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•The IFP• H alton H ills, Thursday, July 4, 2013 3 e-mail: hassellsauto@bellnet.ca www.hassellautomotive.com 2008 Palomino Real-Lite Tent Trailer $6,000+ HST/LIC 2008 Suzuki Warranty • Auto 4 Cyl. • A/C • Certified & E-Tested 8,900 + HST/LIC 2008 Versa Warranty • Auto 4 Cyl • AM/FM CD Player • Certified & E-Tested $9,550 + HST/LIC2003 Montana Warranty • Auto 6 Cyl. • A/C • AM/FM CD Player • Certified & E-Tested $5,700 + HST/LIC CALL In October of 2009 Taylor Shappert of Georgetown was involved in a two-car head-on collision on Trafalgar Road, south of 22 Sideroad. The then-21-year-old psychology student at the University of Guelph suffered a mul- titude of injuries, the most serious being a "severe' skull fracture according to St. Mi- chael's Hospital surgeon Dr. Howard Gins- berg who "put the bone pieces back together like a puzzle, connecting them with mini titanium plates and screws" during a two- hour operation. When discharged from the hospital, Shappert, now 25, had a list of 29 injuries. After fi ve weeks at St. Michael's Hospi- tal, Shappert was transferred to West Park Health Centre to begin her rehabilitation, which required up to six appointments a week. Shortly after, she moved to Bay- shore Therapy. "Taylor is an extremely intelli- gent, courageous and mature young lady," said Katie Schinkel, Taylor's occupational ther- apist and manager of rehabilitation at Bayshore. "'I can't' is not in her vocabulary. "Three years ago I might have optimis- tically said that the ideal place for Taylor was to be back in school and independent with daily activities," she said. "However, not many people with Taylor's severe inju- ries can achieve this. She is truly an inspi- ration to myself, her parents, her friends and our team at Bayshore." Shappert, who enjoys photography and horses, needed signifi cant rehabilitation to be able to do the things she loves. "When I fi rst met Taylor she would ask me, 'When can I do these activities again?" as opposed to 'Will I ever be able to do these activities again?'" Schinkel said. "She has worked so hard to exceed the initial prognosis of a life dependent on others. She has been successful with in- creasing her independence with multiple daily activities and her support system has been incredible," she said. "She still has challenges ahead." • • • "For the fi rst year after the accident I was so physically weak," Shappert says. "They call it brain injury fog. I was very confused and had very low energy. That fi rst year I kept saying I wanted to go back to school but I wouldn't have survived. I couldn't last a day without falling asleep." While those around her wanted her to take more time to recover, Shappert pushed for returning to school and in the fall of 2011-- two years after the ac- cident-- enrolled at Sheridan College in Oakville. Natalia Evans, a speech-language pathologist from a private company called Speech in Motion, worked with Shappert to help her succeed at Sheridan. "Taylor is someone who really took hold of the re- hab process and the resources available to her," Evans said. "Taylor's challenge from my perspective was increasing her confi - dence and independence with her ability to function on her own. "Visual defi cits have been a challenge for her," she said. "The ability to process what she sees visually and make sense of that information has had an impact on how she functions in her environment." Evans worked with Shappert on higher- level skills. This included things like orga- nization, planning and time management which relate to her ability to keep track of school and daily tasks. "She's an inspiration. She saw that she could get better and has so far accom- plished all the goals set out for her." Her fi rst course at Sheridan was a news- paper-writing course, but she experienced intense fatigue due to her accident. In her second semester she decided to take two more courses, including a photojournal- ism course that she received an'A' in. "I got a call from the awards offi cer at Sheridan and she told me I had won an award for academic excellence," Shappert said proudly. "I'm just proud that I proved them wrong." • • • As a result of the accident and damage to her occipital lobe, Shappert is unable to see left of centre of where she is looking. She has 11 metal screws holding her skull together, but has taken each chal- lenge one step at a time. She is still considered to be in recovery. "I feel much better than I did a year ago," she says. "I still don't have 100 per cent of the mental or physical strength that I used to have. There are minor things I still struggle with like time management and sleep, but I feel happy to be here." Shappert says her family, friends, and the health professionals she's worked with are responsible for her recovery, but she also credits Dante, her three-year-old Lab- rador-shepherd cross. "Dante keeps me company everywhere I go. Having something to love and take care of got my mind off my situation, and that's when I really started to improve," she said. When she fi rst came home from the hos- pital she needed a chaperone to escort her for fear that she would sustain additional injury due to her visual impairment. "When I got Dante I was fi nally able to leave the house by myself." Shappert says the loss of independence is the most challenging aspect of her re- covery. She lost the ability to drive inde- pendently, but has gone from being unable to leave the house alone, to attending col- lege and taking public transit. This November Shappert and her oc- cupational therapist will make a presenta- tion together at the Ontario Brain Injury Association conference in Niagara Falls. "This experience has made me so grate- ful to be here," says Shappert. "It made me see how fragile life is. I hope that by shar- ing my story it will inspire others to have hope in similar situations just like mine." "Taylor's story is one of a miraculous outcome given a potentially life-ending or disabling injury," said Dr. Ginsberg. "It's a testament to the human spirit to endure." Local woman 'an inspiration', says her speech pathologist By MICHAEL BURTON Special to the IFP Second in a two-part series Taylor Shappert, 25, poses with her mom Elaine and dad Dale. Photo by Ted Brown 'When I got Dante I was fi nally able to leave the house by myself.'