Clay's Journey

Put simply, Clay is a stud with a smile. He is an athlete, a scholar, a builder, a volunteer, a middle-child, and, oddly enough, a Bucks fan. Clay grew up as a lake-guy: swimming, fishing, skiing, etc. On August 28th, 2022, that same lake changed his life forever. 

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While working as a dock attendant, Clay fell into shallow water and landed on his neck, stripping all of the feeling from his body. Following swift action from his friends and an out-of-body experience, Clay was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. It wasn't until four hours later when the surgeon broke the horrifying news: Clay had suffered an incomplete fracture of his C5 vertebrae, robbing him of any function beneath his chest and elbows. On August 28th, 2022, Clay was told he may never walk or grip ever again. 

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The following weeks were grim. Clay's surgery compromised his ability to eat, breathe, and speak; the inability to communicate during such a traumatic time was devasting for Clay and the rest of us. In the ICU, Clay battled fevers, pneumonia, and blood pressure issues that, according to the doctors, "might never go away". Oh, what comfort! Slowly, progress began showing its face. Clay regained his ability to sense touch and feel pain. He could flawlessly identify which finger or toe we were touching, dumbfounding his nurses. 

 

As soon as the opportunity came, Clay took his battle to the grounds of the Shirley Ryan Ability Labs, where he worked with an incredible team of therapists. During his time in the hospital, Clay was tested physically and emotionally. He lost 15% of his lung capacity due to lung infection, experienced temporary deafness and blindness due to blood pressure imbalance on an hourly basis, and lost 43 pounds due to his impacted digestive system. For the first three months of his senior year, Clay was in the spinal cord unit, 21 floors up. Powered by his hard work and his committed therapy team, Clay made consistent recovery process. He toppled his blood pressure issues, regained various muscle functionality, and inflated his determination to recover.

 

On December 14th, Clay returned home for the first time since leaving for work that fateful morning. Just as the seasons progressed, so had Clay (even though he still had a tube in his chest that was fighting off the lung infection). The transition into this new life was not easy, but Clay had been through worse. After a few too many fights with Alexa and some reorganizing, Clay started to find his rhythm at home. Believe it or not, we may have even had our best Christmas yet. Clay immediately started attending day-rehab at Shirley Ryan's out-patient facility to continue his improbable quest. Ever since he commenced this new-look routine, the stud's progress really started catching fire. Clay has since regained basic function of his quadriceps, abdomen, glutes, toes, and even a few fingers. He's been feeding himself, embarrassing his brothers in Madden, and rooting for his buddies in the NT student section. Clay has come a long way since lying in that ICU bed! He creates new dots every day, the next step is connecting them. 

 

Every day, Clay fights to reclaim independence. Every day, Clay is met with a plethora of challenges - new and old. Every day, Clay is rallied by the support of his unwavering army. While riding an emotional rollercoaster, one must prepare themselves for the heights and depths that are to come. Clay is 7 months into this ride and has some scars to show for it, but he continues to topple the insurmountable hurdles that plague him every day. Through the darkness, this stud is still sporting that smile. 

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