| East Bethel teen’s rehabilitation continues three months after accident |
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| Wednesday, 16 September 2009 | |||
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Staff writer After they were out of school June 4, Michael Maroney and a group of friends were on their way to a friend’s house when a vehicle rear-ended them at a stop sign.
No two brain injuries are the same, so it can be difficult for doctors to predict how long he will suffer from the effects, which for Michael includes short- and long-term memory loss. Three days a week, Michael goes to Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul for recovery therapy. Family and friends, led by Kathy Schmid and Sue Schuster, are hosting a benefit event for Michael from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 at Maxx Bar & Grill, 17646 Central Ave. N.E. in Ham Lake. A TV raffle, silent auction, T-shirt sales and many more activities will take place during this event. The benefit details and pledge forms can be found at the St. Francis Youth Hockey Association Web site (www.sfyha.com ). From the EMT and deputy on the scene of the accident who saved Michael’s life, to the doctors and nurses who have helped in Michael’s recovery and to the friends that have stood by their son’s side, David and Debbie Maroney said they are very grateful for what all these people have done for them and hope to find a way to thank them someday. “It’s just a lot of caring people. We’ll find a way, but we don’t know how to say thank you,” David said. “It’s indescribable to us.” Family and friends by Michael’s side Michael was in a vehicle with Cassie Gilmer and Holly Russell on their way back to Cassie’s house. June 4 had perfect weather and they had just enjoyed it sitting on the beach in the Lake George Regional Park in Oak Grove. The plan was to stop by Cassie’s house and pick up her father’s truck to go to a drive-in movie. Michael text messaged his father to let him know what his plans were. Around 5:20 p.m. on June 4, just 10 minutes after this text message, Michael, Cassie and Holly were stopped at eastbound 221st Avenue at Seventh Street in East Bethel when they were rear-ended by another vehicle driven by somebody the family knows. Michael’s parents Dave and Debbie Maroney said this driver was cited for inattentive driving. The sound of the two vehicles colliding could be heard for miles and even all the way back to the Lake George Beach, David and Debbie later learned. When Michael’s friends heard the crash at the beach, they recalled later that an eerie dead silence fell over the beach and when text messages started flowing in that Michael was being airlifted to North Memorial Hospital, they silently left to drive there. According to Debbie, Cassie was treated for injuries and released and Holly spent one night at Mercy Hospital. An EMT was at the scene of the accident immediately measuring Michael’s vitals and by the time a deputy arrived shortly after that they put him on oxygen support. David said the quick response of the emergency responders probably saved his son’s life. Michael had the option to put in an emergency contact number in his cell phone. The week prior to the accident, one of Mike’s friends entered his own contact information as a joke, so he was freaked out when emergency responders called him, David said. The friend and hospital personnel began notifying family and friends of the accident, but the extent of Michael’s injuries were unknown. Joey Benik received a text message from another friend. All he was told was that Michael had been in a car accident and was being airlifted to North Memorial Hospital. David was in a meeting at work when he began receiving phone calls from his wife Debbie and from hospital officials calling from Michael’s phone. Because there was not a lot of information to go off of, David did not know what he would be walking into when he arrived at the hospital. “By the sounds of it, I didn’t know if we’d arrive at North Memorial and Mike was going to be dead,” David said. “They wouldn’t really tell us anything.” Debbie said all doctors told her and her husband as they called back for more information on their way to the hospital was Mike was unresponsive. When David and Debbie walked into the hospital room, David said he felt relieved when he saw his son because he physically did not look severely damaged. He had a scrape on his knee and he had a little bit of blood on his head and forehead. David and Debbie soon learned that Michael had a traumatic brain injury. An MRI showed his brain was without oxygen for a period of time after the accident until the EMT and deputy were able to provide oxygen to him. Minutes counted in this case. “It was probably the difference between life and death actually,” David said. While Michael lay in his hospital bed, hundreds of family and friends rotated in and out of the room to stand or sit by Michael and support the family during this tragic period. The first night Michael was at North Memorial, about 40 of his friends sat by his bedside until about 10:30 p.m. when they knew Michael’s condition had stabilized. Brittany Streich, who has known Michael since seventh grade, remembers walking into the hospital room and seeing David explaining what was happening to the large group of friends. She gave him a hug and told him she didn’t know how he could talk about this. There were so many people coming in that the nurses moved Michael to a larger intensive care unit (ICU) room, Michael’s younger brother Eric Maroney recalled. “One thing Debbie and I recognized early on was that Mike’s life is his friends,” David said. “Debbie and I and Eric and Mike’s sister Sarah...we recognized early on that Mike needed his friends to heal and we granted access to any friends that came. We felt Mike needed that. He needed to know his friends were still there and I credit his friends as much as anybody for his healing.” It means a lot to Michael to hear how supportive his family and friends have been. “I just realized how lucky I am as a kid that everything I have done in life has paid off,” Michael said. Over the course of seven days, Michael was starting to slowly come around. Debbie said they first tried to get Michael to lift his thumbs or talk and if he did not respond, he was put back in the induced coma. One week after he was put into an induced coma, Michael had a breakthrough. David said Michael tried to lift his arms that were being restrained to his hospital bed so he would not pull out any of his tubes. With Debbie by his side, David asked if he could un-restrain his son. Even though he was incubated, Michael’s mouth moved and David knew he was saying, “trust me.” David took off the restraints and Michael scratched his head. Eric’s face was the first one he recognized when he opened his eyes. The traumatic brain injury was affecting his ability to recognize a lot of his family and friends. “When Debbie and I were in the room, he knew he was with safe people, but he didn’t know who we were,” David said. The road to recovery The MRI and CAT scans showed that Michael’s brain was not swelling, so an operation was not necessary, but doctors told David and Debbie to start preparing for the possibility that Michael would need a long-term care facility. “That was probably the worst day of our lives,” David said. “Mike just continued to heal from that point. He just continued to get better and better every day and he has every day since. He’s gotten better every minute of every day since the accident.” Michael was in the ICU for two weeks following the June 4 accident and then in another North Memorial room for one more day before being transferred to Gillette Children’s Hospital to begin therapy. Benik said when he got his picture taken with Michael, he could not stand up on his own from his wheelchair, but within a couple of days he was walking. Walking again was one of the first steps on the road to recovery for Michael. He quickly accomplished this feat. Debbie said the first day of therapy, Michael walked holding onto the parallel bars on his first try. The next day he did this same exercise four times. The next day he wanted to keep going so they let him go until he tired. Michael was eventually able to run on the treadmill and he never wanted to stop running, Brittany said. Before the accident, Michael was already in great physical shape because he worked out all the time. Michael had to gain back the weight he lost. David said doctors told them that when Michael’s brain was healing, it absorbed a lot of his calorie intake. He lost 25 pounds, but a dietician helped him gain it all back plus five extra pounds. Brittany said she was amazed by the progress Michael was making. When she first saw Michael, he was laying in a hospital bed, unresponsive, with tubes sticking out of him. Eventually he was sitting in a wheelchair with his eyes open. Every time she visited him at Gillette, she saw Michael do something new. “He has amazed people on how far he’s come, how fast he’s come,” David said. “The doctors have said that. The nurses have said that. People who know other TBIs (traumatic brain injury patients) have said that. He’s kind of a medical miracle.”
Michael is a senior at St. Francis High School. After a half-day of classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Michael must still go back to Gillette to continue the speech, occupational and physical therapy he began before coming home. Michael is able to do most of the activities he did before the accident. He still goes golfing with Joey, who he has known since they were four or five years old. They both work at the Hidden Haven Golf Course in East Bethel. Before his injury, Michael was starring for the St. Francis High School hockey team. Due to his traumatic brain injury he will no longer play high school hockey. Michael was named the team captain before the accident and will continue to hold this prestigious title. Michael is working hard to be able to continue playing for his high school golf team. Helpful community Schuster said that after the accident happened and they discussed the idea with the Maroneys, she and Schmid called a special meeting of the St. Francis Youth Hockey Association Board to organize fund raisers for the Maroney family, who would be facing expensive medical bills. There have been a number of fund raisers and helpful community members. When the St. Francis Jaycees held their corn fest, they put out a donation jar for the Maroney family. The Gilmer family hosted a car wash. There was a donation jar at a golf tournament. David’s sister made wrist bands that people could buy. There will also be donation jars set up at upcoming community events in Lino Lakes and Princeton, for example. Hockey parents have also taken turns helping out at the Maroney home whether cooking a meal or mowing the lawn. “We want to thank the whole community for everybody that has come together to help out with everything,” Schmid said. Eric Hagen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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