Alicia was out selling electronics to businesses when she was hit from behind by a car traveling between 30 and 40 miles per hour.
Alicia sustained a severe brain injury with brain stem involvement and multiple trauma including complex fractures, lacerations, and other severe internal injuries.
When the Paradigm team began managing Alicia’s care just days after the accident, she was not able to talk or move on command and could not eat. She was incontinent and had several broken bones and teeth. No one ever thought Alicia would walk or talk or even eat on her own again, and she was expected to need ongoing help in every way.
Alicia’s mom was at her bedside day and night, and Paradigm’s team worked closely with the family to coordinate every aspect of Alicia’s care. Despite multiple medical complications that slowed her recovery, Alicia worked hard from the beginning to reclaim her health and well-being. Paradigm was deeply involved all along the way, from her first hospitalization to her long stay at Learning Services, a brain injury rehabilitation center near her home in southern California. Initially, we hoped their team would get her to a point where the caregiver burden would be as minimal as possible, but as a result of the expert medical care and support Alicia received—as well as her own hard work—she stood up, at first with a lot of assistance then by herself. She then began to take steps on her own and started to feed herself.
Paradigm worked with Alicia for a little more than two years, and we are proud to have facilitated such a remarkable recovery. She was cleared to return to sedentary work with minimal distractions. She can dress and feed herself, and she eventually progressed to a walker and now rarely uses a wheelchair. She takes the bus to the gym by herself and manages her own financial affairs. She has only four hours per day of attendant care, provided by her mom, which is dramatically less than doctors predicted after the accident. With the help of family and friends she eats out, shops, and goes to movies and theme parks, all of which she enjoyed before her injury. Best of all, Alicia loves life and has a lot of hope for her future.
To learn more about how Paradigm can help improve the lives of injured workers, call (800) 676-6777 or email: catastrophic@paradigmcorp.com.
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