Max
12-16-2002, 05:37 AM
Concord man making slow recovery from spinal injury
By Barbara Jones
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
CONCORD
The day was beautiful Dec. 2, 2001, when the lives of the Kraft family were turned upside down.
"It was gorgeous, warm enough for summer," said Janet Kraft of Concord.
Tom Kraft, 48, was doing a winter job on a warm Sunday afternoon - putting up Christmas lights.
He had put an extension ladder on the roof of the porch to string lights on the second-story eaves.
"All of the neighbors were out in their yards, too," Janet Kraft said. "I thought what he was doing looked dangerous and asked the neighbor to tell him to get down."
But her husband, an ex-paratrooper, wasn't afraid of heights.
Tom Kraft felt his ladder slipping, but couldn't do a rolling fall because his foot caught on the gutter. He fell off the ladder and into some shrubs below.
"One neighbor came running over, and we started to move him because he was face first in the shrubs," Janet Kraft said.
But another neighbor warned them that they could hurt him even more. Janet Kraft called 911. When paramedics arrived, Tom Kraft was conscious but not in good shape.
"I had no feeling in my extremities," he said. "They put a collar on me and strapped me to a backboard."
Kraft was taken to NorthEast Medical Center. Although his only visible injuries were a couple of small abrasions, doctors determined that Kraft had mashed the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae in his neck, which damaged his spinal cord.
His neck bone had split and bounced against his spine, then shifted back into place, Kraft said. If his neighbors, wife or paramedics had moved him without a brace, he would have suffered even more spinal damage.
During a six-hour surgery, doctors took out the fifth and sixth vertebrae, put in bone from a bone bank and put titanium bolts in Kraft's neck.
But after 10 days, Kraft was able to move only his fingers and toes.
A stint in a rehabilitation center in Charlotte didn't help. In January of this year, Kraft and his wife decided to transfer to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. It was a good move, Kraft said.
Tom Kraft and his wife were taught how to care for a spinal-injury patient, and Kraft learned to walk all over again.
Now Kraft can take small, slow steps with a cane or crutches. He recently obtained his driver's license.
Kraft is now a patient at NorthEast Outpatient Rehab Services.
Tom Kraft's goal is to put up his own Christmas lights next year. But he has learned his lesson, knowing that if he had anchored his ladder, it wouldn't have slipped.
"We're not telling people not to put up lights or don't use a ladder," Janet Kraft said. "We're just telling them to do it safely."
• Jones is a staff writer for the Independent Tribune in Concord.
By Barbara Jones
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
CONCORD
The day was beautiful Dec. 2, 2001, when the lives of the Kraft family were turned upside down.
"It was gorgeous, warm enough for summer," said Janet Kraft of Concord.
Tom Kraft, 48, was doing a winter job on a warm Sunday afternoon - putting up Christmas lights.
He had put an extension ladder on the roof of the porch to string lights on the second-story eaves.
"All of the neighbors were out in their yards, too," Janet Kraft said. "I thought what he was doing looked dangerous and asked the neighbor to tell him to get down."
But her husband, an ex-paratrooper, wasn't afraid of heights.
Tom Kraft felt his ladder slipping, but couldn't do a rolling fall because his foot caught on the gutter. He fell off the ladder and into some shrubs below.
"One neighbor came running over, and we started to move him because he was face first in the shrubs," Janet Kraft said.
But another neighbor warned them that they could hurt him even more. Janet Kraft called 911. When paramedics arrived, Tom Kraft was conscious but not in good shape.
"I had no feeling in my extremities," he said. "They put a collar on me and strapped me to a backboard."
Kraft was taken to NorthEast Medical Center. Although his only visible injuries were a couple of small abrasions, doctors determined that Kraft had mashed the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae in his neck, which damaged his spinal cord.
His neck bone had split and bounced against his spine, then shifted back into place, Kraft said. If his neighbors, wife or paramedics had moved him without a brace, he would have suffered even more spinal damage.
During a six-hour surgery, doctors took out the fifth and sixth vertebrae, put in bone from a bone bank and put titanium bolts in Kraft's neck.
But after 10 days, Kraft was able to move only his fingers and toes.
A stint in a rehabilitation center in Charlotte didn't help. In January of this year, Kraft and his wife decided to transfer to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. It was a good move, Kraft said.
Tom Kraft and his wife were taught how to care for a spinal-injury patient, and Kraft learned to walk all over again.
Now Kraft can take small, slow steps with a cane or crutches. He recently obtained his driver's license.
Kraft is now a patient at NorthEast Outpatient Rehab Services.
Tom Kraft's goal is to put up his own Christmas lights next year. But he has learned his lesson, knowing that if he had anchored his ladder, it wouldn't have slipped.
"We're not telling people not to put up lights or don't use a ladder," Janet Kraft said. "We're just telling them to do it safely."
• Jones is a staff writer for the Independent Tribune in Concord.