Boo Williams
February 18, 2010 I was in a car accident when the vehicle I was in hit ice causing the car to slam into a tree. I broke my C5, where I also bruised my spinal cord. I fractured my lower lumbar, broke 3 ribs, my pelvis, and nerve damage in my shoulder. At the time, I was a freshman in high school and turned 15 a week later in ICU. When I left the hospital I was incredibly weak, couldn't move my right arm, and could barely lift my left. The only independence I had was feeding myself and brushing my teeth. I went back to school my sophomore year where my sister went with me to write for me. Thankfully my friends were there which helped me new comfortable in my situation. At 16 I had tendon transfers in my arms at Shriners in Philadelphia to increase function in my arms and hands. I made many friends with SCI and left being able to now use my triceps and pinch with my thumbs. Later that year, I had a mitrofanoff procedure that has since helped me be able to catheterize myself. My high school experience was great. I went to school with wonderful friends and amazing teachers. Even at prom I received lap dances and won prom queen. I dated my high school sweetheart from junior year until we graduated. We went to different colleges and ended up breaking up. Thankfully I was able to graduate on time, with high honors, and obtained all my volunteer hours for honors society despite having missed over 200 days of school during my time in high school. After high school, I attended college at East Carolina University. I lived on campus on my own while CNAs came at times of the day that I needed them.Crap.
While I was at college, I was president of the RHA, volunteered, and was active in the honor society. Right after my first semester my muscle spasms got so bad that I had to return home. I dropped all my classes and decided to do one online class for the time being. My doctors couldn't figure why my spasms were so bad so they decided they wanted to try a baclofen pump. The surgery was set during the summer and a month before my surgery date my femur broke! As horrifying as it was, it actually fixed my muscle spasms. They placed a rod in my right femur to fix it and ended up not having to get the baclofen pump.
In the fall, I returned to ECU to continue my business degree. I lived on campus again with help from CNAs. Unfortunately I had very unprofessional CNAs this time that caused me a stressful year and at the very end of the year caused me a stage 3 pressure sore when helping me transfer wrong. I returned home after finishing exams.
Two months after leaving college and dealing with a pressure sore I got very sick. I went to the hospital and my intestines were twisted. I had emergency surgery and ended up spending the rest of the summer in the hospital. My intestinal surgery caused me to have rapid gastric emptying and SMA Syndrome from the rapid weight loss. I currently have a feeding tube to help me weight gain. My weight was 78lbs in May 2017 and is currently 92 lbs.
Regardless of all these setbacks I still live a full life. I've dated, I go out with friends, I've been on the news, I volunteer, I ride UTVs, I exercise by riding my handcycle, I've done phootshoots, I drive with hand controls, I go to motorcycle rallies, I rock out at concerts, and much more! Once I can reach a few more personal goals with my health I'm going to attend UNC Charlotte to finish my degree.
