NWR Goes to the Hospital
Friday May 7th 2010
A few months ago, I received a call from my friend Dru Gunderson, who I’d met a few years ago while doing some wakeboard clinics near Kalispell, MT. While we were catching up with each other, he mentioned a friend in town who’s son had been staying at Children’s hospital because of a spinal cord tumor and the resulting series of surgeries to remove it. I think Dru was hoping we could send him some t-shirts, but when I mentioned it to our team rider Brandon Robins who had recently lost a leg and knew his way around a hospital, he was more than happy to swing by and make a visit with me.
Brandon, his fiancé Krissy, and myself drove down to Children’s Hospital in Seattle not quite sure what to expect. We walked into the lobby and were met by Darren Pruttis (Dru’s friend) and his son Nate. Nate filled us in on his story and got us caught up to speed. His doctors in Montana had sent him to Children’s back in January after Nate had complained of back and neck pain that they couldn’t quite get to the bottom of. The doctors at Children’s ran a series of tests and an MRI uncovered a tumor in his spinal cord. After a series of surgeries, they had removed roughly 90% of the tumor, but even several months later Nate was only just beginning to get feeling back in his arms and legs. At the time of our visit, he was a month or two away from being released from the hospital to return home and finish his recovery from there.
Nate and his dad took us for a tour around the hospital, which I had never been to, and we were all blown away by how ‘un-hospitalish’ it felt. Brandon was able to share the story from his accident and the struggles and victories he’s experienced since losing his leg less than a year ago. Brandon’s good-natured attitude and determination to stay positive never fails to impress me, and I think it was helpful for Nate to hear from someone who definitely beat the odds (Brandon was declared dead at the scene of his accident, spent a week in a coma, and then was told it might take him several years before he took his first steps). After finishing the tour, we picked up some dinner in the cafeteria and the five of us sat around for an hour or two swapping stories and sharing some laughs at all of the random personalities that inevitably share the same hospital walls.
Visiting someone in the hospital oftentimes has the opposite effect that you intended, in that the person doing the visiting leaves more impacted and changed than the person they were there to cheer up. That was definitely the case with us. Nate and Darren were so nice, so gracious, and so incredibly positive and upbeat, that it was impossible not to rub off on us. Brandon, Krissy, and I were all super impressed and really touched by our visit with our new friends.
A lot has happened since our visit to the hospital. Nate was released and is now back at home in Conrad, MT. He is still slowly regaining feeling in his arms and legs, and from what I’ve heard he is making small improvements every day. If you’d like to learn more about Nathan Pruttis and his road to recovery, you can logon to his website that’s hosted through the Caring Bridge Network. Login to www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathanpruttis You can read his daily updates, or leave him and his family a message.
Brandon, his fiancé Krissy, and myself drove down to Children’s Hospital in Seattle not quite sure what to expect. We walked into the lobby and were met by Darren Pruttis (Dru’s friend) and his son Nate. Nate filled us in on his story and got us caught up to speed. His doctors in Montana had sent him to Children’s back in January after Nate had complained of back and neck pain that they couldn’t quite get to the bottom of. The doctors at Children’s ran a series of tests and an MRI uncovered a tumor in his spinal cord. After a series of surgeries, they had removed roughly 90% of the tumor, but even several months later Nate was only just beginning to get feeling back in his arms and legs. At the time of our visit, he was a month or two away from being released from the hospital to return home and finish his recovery from there.
Nate and his dad took us for a tour around the hospital, which I had never been to, and we were all blown away by how ‘un-hospitalish’ it felt. Brandon was able to share the story from his accident and the struggles and victories he’s experienced since losing his leg less than a year ago. Brandon’s good-natured attitude and determination to stay positive never fails to impress me, and I think it was helpful for Nate to hear from someone who definitely beat the odds (Brandon was declared dead at the scene of his accident, spent a week in a coma, and then was told it might take him several years before he took his first steps). After finishing the tour, we picked up some dinner in the cafeteria and the five of us sat around for an hour or two swapping stories and sharing some laughs at all of the random personalities that inevitably share the same hospital walls.
Visiting someone in the hospital oftentimes has the opposite effect that you intended, in that the person doing the visiting leaves more impacted and changed than the person they were there to cheer up. That was definitely the case with us. Nate and Darren were so nice, so gracious, and so incredibly positive and upbeat, that it was impossible not to rub off on us. Brandon, Krissy, and I were all super impressed and really touched by our visit with our new friends.
A lot has happened since our visit to the hospital. Nate was released and is now back at home in Conrad, MT. He is still slowly regaining feeling in his arms and legs, and from what I’ve heard he is making small improvements every day. If you’d like to learn more about Nathan Pruttis and his road to recovery, you can logon to his website that’s hosted through the Caring Bridge Network. Login to www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathanpruttis You can read his daily updates, or leave him and his family a message.
Comments
JP - Friday, May 20, 2011 @ 2:40 PM
Greg, amazing beard, but I can't believe they let you in the Children's Hospital looking like that.
