Michael was my very first grandbaby..His mother, my daughter, was only 3 months shy of her 17 th birthday when he was born...Her dad had signed for her to get married just 4 days after she turned 16
( against my wishes, that is another story)..Michael is 25 now so I was just 40 when he was born..He immediately stole my heart and changed my life..Donna(his mom) loved him with all her heart, but was still a child herself, married to another child..Michael stayed with me most of the time, because Donna and her husband were either living with us, or in a place that was not quite suitable..Michael grew into the funniest, most practical joking kid I have ever known..Fast forward 17 years..I now had 9 grandchildren of whom I was raising 5 of them off and on throughout their lives..Michael was living with his parents, because he knew that I knew that he was in with the wrong crowd and we had talked about it for a couple of months..So he moved back home, because his mom worked 12 hours a day, and his dad was bipolar and out of reality most of the time..So Michael had noone to answer to..He had a job with a lawn service company that hired mostly young boys with a drug habit who worked for cash...Michael was beginning to get into drugs, and drinking..One August Sunday evening in 2001 my h and a couple of grandchildren were in church..Suddenly the door burst open and my granddaughter is screaming "Mamaw, Michael drowned, the ambulance took him!" We rushed to the hospital just as they were unloading Michael..He had dived into a 4 foot above the ground pool..he was pretty well drunk..His head struck bottom and broke his c4,5 and 6 vertebra..He lay on the bottom for some time before his friends realized he was not playing..One boy did cpr while another called 911...He was air lifted to the Univ of Ky where he underwent immediate surgery to replace 2 of the vertebrae which were shattered and wired everything together for stability..They told us that his chance of survival was slim because he was on a respirator and had so many different infections, some that they could not identify..He was in an induced coma for three weeks..Finally after 7 weeks in ICU he was ready for a step down unit for several days before the rehab hospital..Michael was paralyzed from the neck down, his paralysis involves all four limbs so is classified as a quadraplegic..He is fortunate though to be able to move his shoulders arms and wrists, but hands and legs are useless..I don't want to seem like a fanatic or anything here, but Me, Michael and his Mom and others think that God has turned a tragedy into a blessing for Michael..We believe that God had plans for him..Michael never once complained about his disability or the trach tube he had for a year..As soon as he was home and stable he passed his GED test and signed on to college
He wants to be a psychologist, probably working with teens..It took him 4 years to get through the 2 year associates program, but he diligently put in 100%..He has learned to compensate for his not being able to use his hands like we do, and has taught himself to do many things that others in his position cannot accomplish..He got married last valentines day and we taught his wife the procedures she has to do for him..Michael is happy, well adjusted and has shown all of us who know him that you fall down, pick yourself up and move on without any regrets or blame ..
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Michaels Story
