Jay's
Rehabilitative Holistic Health & Physical Fitness Programs History
Why is this man smiling?
On the
night of October 9, 1977, Jay Guttman, 19, a student from Cal State
Northridge, was driving his new Econoline flat nose van home from an
evening at the beach with his friends. He made the trip safely through
the twists and turns of Malibu Canyon and headed north across the valley
along Topanga Canyon Blvd. As he approached Saticoy, he made intimate
contact with a telephone pole and killed a handful of the left side of
his brain. He spent the next two months in a coma.
The best
prognosis that doctors could offer his family was that he would remain
non-communicative and paralyzed. Today, not only is he able to clearly
recount the story of his near fatal accident, but he does so with
obvious enthusiasm in his voice.
So why is this man smiling? The positive perspective comes from
Guttman's clear understanding of his miraculous recovery. He says he
remembers waking up in an ambulance after the accident, but this
actually happened two months earlier. He was being transferred from
intensive care to a convalescent hospital where it was expected that he
would spend the rest of his life. But Guttman's parents refused to take a
passive role.
His mother, who worked with the Dept. of Social Services, made contacts
with the professional community and got him into a rehabilitation
facility that was so new that it was still under construction. Once
there, Guttman's own determination met an equally determined nurse’s
aid. "I kept persisting until she helped me sit up in bed and put my
legs over the rail" recalls Guttman.
Once he
sat up, says Guttman, he believed he was ready to walk. "She helped me
put my feet on the ground and from there I slid right onto the floor,
but I kept working at it." Through perseverance and an excellent
physical therapy program he was soon able to use a walker. "I was on the
fourth floor of the new Rehabilitation facility that was still under
construction. I looked out the window and saw that they were tearing
down the hospital next door. That was the hospital I was born in" states
Guttman.
"I had to start over from nothing - learn my ABC's and 123s. I had to
start at age zero, but I knew I'd make it. I was like the new and better
building I was standing in."
As he
improved, he was transferred to Northridge Hospital where he began
speech therapy with students from Cal State Northridge.
Through
further physical therapy he got to the point where he could walk with a
cane. He says that even though his short term memory was shot he could
read very slowly so he began taking classes with the help of tutors and
readers, picking up where he'd left off before the crash. He had to
relearn social skills too. "My Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity brothers were
very supportive," recalls Guttman.
Guttman
attended Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled.
"God
gave me a direction and it was Dr. Sam Britten. He played a dynamic role
in my rehabilitation. He helped me become aware of myself physically,
the negatives as well as the positives" stated Guttman.
Guttman
says the physical work strengthened his confidence. Before coming to the
Center he had to grope for words (affected by aphasia and dyslexia),
but as he worked on his physical condition he made great mental and
psychological improvement. "The work in the pool was critical. It
makes it so much easier to balance for stretching and breathing. I
became much more cognizant of it" adds Guttman.
Guttman
went on to complete his Bachelor’s and Master's degrees and now helps
other survivors of serious head injuries enter the mainstream through an
organization called Head Injury/Trauma Support Services. He also
initiated and facilitated a head trauma support group which meets at
Northridge Hospital.
AND THAT
IS WHY THIS MAN IS SMILING!!
-Jean
O'Sullivan Jean.osullivan@csun.edu
My second
traumatic experience came about as I was riding my bicycle to register
for classes at CSUN that semester. I was going at a fair speed when the
light changed to yellow. I put my hand brakes on and then I let them go
and the front brake didn't let go!!!!! The rear end of my bicycle came
over me, throwing me onto the street. I was in a daze when, thank God,
my next door neighbor drove up. As she helped me to my feet we both
viewed my disabled bike. I explained to her that I was going to register
for classes at CSUN. She offered to help me out with my bike and take
me to register. As we loaded my bicycle into her trunk I started feeling
pain all over my head and body. She drove me to CSUN, dropped me off
and said she'd wait for me. When I registered with the Disabled Students
Dept. I was told that last semester I had not returned my towel to the
PE Dept. so I must pay for it. As I walked to the PE Dept. to pay for
the towel the pain all over my body increased. I barely made it back to
my neighbor’s car. We drove home and she unloaded my bicycle and
asked if she could be of any further assistance. I said ‘no, I’ll just
take a warm bath and rest in bed’. I undressed and tried to step
into the bathtub but was unable to due to an excruciating pain. I did my
best to wrap a towel around me. I finally managed to get to the end of
the bed and plopped down. Several hours later my father came in and
helped me make an appointment with my doctor. I was diagnosed with
both a broken arm and wrist. The doctor asserted that I could not go to
school that semester. I told the doctor that he was crazy and I went
back to school that semester. I had to ask both of my professors for
reading and writing assistance. I made it through the semester! I might
also add that this accident occurred on Friday the 13 th!!!!!!
The third
catastrophic accident occurred several years later when I began to
drive again. I was going to visit my fraternity brother. As I was
going north on the 405 freeway I looked over my right shoulder and saw
this trash truck as it plowed into my vehicle causing it to flip over
and slide more than several hundreds of yards down the freeway on its
roof. I wound up in the hospital for several weeks.
My last,
and hopefully final, accident occurred on June 18, 2003. I was crossing
the street from my chiropractor's office to the gym to workout. I looked
both ways at the unmarked intersection and there were no cars. I
stepped off the curb and was a quarter of the way into the intersection
and for some reason I looked over my left shoulder and viewed a
stainless steel car grill. Next I felt the bumper of that automobile
crashing into my leg, breaking it in two places. The driver slammed on
his brakes, thrusting my upper torso into the hood of the car and
breaking my shoulder in two places.
Thank God
for the off duty paramedic that happened to be there. He did his best
to comfort me and called the ambulance. I was in the emergency care ward
and then spent two and one half months in the convalescent hospital
right down the street.
Thank God
I overcame this last accident, especially with my dynamic
rehabilitative workout!!!!!
For further details, please email
RehabbyJay@yahoo.com
For details of how to order Rehab by Jay DVDs CLICK HERE |
