玛丽·布里基是全面发展的典范.
她是个艺术家. She’s a full-time teacher at a residential treatment center for teens. 她是六个孩子的母亲. 她喜欢海滩. 她碰巧也喜欢骑摩托车. They’ve been part of Brickey’s life for as long as she can remember.
布里基是和她爸爸一起骑自行车长大的, and in 2022 she decided it was time to get a bike of her own.
10月30日, 2022, 就在她买了新摩托车几个月后, she was on a group ride up Provo Canyon when things went wrong.
Brickey—an experienced rider—didn’t feel in control of her bike. She pulled off the road so she could figure out what was happening, 才发现刹车失灵了.
“我当时的车速是每小时45英里, 不能停下来，也不能减速, and ran right into the corrugated metal barrier at the edge of the pull-out area,布里基说.
不幸的是, 当她撞到, 她的脚被夹在障碍物和自行车之间了, and the force of the impact threw Brickey off her bike. 她的腿从膝盖处断了. It was left behind with her bike and she pinwheeled through the air, 降落在离屏障30英尺的山下.
“我被树木、岩石和峡谷包围着, and I landed in the only clear spot in that entire area,布里基说. “我穿戴了所有的防护装备, but it is still remarkable that I had no injuries from landing, 只有从原来的冲击与屏障.”
Although Brickey knew she was hurt, she didn’t yet know she had lost her leg. 坠机后15分钟内, a helicopter arrived to airlift Brickey to Intermountain Medical Center (IMC) in Murray. As soon as she arrived at IMC, Brickey went into surgery.
After coming out of surgery, Brickey learned about the extent of her injuries.
“当他们告诉我，我在事故中失去了一条腿, 我说, “好吧, 至少那不是我的一只胳膊。”,”她说。. “I’m an artist, so I can do without a leg, but I can’t do without my hands.”
布里基继续泰然自若地接受这个消息. When she realized Halloween was the next day, she made an important phone call to her sister.
“I told my sister I needed a pirate costume,布里基说. “So, she sewed me a costume and I wore it in my hospital bed on Halloween.”
Three surgeries and 10 days later, Brickey transferred to the 克雷格·H. 尼尔森康复医院 at University of Utah Health.
尼尔森康复医院 uses the latest advances in 康复 technology to help patients with severe injuries and disabling conditions. 病人 have access to an extensive network of regionally and nationally recognized specialists.
Brickey spent six weeks at the 尼尔森康复医院, where she even had two additional surgeries due to an infection in her leg. 她感到非常幸运能在那里.
“最先进的设施很棒, 还有工作人员, from nurses to doctors to cleaning staff and physical and occupational therapists, 支持, 富有同情心的, 努力工作,”她说。. “It was the best kind of experience at a critical time for me. I felt so well taken care and well prepared for the next stage in my healing.”
在尼尔森康复医院, 布里基的重点是提高她的核心, 臀部, 功能强度.
“My care team helped me become independent about taking care of myself, 教会了我更好的平衡, 对于只有一条腿的人来说，什么是必不可少的, and strengthened the muscles I would need to be able to walk with a prosthetic,”她说。. “A liaison from the Hanger Clinic in Murray came to visit too, and it was so nice to have a mentor to prepare me for what was coming after my leg was healed.”
平均, patients wait six to eight weeks post-截肢 before they are fitted with a prosthetic leg. 离开尼尔森康复医院后, Brickey visited the Hanger Clinic to be fitted for her new prosthetic leg.
Once fitted with her leg, Brickey transitioned to the 糖屋健康中心 进行物理治疗 斯宾塞·汤普森，DPT， NCS他是门诊截肢项目的团队负责人.
Right away, Thompson was impressed and inspired by Brickey’s attitude and resilient spirit
“我第一次见到她, she showed me the picture of her dressed up as a pirate the day after her 截肢,汤普森说. “我喜欢她从第一天起就决定接受的样子.”
Even when Brickey had difficult days, Thompson has yet to see her give up.
“She’s had days where it’s been really hard and frustrating and discouraging, but I’ve never seen her allow it to cause her to be defeated,汤普森说. “她对其他截肢者来说是一种支持.”
Thompson spends a lot of his hours working with patients who have had a lower extremity 截肢. 他促进了 Sky 's the Limb-it，一个截肢者互助组织 由犹他大学赞助.
When Thompson sees Brickey on his schedule, he knows it’s going to be a good day.
布里基截肢已经快18个月了, 她依然闪耀着光芒, 尽管挑战来了. For her, a strong support system has made a world of a difference.
事故发生后, Brickey’s children and extended family have done all they can to support and help her.
As an artist, Brickey is very involved in the local art community. 事故发生后不到一周, her friends in the art community organized an art show to help raise money for her medical expenses.
“The accident was on Sunday and the art show happened on Friday, just five days later,”她说。. “It’s just such a gift to know and feel that I have a support system that’s there for me no matter what. 我知道不是每个人都有.”
超越了恒星般的支持系统, Brickey has another trick up her sleeve that helps her deal with struggles and setbacks: humor.
“大发娱乐在医院里笑得很开心，”她说. “People would visit, and we would just laugh and have a good time. It’s how I grew up and I just think that makes life so much better if you can find humor in the situation.”
Brickey also does her best to see challenges as an opportunity to redefine herself.
“我现在可以重新做人了，”她说. “What do I want going forward, now that I’m in a life that I never thought I’d be in? 让我在大发娱乐找到机会.”
Brickey has yet to get back on her motorcycle, but she plans to at some point.
她说：“我的人生哲学是重新上马。. “我至少要骑一次自行车, 只是为了表明我并不害怕, not afraid of anything that may have hurt me in the past, 不怕冒险, 不惧怕生活.”