One of those moments… Beginning of a paraplegic

It wasn’t but 5-6yrs ago, I’d wake out of bed and jump to my day until that one faithful day changed the worlds around my family and friends.

July 4th 2017 started out as a normal morning and day for me. We went to Medina Lake mid morning met up with some friends to enjoy the full waters of Medina Lake, boat rides, and tanning. Around 3pm my husband, 5yr old son, 4mos old baby boy and myself started packing up and leave, we wanted to make it to the Boerne Firework show. I’ve watched every year since I was a wee lil one.

As we were packing up, we were offered one last boat ride to see around the lake and watch our friends middle child jump off a famous cliff around these parts into the water. I’ve heard about this cliff, but never seen nor jumped off it myself and well I’m a bit of a thrill seeker, adrenaline junky, call me what you may. Anyhow, once we arrived to the cove, it was a happening spot at Medina lake, so many boats and people swimming, adults and kids jumping off different levels of this cliff thats about 30-35ft from the top to the water. My husband said he’d already done jumped it and was good, same said with my friend and even his son chickened out but I put a life vest on and swam over. I didn’t want us to have sailed over there for nothing. My husband, John, he said he’d be at the bottom waiting for me. I started to hike that cliff until, there was no more hiking, I had gone to the top. When I looked down, I started getting tunnel vision, “Boy this is a heck of a lot higher up from up here than from the looks of it down there!” I thought to myself. I peeked down again and heard John yell, “Take your life vest off.” At that moment I wanted to turn around and head down to a lower spot to jump but that was steep and I didn’t want to break my leg or arm. I let a few others jump on before me, watched as they did flips and were wild having a blast from that jump. As I prepared myself to jump, I heard the voice I still believe to this day, the Lord Christ my savior “Don’t take off your life vest.” He saved my life that day.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and jumped. Hitting the water like it was a pile of bricks or a concrete building, lost function in one of my arms and though I had the vest on, I must have gone down at least 15ft into that water. That pain I felt in my back I can’t describe, but I can still feel it to this day. I thought I was going to drown after I awoke from blacking out briefly from the pain. As I looked up and saw the sun through the water, I asked God to tell my boys and husband that if I knew I was going to drown, I never would have jumped and I hope they know how much I love them. As I floated up, reaching towards that beautiful light in the water I finally gasped for air and could breathe! Legs floated up, my husband clapping and shouting “You did it! You jumped, how do you feel?” Im yelling out “My back, my back, my back John!!” As he got closer he heard and handled the situation calmly. grabbed my vest and pulled me to the boat. I’ll remind you, I had only one arm functioning at that moment, I was not able to get into the boat. So my husband, friend and his son worked together and on one of the waves John threw me up to them and they pulled me in to the boat, laying me on the bench. “I was hollering in pain, blacking in and out.” The waves driving back, were so brutally painful. When we arrived back at shore I tried to keep it together for my boys, I did not want them to worry. I couldn’t be moved or touched without screaming in pain. So my friends father in law drove his truck up to the boat, it had a covered bed. I was rolled up out of the boat and onto that truck bed cover, driven to a picnic bench next to my husbands Tacoma, rolled onto the picnic bench then carefully but quickly carried the short walk to my husbands truck. Every movement felt like I was breaking my back all over again.

I remember the drive back though the Tacoma was a smooth ride, any and every bump we hit sent a soaring searing pain throughout my body over and over. I knew I was not going to watch the fireworks that night so we dropped off our oldest son with my mom at the Kendall County Fair Grounds, for the firework show and we took our 4mos baby home. My mother begged I go to the ER right then but I wanted to go home, nurse my baby boy and put him to sleep. We lived at my mom’s at the time, no wheelchair available so we used a rolling office chair to get me out of the truck and inside to our bedroom. Around 930pm my mother arrived home and stormed into our room demanding I be taken to the ER. So I was put back into the office chair, rolled out to the truck and we headed over to the Boerne Methodist Emergency Center. I was refused a MRI after a CT showing I had a compression fracture at my T12 from hitting the water butt first and burst fracture at my T11, from the life vest pulling me against sinking down to the bottom of the Medina Lake waters. If it was not for that life vest, I would have drowned that day.

The ER doctor, Dr. Charles Dees, told me I had broken my back, needed to see a specialist, and he hopes I don’t have a strenuous job. I had an incomplete spinal cord injury and I was left paralyzed from the waist down. No doctor’s note, he sent me back home telling me I needed to see a Neurosurgeon STAT, yet wouldn’t order the MRI while I was there. I knew it was a requirement before being able to see a Neurosurgeon specialist. I went home and after 3 days of my original physician’s office not taking this seriously I finally reached out to a family friend doctor who is a family practice physician. When I told him what happened, he got my records the same day from the ER, had an MRI ordered, sent a STAT referral to a Neurosurgeon, and even scheduled me an appointment. I switched all my care over to Dr. Jennings after that incident, he took care of me then just as he did when I was growing up.

Well, this is just the beginning of my story. I will continue my adventure and what happens next in a following blog post.

Love always,

~TaraKaye

Great Equestrian Moments (G.E.M)

“We love because Christ loved us first.”

1 John 4:19

IN GOD WE TRUST