Positivity: CHP officer home after 6 months of recovery
From Camarillo, California (story podcast is at link):
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Six months and 13 days after he was hit by an allegedly intoxicated driver, California Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Pedeferri returned home to begin a new chapter of his life.
Pedeferri was paralyzed from the chest down by the accident, which occurred while he was working on Highway 101 north of Ventura.
While he rode toward his Camarillo home Wednesday for the first time since the crash, dozens of his fellow motorcycle officers rode slowly in front of him, and he waved through the window of a van to about 40 cheering well-wishers, some of whom wore T-shirts and rubber bracelets bearing his name.
“We’re excited to have him back here,” said Officer Shawna Davison, a spokeswoman for the Ventura CHP. “There’s definitely a hole in this office without him.”
Until Wednesday, Pedeferri had not been home since Dec. 19, 2007.
That afternoon, he was standing on the right side of a car on the right shoulder of Highway 101 northbound near Faria Beach when a pickup truck slammed into the vehicle, killing its driver — Andres Parra, 21, of Phoenix — and launching Pedeferri at least 30 feet into a ditch on the side of the roadway.
The pickup’s driver, Jeremy White, 20, of Paso Robles, is awaiting trial on charges including gross vehicular manslaughter and causing injury while driving under the influence. He has pleaded not guilty.
Investigators were never able to determine if Pedeferri had stopped Parra’s vehicle or if he stopped to assist the young man, Davison said.
Pedeferri’s life was irrevocably changed by the accident, but his recovery has inspired relatives, friends and doctors.
Before the crash, Pedeferri was in top shape. At 36, he was a recent finisher of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii and an 11-year veteran of the CHP.
After the crash, he was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center, where he spent days fighting for his life.
After he was stabilized, Pedeferri spent weeks on a ventilator, had numerous procedures and battled collapsed lungs and staph infections, said his younger brother, Mark Pedeferri, 34.
“We’re all pretty confident that if he wasn’t in the shape he was, he wouldn’t have made it through,” said Mark Pedeferri, who chronicled his brother’s recovery in a blog.
Days at the hospital turned into seven weeks. Pedeferri then flew to Colorado, where he underwent intensive rehabilitation and therapy at Craig Hospital in Denver, which specializes in rehabilitating patients with spinal cord and brain injuries.
There, his recovery was amazing, said Dr. Gary Maerz, the physician who cared for him.
“Overall, Tony has done incredibly well,” Maerz said. “It’s hard to state the magnitude and the severity of the injuries that he had.”
Pedeferri’s spine was severed near the base of his neck. His brain and brain stem were injured, and he sustained trauma and fractures to his chest, lungs and his left shoulder, Maerz said.
In addition to leaving him paralyzed, these injuries were still affecting Pedeferri’s ability to breathe, talk, swallow and see when he arrived at Craig Hospital.
After months of intensive rehabilitation, Pedeferri’s lung function returned to near normal. He now has about 90 percent of his function back in his upper body, and he should recover 95 percent, Maerz said.
He is now able to speak, albeit in a raspy voice, and he can balance, eat his favorite foods — pizza and hamburgers — and manage his bodily functions.
Before Pedeferri left Craig Hospital, he was able to begin swimming, try out hand-powered bicycles and drive a specially modified car.
He even inspired Maerz to compete a few weeks ago in his first triathlon, the physician said.
Go here for the rest of the story.
