Joan's Journey...in her own words.
Joan Rubinger was an elite athlete competing in the NCAA Division I. Today you may have noticed photos of her leading her sportscare practice from her wheelchair.
This is her medical journey in her own words.
What Happened?
On August 4th, 2015, my life was changed forever. I was an elite athlete my entire life. I competed all over the world as a gymnast when I was young, and then rowing and track & field (pole vault) at the Division I level in college. I was an athlete in all aspects. I ran, I rowed, I lifted.. but I did not bike. In fact, I had not been on a bicycle since 2002, when I was hit by a car and thrown from my bike. I had a friend though, who is an avid mountain biker, and on that fateful day, despite my numerous objections, she pressured me to try it.
Only, I never made it very far. I put my feet on the pedals, mounted the bike, and my front wheel zigged and zagged on the uneven trail, as I tried to gain my balance. That wiggly wheel hit a rock and turned sideways, and took me down a narrow slope, and over the edge of a cliff. I fell head first over a cliff, plummeting over 20-30 feet onto flat cement, where I landed flat on my back, in a drainage ravine. I never lost consciousness, and can recall every painstaking moment of this tragic fall.
When I landed, my lungs started to fill with blood, I could barely breathe, but I found the will to faintly cry out, “Help! I can’t feel my legs!” I could not move more than my head. My arms were numb but I could wiggle my fingers. At that moment, I knew I was paralyzed. I was lifted out by a fire rescue team, who scaled their way carefully to the top. I was rushed to Stanford Hospital’s Emergency Trauma Center in Palo Alto, California.
I had 19 broken bones (14 broken ribs, 5 vertebral fractures), two punctured lungs, two hemothoraces (blood spilling into the lung), and a mysterious and rare combination of two spinal cord injuries. At the T10 level, the cord was crushed. I have a partial cord injury at T6, resulting in varying levels of sensation and function from the chest down. I’ve been categorized with T6 complete paraplegia. Irreversible misfortune.
Immediately after the injury, I underwent two surgeries to stabilize and decompress my spinal cord, and was hospitalized for nearly two and a half months, first in the ICU, then the trauma unit, and finally a spine center for acute rehab. In the beginning, I had to re-learn how to brush my teeth, comb my hair, and even struggled to lift a pen and place it an arm's length away from me. It took me 9 minutes to put on a sock. I could not sit up on my own, without a harness. Determined and self-motivated as I've always been as an athlete, I made tremendous strides in my recovery. At 3 months out from this traumatic, paralyzing, life-altering injury, I did the unthinkable. I was boarded onto a plane and flew back to work. This was record time. It normally takes survivors of such injuries 1 to 2 years to rehabilitate well enough to work again – in fact, over 90% of spinal cord injury survivors are on permanent disability. But, even after 15 surgeries and procedures, and a few additional broken bones, my positive spirit and determination willed me back, so that I can continue to help others. This is life, version 2.0, and I am working to make it better than ever.
- Joan Rubinger © 2017