Rude says accident changes life
Published Thursday, August 21, 2008
Reflecting back on it, Christopher Rude says a motorcycle accident on April 27, 2003 changed his life for the better.
However, most people would suggest he’s paid a heavy price for enlightenment.
Rude, a Fergus Falls resident since 2001, was riding his father’s motorcycle on that Sunday early afternoon on Highway 169, near Mille Lacs Lake. “A woman was drinking and driving, and pulled out in front of me. I T-boned her at 55-60 mph without a helmet,” Rude said.
The resulting accident left Rude in a near-death situation. He suffered multiple injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, blow-outs to both lungs from the impact, a bruised heart, and multiple facial and body fractures – including two vertebrae in his neck and lower back. Following the accident, he was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis, where he had several emergency surgeries, including a craniotomy (to alleviate brain swelling). His jaw also was wired shut for six weeks. Rude was in a chemically induced coma for 13 days and in the intensive care unit for three weeks.
After more than a month in the hospital, Rude was transferred by ambulance to Lake Region Hospital, where he was placed in the hospital’s Center for Rehabilitation.
While out of critical condition, Rude -- who is six feet, seven inches tall – at the time was a long way from normal. He weighed 166 pounds, was unable to walk, and had limited movement on his right side. “I couldn’t even raise my forearm to my upper arm,” Rude said. “My right bicep wouldn’t even fire due to the nerve damage I sustained.”
His stay at the rehabilitation center, Rude says, included daily physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. The first day at the center was also the first time he had walked after the accident. “I took my first steps with the wonderful help of Char in the Physical Therapy department,” he said.
Rude said the staff at the Center for Rehabilitation were “friendly, compassionate, understanding and positive.
“They were really good to me,” Rude said. “They treated me with the utmost respect. The therapy and nursing care I received there was without parallel.”
Since then, Rude has also dealt with stage 3 Melanoma cancer. He was diagnosed in August 2005, and has been free of cancer since November of the same year.
Today, Rude, the father of two girls, Destiny and Bella, still has visible signs of the accident on his body. He also admits that, over the past five years, he struggled with depression over the loss of the “old me” However, most of his motor skills have returned, as has his memory, and his weight is now a healthy 225.
“It has taken a lot of work, but strength training has changed everything for the better for me,” Rude said. “I’ve really struggled over the last five years, but the worm has finally turned.
Rude also has reinvigorated his career. Thanks in part to the care he received at Lake Region Hospital, Rude has also enrolled at the nursing program at MSCTC, has a full-time job at Lutheran Social Services as a direct support professional, and is taking a course to become a certified professional trainer.
“Before my accident and cancer, I had decided against pursuing a career in nursing,” Rude said. “However, I now realize, through first-hand experience, just how vital great nursing care is for helping patients get back their health. It is extremely important that I give back by giving future patients the best level of nursing care possible.”