Mike Aitken Back in Salt Lake
October 27, 2008 – 12:14 am PT by WinaTags: Mike Aitken —
BMX rider Mike Aitken is back in his home town of Salt Lake, but the news isn’t good, even though he was flown home by an air ambulance and admitted to a Trauma One hospital.
Aitken was seriously brain-damaged and partially paralyzed when he crashed while shooting a video in Pennsylvania on October 5. His sister, Carrie Peterson, is updating Mikey’s blog daily (http://www.mikeaitken.com/blog/) to keep everyone informed of his condition.
In a recent entry, she writes, “I hate to keep reiterating the seriousness of Mike’s condition, but there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding his actual progress. There have been rumors that Mike is walking; unfortunately this is not the case. Mike is still struggling to show any movement on the right side of his body. Beyond this, Mike is still very limitedly conscious. Mike will begin a more rigorous rehabilitation program in SLC. Rehabilitation is aimed at attempting to help Mike recover as much brain function as possible. Whether that is the ability to talk, walk, eat, or even perform basic thought processes. At this point it is hard to say what functions Mike will be able to recover.”
He is somewhat combative, constantly struggling to get out of bed. But he is no longer on a ventilator, and the family no longer has the stress of having to visit him halfway across the country. And, more importantly, they have not given up hope that there will be greater recovery.
Carrie goes on to thank the Athlete Recovery Fund, a non-profit organization set up to help pay the horrendous expenses of injured action sports athletes, who are considered uninsurable by the insurance industry, and thus must compete without coverage in case of an accident. ARF paid for Mikey’s plane home, and is helping arrange benefits all over the country (to donate, go here: http://www.5050bmx.com/).
Now in SLC, Mikey has started physical therapy. And there is some positive news.
“It has been an amazing morning full of high emotions,” the latest entry reads. “We arrived just in time for Mike’s morning rehab session. When we got to the rehab gym, Mike was asked how many people were in the room with him and he was able to answer. He was then asked to tell the therapist everyone’s names and he was able to give his sister’s and his mom’s name. It was as if Mike suddenly woke up this morning in that gym.”Meanwhile, some of the most moving writing on Mikey’s blog comes in the comments after for each post. One is from an obvious friend serving in Afghanistan, who writes, “Hey Bro, It kills me being so far away from home and not being able to hear the news of your progress every single day. As soon as you’re able I’m calling you up to tell you myself how proud I am of you. Watching you be a dad to Owen has made me so eager to be a father myself. I got some of the guys out here together for a picture to wish you well. They ask about your progress all the time.”
- by Wina Sturgeon
AdventureSportsWeekly.com
cr. Clarke
