Beyond the Sliding Doors | life after critical illness with Ryan Gibson

Show Notes

We invited Ryan and Sarah Gibson on the show for an inspiring talk about their experiences dealing with critical illness, rehabilitation, managing expectations and life after the intensive care unit.

Ryan's Story

On August 8th 2015, Ryan suffered a traumatic injury to his neck after diving into shallow water at Lake Hartwell. He broke his C7 vertebrae and suffered damaged to C6. He was paralyzed from the chest down and suffered loss of feeling/strength to parts of his hands and arms on impact. Ryan was rushed to the nearest trauma center where they quickly realigned his spine, and within a few short days gave him surgery to reconstruct the damage to his spine. His spinal chord was very badly bruised, and swollen but not severed. Meaning his injury is considered incomplete. Exactly one week after his surgery, he was transported back home to Atlanta to continue his care and begin rehab at The Shepherd Center.