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t COMMUNITY CALENDAR • LIFESTYLES • SPORTS • COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENCE • TV LISTINGS Wednesday, February 18, 1998 by Lorraine Manfredo Staff Writer A group of 30 Bovvmanvillc High School students went to a "PARTY" at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre in Toronto that they won't ever forget. The PARTY hosts were people who live with the consequences of risk-related injury every day - as survivors with permanent disability, disability, and as trauma and rehab workers. PARTY stands for Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth. The program has been around for 12 years. The aim is to keep kids away from Sunnybrook emergency rooms, aside from their tour. One of the head injury survivors who shared his story with the teens was James Stikeman. He considers himself fortunate to have re-learned how to walk and talk and live an independent life again after a bike crash 12 years ago that nearly cost him his life. "Kids think they are invincible. This program makes them realize there are consequences to what they do. They may be injured at 19 but they could live until they are 80." ,Mary McCaw, BHS Teacher Stikeman remembers little of his collision. He's not completely certain what he hit or if lie just crashed. But he knows one thing for sure: "A helmet would have made a difference. I would have walked away from that, maybe a bit stunned, but I would have walked away." Instead, he wound up in hospital in a coma with a fractured skull. His parents kept up a bedside vigil for the two weeks he was unconscious. His sister collapsed at the sight of him in his hospital bed. They had no idea if he would wake up and what his state would be. Far from being a soap opera plot where the hero suddenly 'snaps out of it' and walks away whole, a coma is serious business. People lucky enough to emerge arc rarely the same. Severe injury to the front of the head damages the very area of the brain that controls personality. When Stikeman awoke he didn't remember who he was. For some reason, he thought lie was was in Africa. "Fortunately, you are so badly hurt you don't really know how badly off you are," he said. Stikeman had to begin just like a baby. He embarked on a course of painful rehabilitation that he is still working at today. As a direct consequence of his injury lie lost his job at the shipyards shipyards in Collingwood, he lost his income and his self-identity. His family endured tremendous stress. "If there's any reason to wear a helmet think of who you arc," he told the students, "think of your family, your friends and your freedom." As lie fought to regain his physical ability, lie learned to marvel at how other people could do complex things without thinking about it, such as drive a car, form a complete thought, and write a long sentence. These arc things most of us lake for granted, but think of the freedom you've got, imagine how free you arc, he says. "The worst case scenario is not death. For me the worst case is someone who comes out of a coma a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Your eyes might be open but you are blind or deaf. You just exist and don't get any better." A quick poll of his audience revealed that although most teens wear their helmets biking, almost no one wears a helmet while on their rollerblades. That's a risk James urged them not to take. Mary McCaw, head of Co-op Placement at BHS, said "Kids think they are invincible. This program makes them realize there are consequences to what they do. They may be injured at 19 but they could live until they are 80." . We Repeat... Don't Drink and Drive Yes, they've heard it before, many times, from teachers, parents and television celebrities: Drinking and driving don't mix. But, it's a slogan that bears repeating, figures Dave Hnrnum, one of the BHS PARTYers. He's currently doing a co-operative placement placement at the Clarington Fire Department where he's helped untangle crash victims from wrecks. "I got my licence six months ago. I sec what happens. I don't want it to'be me. I'm an extra cautious driver." driver." Dave's friend, Rob Jones, agrees. He's also doing co-op at the fire department and has seen enough to know it's far better to prevent prevent injuries than treat them. A big part of Sunnybrook's focus is on prevention of risk-related risk-related behavior. Joanne Banfield, RN co-ordinator at Sunnybrook, is glad the message is getting through, but notes there is still work to be done. "In recent years we have seen a decrease in the number of injuries among youth, but the need now is to target the 25 to 36 age group" Banfield and others at Sunnybrook rarely use the word accident. Save for acts of God or Nature, they operate on the premise that every incident of serious head or spinal injury can be avoided. We already know how: • Don't Drink and Drive • Wear a Helmet • Keep a safe work site and know your equipment. Safe Work Area Ingrid Fejer's story is a painful one to hear. Fourteen years ago she was working at a children's camp on the east coast and was part of a team building docks and bunks. She was taking a coffee break outside with her friends when the wind caught a 15 by 20 foot wooden dock leaning against a railing. "It landed on my neck and shoulders," she says. Rushed to hospital, the diagnosis was complete quadriplcgia. The treatment .was to be three months traction in bed, but fortunately fortunately Ingrid was recommended to Sunnybrook where a halo brace was screwed to her head, saving some of her mobility. "I got my licence six months ago. I see what happens. Idon't want it to be me. I'm an extra cautious driver." Dave Harnum, BHS Student The first six months living in her parents' cramped living room was "hell," she says. Adjusting to life in a wheelchair was so hard, she developed a drinking problem, she says. And as a consequence of personal neglect and depression she developed such serious pressure sores that it took two years for them to fully heal. Asked by one student if she was able to release any of the rage she felt through art or writing, she said overcoming the alcohol habit and depression took all the creativity she had. "I realized I didn't want to live my life that way. Now I try to live each day and do something that makes me happy." "I don't ever want to sec you here as a patient," she told the group. But still, head injuries are the leading cause of death and disablement disablement for people under 40 in this county. Motor vehicle collisions contribute to two thirds of trauma cases and alcohol plays a role in 48%. Elton Horner has used a wheelchair to get around ever since he was a involved in an alcohol-related car crash. "The worst part of rehabilitation was depending on others for everything from doing your laundry to not being able to go to the washroom alone. It's a lot to swallow, but it gets easier as time progresses. progresses. In the beginning I just wanted to be alone. That was really difficult." His advice is heartfelt. "Don't drink and drive, and don't get in a car with someone who has been drinking. "If ever you are in a situation and you're thinking: T don't know,' listen to that voice, It's your savior." "The worst case scenario is not death. For me the worst case is someone who comes out of a coma a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Your eyes might be open but you are blind or deaf. You just exist and don't get any better." James Stikeman, HEAD INJURY SURVIVOR HOSTS -- Ingrid Fejcr and Ellon Horner were two of the PARTY hosts who answered questions from BHS students louring Sunnybrook Health Science Centre on February 6th. 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