Matt's Recovery Story  

At 35 years old in early November 2020, Matt was a firefighter at the scene of a fire when the water hose located behind him was forcefully yanked by a city bus, causing the hose to snap and take Matt’s legs out from under him, which caused him to fall backwards and land on the back of his head. He was rushed to the emergency room and surgery was performed to decrease the pressure on his skull by removing a piece of his skull. He later required an additional surgery to the back of his head to remove two areas of blood collection between his skull and outermost protective membrane covering his brain. Additionally, Matt broke his left clavicle and injured his acromioclavicular joint during the accident. He was placed in a coma on a ventilator and feeding tube for about 2 weeks after his surgeries. He does not recall most of the time he was at the acute hospital, but he remembered that when he woke up, he wanted to go home to see his son.

After he was medically stabilized, Matt was transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Acute Rehabilitation and started his rehabilitation journey. At first, he was required to wear a helmet whenever he was out of bed to protect his skull. He remembers he had frequent headaches and that he was angry much of the time because despite doctors, nurses and therapists explaining why he was in rehabilitation at the hospital, he didn’t really understand, and he wanted to go home. Matt was hospitalized during the first COVID outbreak, so due to strict visitor policies, his family and friends were not allowed to visit. Eventually he was able to place a video call to his son, which made him feel a little better. Matt recalls that despite his confusion and limitations caused by COVID, he remembers how kind the staff were to him. His physicians Dr. Duong and Dr. Huang, case manager Shiva, nurse Chigo and therapists Deb, Bernice and Josh were the most positive aspects of this time. Some of his favorite memories from rehabilitation were going outside with recreation therapy to ride a bike, making a smoothie with occupational therapist Deb, and being challenged to climb the stairs with physical therapist Bernice.

Matt’s biggest goal was to return home to spend Christmas with his son. Due to his hard work in rehabilitation, he met his goal and returned home with the help of his family in December. He participated in outpatient therapies and continued to work with Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurotology and Ear, Nose and Throat specialists. He had two throat surgeries to repair his vocal cords from the prolonged intubation. Prior to the surgeries, he could only whisper. He is able to speak with a normal volume now, but it is still difficult to project his voice and his voice fatigues easily.

In 2023, Matt was able to return to work part-time and in 2024, he began working full-time in Fire Prevention. He still struggles with headaches and difficulty sleeping, short term memory, and pain in the muscles in his neck, shoulder and back. At times, he experiences vertigo, dizziness, fatigue and difficulty with vision.

Matt approaches everyday as a day of recovery and a time to work toward his goals. He is satisfied that every day he is getting a little better and making a little more progress. He feels lucky because there was an ambulance onsite at the scene of the fire where he was injured. That ambulance got him to an excellent Trauma Hospital quickly and employed the chief neurosurgeon in the area who had experience with the complicated type of brain surgery he needed.

Everyone has told Matt that his recovery would be a long process, but he didn’t want to believe it. He wanted a magic solution, to wake up and have everything back to the way it used to be. Now he’s now come to accept that recovery from a brain injury is a long process and there is no quick fix. He’s thankful for the people who have helped him along the way and focuses on achieving his goals one day at a time.