Guy knew as soon as he hit the ground that it wasn’t good; he couldn’t move at all. The father of five had been trimming branches when he fell from the scaffolding one storey in the air. He had broken ribs, compressed vertebrae and underwent more than 20 surgeries during his six months in the ICU. During this time, he went into sepsis and his organs started shutting down. The prognosis was bleak, but Guy managed to send a message to his wife – he winked at her. She knew that wink and that’s when she believed he would recover.
When he arrived at the Glenrose he had to relearn how to walk and swallow. Though his journey was challenging and painful he focused on the positive and kept his sense of humour. Guy’s ‘dad-jokes’ had the nurses and other patients laughing throughout the day and he encouraged others to enjoy being alive. When he wasn’t cracking jokes, Guy worked hard with his physiotherapist to go further distances with his walker and start climbing stairs with a cane. He went from being fed through a tube and eating pureed foods, and when the other patients would complain about the texture of food, he would challenge them to keep trying.
Today Guy is back home in St. Paul with his wife Catherine, enjoying his retirement and the time he spends with his children and grandchildren.
“He worked tirelessly and diligently to develop a sense of his new normal. It was an incredibly humbling experience to be involved in Guy’s rehabilitation journey and to be able to witness the incredible strength and courage of the human spirit.” Stephanie Krentz, Licensed Practical Nurse
Watch Guy’s Courage Award video here.
