WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina |Injured South Carolinians face the road to recovery

Injured South Carolinians face the road to recovery

ATLANTA, GA (WIS) - For some, the thought of being injured and never walking again means an end to a so-called normal life.

But now there is a place that helps reverse that feeling and has inspired people to know that the only limitations they have are the ones they put on themselves.

At the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, some of South Carolina's injured teens, people with spinal cord or brain injuries are going for rehabilitation.

We are going to introduce you to two South Carolinians -- 16-year-old Mack Hudson from Lexington and 20-year-old Traci Pauls from Orangeburg County, a Winthrop student.

"It's a lot of work. I know," says Hudson.

"It's very intense therapy. They don't let you slack off," says Pauls.

Learning to walk again, learning to talk again. It's the basic essentials of life we take for granted they teach people to do there.

"I've come a long, long way since I first got here," says Pauls.

"I told her she don't give up, I won't give up," says Michelle Calhoun.

Both Traci and Mack were involved in life changing car accidents. Now both are coping with the fact that they will never walk again. They say the things they have learned at the Shepherd Center will give them back a normal life.

"I was thinking that I probably never be able to get back in my friends trucks, just because they're a good bit taller than this thing, but they've told me that I can," says Hudson.

"It's given him back his independence. We wouldn't be where we are now had it not been for this place. It's been great for us," says Julie Hudson.

Michelle Calhoun watches closely, as her eldest daughter Traci fights through rehabilitation.

Traci was driving home to Orangeburg County from Winthrop University. That's when one of her tires blew out, her car flipped and she woke up paralyzed from the waist down. Two surgeries later her mom still thinks about when she first heard about Traci's accident.

"I don't know what to expect. Fear, a lot of things went through my head. A lot of tears. A lot of praying. But she's still here. I know she is going to be okay," says Michelle.

Traci is at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a place specializing in spinal and brain injuries. She and her mom came here to try and reteach her how to use her hands again and how to speak.

"I've had my mom here the whole time. If id didn't have my mom here, I would probably be depressed," says Pauls.

Another South Carolina student is also using his mom for inspiration.

Mack Hudson was driving Julie's car, when the 17-year-old Lexington High School junior lost control and slammed into a utility pole.

They too turned to the Shepherd Center for help.

"It's given him back his independence. We wouldn't be where we are now if it hadn't been for this place. It's been great for us," says Julie.

In the two and a half months that have passed since Mack's accident, he and Julie have been here, together. At first Julie says seeing her son in such bad shape scared her.

"He was still unconscious when we got here. He was totally unable to get out of bed by himself," she says.

Now watching Mack's work out inspires her.

Mack has to practice getting in and out of his chair, picking himself off the ground, and finding the strength to push is 200-pound body around.

"My arms are always tired. Shoulders and stuff. Doing the workout and pushing around all day. Pretty tiring," says Mack.

Mack says having his mom there for massages and support has been great. He just hopes that one day he will be able to live without her always there.

"Make me independent. So I don't have to live with mom for the rest of my life. I'll be able to do some things for myself," he says.

Traci and her mother say since she first arrived at the Shepherd Center in January, their mother-daughter relationship has strengthened.

"I've had my mom here the whole time. If I didn't have my mom here, I would probably be depressed," she says. "As far as leading a normal life, it's getting better. I'm dealing with it now. When you realize you can still do everything you used to do. Just takes more time."

Both Traci and Mack are depending on their mothers. Both just ready to get back home.

To learn more about the Shepherd Center, visit their website.

Reported by Stewart Moore

Posted by Logan Smith