitation centre for 10 days. The doctors categorized her as “too high-level” for the clinic so it was decided that Natalie needed more physical therapy rather than brain injury therapy. She didn’t physically look like she had a brain injury but it was miraculous because she had a moderate-severe DAI (diffuse axonal injury) which causes the fibres in the brain to separate. I was just so shocked at her recovery. She left this rehabilitation centre and went to another clinic where she was there for about one month and received great physical therapy. She was able to learn to walk again and came home on April 27th using a walker. She started physical therapy in our hometown and a couple months ago, she was released from therapy!

Could you expand on the characterics of your brain injury?

Melissa: I didn’t even realize at first that concussions were related to brian injuries until she got her brain injury! Natalie had a concussion that was ranked moderate to severe. And her brain injury was on the side of her head, behind her ear.

Natalie: And that’s the crazy part about a brain injury because the doctors didn’t know what the outcome would be, especially because it was moderate-severe. So, there was a high chance I would not be in the state I am in now.

Melissa: And I asked if they could tell me what to expect from the brain injury. The doctors explained that she may not wake up. And then they said that if and when she does, she could possibly suffer deficits. Natalie does suffer from short term memory loss. When she first started recollecting information, she thought she was still in highschool! She wanted to Facetime friends she wasn’t really friends with anymore. It did take her a little while to get where she needed to be, cognitively speaking. But the doctors started working with her memory games. 

Could you share some of the other symptoms you experienced from your injury?

Natalie: It was my mainly short term memory that they had to work on with me. They did little memory games with me to see if I could memorize a design, for example. 

Melissa: When she first relearning how to walk, she would take a couple steps and feel quite tired. But, she was lying in the hospital for months which is why it took a little while to gain her endurance back. She was probably walking confidently again after a couple of months. 

Natalie: Also, the left leg (the femur I broke) has a rod in it and it is actually a little bit longer than my right leg. 

Melissa: Her body is not even anymore. When she is standing up, one knee is significantly lower than the other. But at the end of the day, she has both legs and she can walk!

What routines, habits, or practices have helped you manage your symptoms and stay resilient?

Natalie: Exercising for my physical health has been helpful. I didn’t know if I could still do physical activity anymore but I came to find out I can for the most part. For the cognitive side, I read whether that's my Bible or a Devotional. My memory is back for the most part. I do have to write stuff down in my notes right away to make sure I don’t forget something.

Melissa: When she was really trying to work on her memory we found that the crossword puzzles were really helpful. 

Around the time of your injury, how much do you remember?

Natalie: I remember the night before my car accident vaguely but the month leading up to my accident is very faint. Even the Christmas before I barely remember. The day of the car accident I do not remember at all. My first memory after the accident wasn't until approximately March 10th. I don’t remember waking up from the coma.

Melisa: When she woke up, she kept telling me this story that she was trafficked. And I didn’t really know how to respond so I just let her tell the story. We came to the realization that when she was in the coma, I think Natalie thought she was being trafficked. In the coma, she could possibly hear people talking, she had restraints on and had the metal on her foot so she thought she was tied down. 

Natalie: During the coma, it was scary and I had nightmares. It was very uncomfortable.

What is the biggest difference before and after your accident?

Melissa: My answer would be her memory. I will ask her questions and she will say she doesn’t remember, even if it was significant. Even some long term memory is a little blurry. But physically, Natalie was very active before. She was a cheerleader, she tumbled, danced and played soccer. She can no longer run.

Natalie: And I used to go to the gym a lot to work out and now I can’t do those same things. 

Melissa: She is also a slow walker but that is getting better. We were told that it would take 12-18 months for her to recover her walking ability and we aren’t at 18 months yet so she is still improving. 

Natalie: I have also noticed that I have matured a lot from this whole experience. A lot of things have happened that shouldn’t have happened and there are still no answers from a logical standpoint. 

Melissa: Yes, Natalie used to be a free spirit. Now, she stays home. She has her Bible study friends but her other friends have kind of disappeared as they don’t share much in common anymore.

Other than your mom, is there anyone else that has supported you through your journey?

Natalie: My older brother and a few friends I have from my bible study. And of course my mom!

What are some important insights you have gained during your recovery?

Melissa: From my perspective, she is a better daughter! She is a neatfreak now.

Natalie: Yes, I love to clean and everything has to be clean. I also used to have really bad anxiety and depression before the accident. Now, I do not deal with that anymore which is a really great change. 

I think my biggest takeaway is that life is very precious and you don't know when it's going to be taken away from you. I think that has been my biggest takeaway because I know realistically, I shouldn’t be here. 

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

Melissa: Natalie has her first speaking engagement coming up which is something we are excited for.

Natalie: Yes, it is a conference in our hometown. It’s called Pain to Purpose.