December 21
In the fall of 2012, my father was seriously injured while doing yard work in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. He fell off an extension ladder from the second story of my parent’s house. He was in-and-out of consciousness for about 30 minutes after the accident, and the initial prognosis after arriving at the ER was not good. Though my family was fortunate when we learned he was going to survive the accident, it was unclear if he would be able to walk again. The initial scans of his body did not clearly identify the complete extent and locations of the bones he likely broke. Seeing my father in the hospital, in pain, and knowing that he may not walk again was very difficult for me. There is still a little piece of me that sees him as I did when I was a little kid, as tough and indestructible.
I hoped that my dad would walk again. I hoped that he would some day be able to regain the active lifestyle that he and my mother so much enjoyed. I hoped that he would be able to run around the yard, ride Razor scooters, and play catch with my daughters, as he often did.
I found myself praying more often during this time and felt a tremendous amount of love from my St. Paul’s family.
We found that my father didn’t have any spinal injuries but did have a broken pelvis. After three months of therapy, he was able to walk again without crutches or a walker. To this day it is still amazing to me how he could fully recover and I am confident our faith helped pull us through.
There are so many things that I find consuming my thoughts, and things that I fret over, during day-to-day life. Most of these things truly aren’t important. This passed June, on Father’s Day, I walked with my father into a family brunch to celebrate the day, and in that instant, I re-learned how to appreciate the important things in life.
Mike Cooper
I hoped that my dad would walk again. I hoped that he would some day be able to regain the active lifestyle that he and my mother so much enjoyed. I hoped that he would be able to run around the yard, ride Razor scooters, and play catch with my daughters, as he often did.
I found myself praying more often during this time and felt a tremendous amount of love from my St. Paul’s family.
We found that my father didn’t have any spinal injuries but did have a broken pelvis. After three months of therapy, he was able to walk again without crutches or a walker. To this day it is still amazing to me how he could fully recover and I am confident our faith helped pull us through.
There are so many things that I find consuming my thoughts, and things that I fret over, during day-to-day life. Most of these things truly aren’t important. This passed June, on Father’s Day, I walked with my father into a family brunch to celebrate the day, and in that instant, I re-learned how to appreciate the important things in life.
Mike Cooper