Barnes overcomes paralysis
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Barnes sustained a central spinal cord injury in November when horseback riding with his 14-year-old son, Jonathan, and several of his friends in Van Buren County, near Rocky River. After careening down a steep grade, Barnes’ horse stopped abruptly, throwing him to the ground head first. He said he blacked out momentarily and when he came to, he had no feeling below his neck.
“I immediately thought my neck was broken because I couldn’t move anything beneath my shoulders,” said Barnes. “But then I thought, ‘people get over this.’ From that point I didn’t look back. I was all business and tried to keep a positive attitude.”
Just after the accident, his friends rushed to get assistance from the Van Buren County Rescue Squad whose members transferred him using a helicopter which took him to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga. Medical personnel there stabilized his injury and six days later he was moved to Atlanta’s Shepherd Center for rehab.
When he arrived, his movement was limited to a few toes and one thumb. Even with those, he said, he had no feeling. “It was an awful sensation. I would have to ask if my toes were moving. Someone could move my arm and it could’ve been someone else’s for all I knew,” said Barnes.
But he never lost hope and was a willing participant in the rigorous daily regimen of physical, occupational and recreational therapies designed to help him recover as much strength and movement as possible. In the four months he was at Shepherd, he progressed from a wheelchair powered by a sip and puff system to walking with a cane.
“He is probably one of the hardest working patients I’ve ever had,” said Robin Moss, Shepherd Center physical therapist. “His determination and positive attitude certainly helped in his success. Plus, he’s an absolute pleasure to work with. I’m going to miss him.”
In addition to his determination and positive attitude, Barnes and his wife, Janis, give credit of his recovery to God. “We do give credit to the good Lord,” Janis said. She added they were both very thankful for the support they received from family members as well community members and churches during his stay in Atlanta.
Though Barnes has made much progress, he still has a long way to go before making a full recovery. He returned to his Dibrell-area home Friday where he will have six weeks of home health care and will continue to have therapy for a much longer time. He said his current goals are to improve his walking, his arm movement and his overall range of motion.
Barnes added he hopes to recover well enough to return to his job at Carrier. He also said he one day hopes to be able to do such things as go horseback riding again. “You can’t just quit doing things you enjoy,” he said. “I’ll be extra careful from now on, but I’ll do them.”