Alysee's Recovery Story

Alysse was involved in a car accident in July of 2023, when her vehicle was T-boned at an intersection by a Semi-truck. After a prolonged extrication from her vehicle, she was taken to the Emergency department in the Central Valley where the accident occurred. She was emergently taken to surgery to repair her internal injuries and had her shattered pelvis surgically repaired three days later. In addition, she also experienced a C7 spinous process fracture, seven rib fractures, a fibular head fracture, an arcuate ligament tear and a tibial plateau fracture.

After she was medically stabilized, Alysse was transferred to the Rehabilitation Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for inpatient rehabilitation. In addition to receiving physician and nursing care, she participated in physical therapy, occupational therapy, neuropsychology and recreation therapy. Her typical day before the accident consisted of going to work as a nurse and being on her feet all day. After the accident, Alysse remembers that her ability to move around was severely limited due to her injuries but there was always something to do while she was participating in Inpatient Rehabilitation. She got to know the nursing staff and they knew her preferences. She also found out she has high cholesterol while she was on the Rehabilitation unit and the dietician and physicians helped her modify her diet.

One day she remembers most was a community reintegration outing to Santana Row. The group of new wheelchair users were accompanied by Recreation Therapists to visit the outdoor mall and visit a few of the stores. It was eye-opening to her to see how different life is for people who depend on wheelchairs to get around. She experienced many barriers that she hadn’t considered before, like opening doors to exit stores, making her way through crowds and having people run into her because they were looking at their phones. She developed a new appreciation for wheelchairs users.

Due to the multiple orthopedic injuries, Alysse was not able to attempt walking until three months after her injury. When she started practicing walking in outpatient physical therapy, it was much more difficult than she imagined. As a nurse, she understood the physiological reasons that her leg didn’t lift, but she still had a hard time making sense of it when she was working so hard.

Alysse says she has a new outlook on life, she knows that she was very close to having an outcome where she was paralyzed or didn’t make it. She is grateful to have the opportunities she does and she is very thankful to everyone that has helped her recover. Currently, she is getting around for short distances without any assistive device and relies on a wheelchair for long distances. She looks forward to returning to work in the future and helping others.