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One afternoon, Alex was in the elevator of his apartment building when it malfunctioned and stopped. He tried to climb, but the elevator jolted and he was thrown down the elevator shaft. At impact, he fractured his heels and his spine. For hours Alex lay at the bottom of the shaft, screaming for help. Someone heard his cries and called an ambulance. He was brought to the hospital where an orthopedic surgeon operated to preserve his spinal cord. While Alex was recovering in the hospital, his social worker was concerned about his medical care upon release. Alex is uneducated and can neither read nor write. As a result, he only worked menial jobs, such as dishwashing. At the time, Alex did not have any medical insurance. When the social worker contacted Columbia Road Health Services about Alex’s situation, we accepted him as a new patient. In a wheelchair and unable to care for himself, Alex moved into his brother’s fourth-floor apartment. Ironically, one week later, that building’s elevator broke, and Alex could not get out of the building. Alex’s condition needed assessments weekly. Providing care by phone proved too difficult, so we arranged for one of our nurses to make home visits. She went to Alex’s apartment several times to check on him and draw blood. After a couple of months in a wheelchair, Alex is quite debilitated. At a recent visit he tried to walk. After only five steps, he was shaking and exhausted. His leg muscles have wasted and no longer support his body. If Alex is to ever walk again, he needs intensive physical therapy. We have spent many hours arranging physical therapy services and adequate transportation for him to recover fully. What amazes us most is that Alex expresses little anger at what has happened to him. Instead he focuses his energy on healing. Alex would like nothing more than to recover and get back to living his life. He knows that he must work hard to get there. We are blessed to provide medical care and social services for this poor, humble man who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks in the health care system. *Patient names and certain identifying details are changed to protect confidentiality. |
