On the move again
Superior mother returns home one year after accident caused brain hemorrhage
Superior mother returns home one year after accident caused brain hemorrhage
By Kimberli Turner
Colorado Hometown Weekly
When Billy O’Donnell was told to bring home one fireworks fountain for his mom’s homecoming celebration, he brought home four.
And it wasn’t just Billy, 18, who was excited about the return of his mother, Michele O’Donnell — a crowd of friends, family and Superior community members waited in the O’Donnells’ Rock Creek driveway on Friday, Jan. 29, to give her the welcome she deserved after being away for just over a year.
And it wasn’t just Billy, 18, who was excited about the return of his mother, Michele O’Donnell — a crowd of friends, family and Superior community members waited in the O’Donnells’ Rock Creek driveway on Friday, Jan. 29, to give her the welcome she deserved after being away for just over a year.
On Jan. 27, 2010, Michele slipped and fell in the bathroom of the family’s Cancun timeshare, which caused a brain hemorrhage that required an immediate operation.
She was in a drug-induced coma for a week of her monthlong stay in a hospital in Mexico, before moving to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, where she suffered a second brain hemorrhage. Following a two-month stint there, Michele came back to Colorado and went into a comatose state for 45 days at Denver-based Kindred Hospital before traveling to other rehabilitation facilities for treatment and physical therapy.
She was in a drug-induced coma for a week of her monthlong stay in a hospital in Mexico, before moving to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, where she suffered a second brain hemorrhage. Following a two-month stint there, Michele came back to Colorado and went into a comatose state for 45 days at Denver-based Kindred Hospital before traveling to other rehabilitation facilities for treatment and physical therapy.
Michele’s husband, John O’Donnell, and their children Billy, Alyssa, 14, Tana, 16, and John John, 8, nearly lost her eight times. But each time, they said she fought to recover, and John could finally do what he had wanted to accomplish for a year.
“I brought my girl home,” he told a friend at the celebration.
“I brought my girl home,” he told a friend at the celebration.
Following a lunch in Boulder, John drove Michele up to their home on Alma Lane, where more than 50 people were waiting to release purple and white balloons.
When Michele got out of the car, she took step after step with a walker to greet the crowd and, in the background, the first strains of singer Katy Perry’s “Firework” began to play.
Then Billy got to set off his fireworks display, alerting the community that his mother was finally home.
“It means everything. I’ve been waiting for her to come home,” he said Saturday. “It’s incredible.”
When Michele got out of the car, she took step after step with a walker to greet the crowd and, in the background, the first strains of singer Katy Perry’s “Firework” began to play.
Then Billy got to set off his fireworks display, alerting the community that his mother was finally home.
“It means everything. I’ve been waiting for her to come home,” he said Saturday. “It’s incredible.”
Michele’s sisters, Cindy Skerjanec of Brighton and Amy McAlister of Longmont, were also there to welcome Michele.
Amy said the sisters cried a lot in the months following Michele’s accident, but now they laugh a lot, knowing the worst is over.
McAlister and her nieces and nephews flew down to Jackson Memorial last Easter because they thought they were going to have to say goodbye to Michele. But Michele, who had last rites read to her several times, had other plans.
“I said, ‘No way,’” she said.
And through the ups and downs of her recovery, the ups finally became more frequent, especially during Michele’s time at Boulder Manor, McAlister said.
“There was definitely a feeling when I thought the floor wasn’t going to drop out from under us,” she said.
McAlister and Skerjanec said they finally started to feel optimistic about Michele’s recovery when she got to Boulder Manor this past fall, and they believe music therapy really helped in Michele’s healing.
Amy said the sisters cried a lot in the months following Michele’s accident, but now they laugh a lot, knowing the worst is over.
McAlister and her nieces and nephews flew down to Jackson Memorial last Easter because they thought they were going to have to say goodbye to Michele. But Michele, who had last rites read to her several times, had other plans.
“I said, ‘No way,’” she said.
And through the ups and downs of her recovery, the ups finally became more frequent, especially during Michele’s time at Boulder Manor, McAlister said.
“There was definitely a feeling when I thought the floor wasn’t going to drop out from under us,” she said.
McAlister and Skerjanec said they finally started to feel optimistic about Michele’s recovery when she got to Boulder Manor this past fall, and they believe music therapy really helped in Michele’s healing.
Michele’s best friend, Karen Long of Florida, agreed.
“She loves her music. From the beginning John had her iPod in her room,” she said. “Even in intensive care we played it all night long.”
While Michele was having difficulty relearning how to talk, she had no difficulty in singing along to the music, Long said. And, eventually, the words came, too.
“She loves her music. From the beginning John had her iPod in her room,” she said. “Even in intensive care we played it all night long.”
While Michele was having difficulty relearning how to talk, she had no difficulty in singing along to the music, Long said. And, eventually, the words came, too.
Following her stay at Boulder Manor, Michele moved to the Mapleton Center in December, where she learned to eat a meal and walk down a hallway and up and down the stairs.
And now, with some help, Michele practices walking up and down the 14 stairs in her home.
“The (first) time I did it by myself, I almost fell,” she said. “I went all the way up and all the way down. It’s weird, but I do it.”
Because of the mounting medical bills, John was forced to put their home up for sale.
And now, with some help, Michele practices walking up and down the 14 stairs in her home.
“The (first) time I did it by myself, I almost fell,” she said. “I went all the way up and all the way down. It’s weird, but I do it.”
Because of the mounting medical bills, John was forced to put their home up for sale.
The O’Donnells plan to stay in Superior for another year or two, and then John hopes to build a new home on a piece of land outside of Fairplay.
John said the house doesn’t matter, though, and the family got back what was most important to them:
John said the house doesn’t matter, though, and the family got back what was most important to them:
“It’s truly a miracle she’s here.”
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