I broke my back and doctors say I’ll never walk again

In sixth grade, a small silver car pulled in to my driveway. The man driving wove to my mom as I awkwardly rushed through my front door and in to the backseat of the car. Sitting there waiting for me was Tom Babb, when he still went by Tommy; a skinny blonde boy with a high pitched voice, who I hoped was as nervous as I was. His dad dropped us off at the local movie theater and we watched House Bunny in an empty theater while we made small talk. I’m pretty sure our hands touched in the popcorn.

Seven years later the boy who took me on my first date – who I watched grow two feet, travel abroad to Spain, and graduate beside me – broke his vertebrae on a vacation in Hawaii and was instantly paralyzed. This is an interview with Tom through voice recognition on his laptop, six weeks later.

For those who don’t know you, can you introduce yourself?

I’m Tom Babb. I was born and raised in Evergreen, CO. I have a close family – an older sister and a younger brother. I graduated from Evergreen HS last May and just finished my first semester at the University of Kansas. I joined the fraternity Beta Theta Pi and intend to return in the fall.

What exactly does it mean to break your C5 vertebrae?

I crushed the fifth vertebrae in my spine/neck and fractured the fourth. The vertebrae bone surrounds the spinal cord. When the bone broke, it compacted the nerves in my spinal cord and left me with a C5 complete injury.

Can you give us a timeline of the day of the accident and what exactly happened?                              

My family and I were vacationing in Maui for Christmas. We had just been jumping off Black Rock at Kaanapali Beachi. We were swimming back to the beach to grab some lunch and I took one last jump into the waves. When I jumped, a surge forced me into a random sand bar which broke my neck. My dad and some other guys pulled me out of the water and stabilized my neck with sand. The paramedics came right away and took me by ambulance to the hospital. I was flown – air ambulance to Honolulu – where they did surgery to place a bracket where my crushed vertebrae was. I was at Queen’s hospital there for almost three weeks and then flew air ambulance to Craig Hospital in Denver.

Were you in a lot of pain during the accident (and are you still)?

I was not in a lot of pain initially because I was in shock. I have been in severe pain in my neck and shoulders since the first day. I am on a lot of pain meds to control it.

What were your first thoughts when you knew that something was wrong?

I remember everything about the accident and knew immediately after impact that I was paralyzed. I was scared. I was face down in the water for several seconds before my dad rescued me. I did have enough presence of mind to hold my breath.

The news of your accident spread so rapidly, and support began flooding in as soon as people found out. How did you first hear from your friends, and what were some of the things that they said? 

News of my accident did spread quickly. I immediately began getting texts and calls from my friends and family checking on me and encouraging me. A lot of people were praying for me. It meant a lot to me that I had so much support. My parents read me my messages but I wasn’t able to respond right away. That was frustrating.

Bands for Babbs was a group started by your friends back in Evergreen to raise money for you and your family, and they designed bracelets like the “livestrong” ones, but with your school colors and the hashtag “tomstrong.” How did you react when #tomstrong spread so rapidly?

I was excited and encouraged.

The Broncos cheerleaders and Kevin Durant have already posed with the tomstrong hashtag, any requests for your next celebrity endorsement?

I would like my next endorsement to be Peyton Manning. I admire him because he works hard, is successful, has overcome adversity and is very humble. Also, it’s PFM (Peyton Fucking Manning).

Your positive attitude and dedication to your recovery are simply inspiring- what has been your biggest motivation and the thing that gives you so much strength?

The thing that motivates me most is my faith in Jesus Christ and believing that He has a plan for me. I also really loved being a student at KU and being in the Beta fraternity. I am motivated to recover so that I can get back to KU and my fraternity.

Learning that you would be transferred to Craig was a huge step in your recovery, can you tell us what it was like when you first heard about the program you’d be put in to?

The staff at Queen’s in Honolulu spoke very highly of Craig and told me that it was the best place to go for rehab so I felt lucky to get to come here. It is super high tech and the staff is great.

What is a “day in the life” like for you at Craig?

My days at Craig are very busy. I have occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy (to help my swallowing), manual therapy, respiratory therapy and electronic stimulation (to passively build my muscles). I also have to do a lot of educational sessions about SCI.

I will begin to do recreational therapy soon where I will go on outings in the community like movies, the aquarium and maybe a Nuggets game. The physical therapist has strengthened the muscles that I have, including my biceps and shoulders. The occupational therapist is then teaching me how to use those and what I can do with them. I have also learned how to use a lot of assistive technology so that I can operate my phone, computer, TV, wheelchair, etc. I was also the Craig’s fastest patient to ever be weaned off of the ventilator and am now back to breathing regularly!

What is your biggest goal during your rehabilitation, and what have the doctors predicted as far as your recovery?

My biggest goal in rehab is to get the function of my hands back. As of right now, doctors say that my injury is complete which means that I shouldn’t get any more sensation or movement back. We are all still praying that the injury is incomplete, though, and doctors say that that is possible. The doctors also said that I would never breathe on my own again, which is obviously not true, so I’m skeptical 😉

Right now I have mobility in my biceps, shoulders, neck, and a little bit of my upper back.

What has been the greatest challenge since the accident?

The greatest challenge for me has been watching everyone go back to college and not being able to join them.

Even though so much has changed in your life- what has not changed since the accident?

My personality and good looks have not changed since the accident.

Has your plan for the future, once you are out of the hospital, changed?

My plans for the future have not changed. I still plan to finish college, get a job and have a great life!

Many people are just getting the chance to hear this story from your own voice – what is the main message that you’d like to make heard?

The most important thing in life is good character and good faith. Your external circumstances and environment can change in the blink of an eye (or crash of a wave), but if you have strong values and faith you can always pull through.

Most importantly, I know that you recently had friends drive from Kansas to watch the Jayhawks basketball game with you in Colorado…how do you think the team will fare in the NCAA tournament? (As of Februrary 1st the Jayhawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes do both have a 17-4 record- so watch out)

KU will clean up – Rock Chalk!

Tom has a Facebook page called Prayers for Tom Babb, where you can find updates on his condition and links to his sister, Claire’s, blog: “In the Light of Unfailing Love“.