Life-changing accident places NW Campus student on stage
by Matt Skates, nw news editor
Michael Duran was pronounced dead on arrival when the ambulance pulled into a local hospital in 1994.
Lucky for him, a nurse noticed that he still exhibited weak vital signs and put him on a respirator; however, his injures from a car accident would forever shape his life.
“I would work Monday through Friday, from 5:30 in the morning to 5 or 6 at night, and then I’d go out with my friends, so needless to say I never got enough sleep,” Duran told a NW Campus audience last week.
Duran’s demeanor was calm and calculated as he told the gathered students how he became a quadriplegic. He was on his way home from a Diez y Seis celebration, where he had consumed a large quantity of alcohol.
“My mom had always told me if I got to where I couldn’t drive myself home, to call her, but I never did,” he explained.
Duran admitted that other people had to fill in the rest of the story for him because he doesn’t remember anything after he blacked out. Apparently, he fell asleep at the wheel and flipped his car.
“My parents were told to find an institution that would take care of me. Basically I was going to be a vegetable for the rest of my life,” he said,
Duran’s parents were devastated, but at least their son was alive. However, misfortune seemed to follow him. While he was still dependent on a respirator for his oxygen, a car accident outside of the hospital knocked out all power. His father was instructed to aspirate him manually.
But what seemed like another turn for the worse actually helped improve his condition. In the hour and a half that the power was down, Duran began breathing for himself.
“After that, they slowly weaned me off of the respirator,” he said.
After six weeks in the hospital, Duran was released, but he found it difficult to maintain a good attitude toward his status as neither of his parents was able to take care of him after his mother suffered a heart attack shortly after his accident.
“Twenty-one years old and living in a nursing home, my worst nightmare; I always asked myself ‘why me,’” Duran said.
As he struggled mentally, his physical condition began to degrade. He started developing kidney and bladder infections and once again faced the possibility of his own demise. He was so close to death that a preacher was called in to read him his last rites. But once again he cheated death and was able to return home on Christmas Eve.
Duran showed the audience the halo he was forced to wear because of his spinal injuries. He still has scars on his head from where the apparatus was screwed to his skull.
He has also struggled with mental handicaps as he was diagnosed with short-term memory loss.
“I have a hard time remembering names and things like that,” he said.
Duran’s recovery has been stunning to his friends to say the least. He has now found solace in dance. He has been a featured performer at both Follow the Dream shows and is still working toward degrees in business and dance.
“The only dancing I used to do was in clubs. This is different, but it’s nice to have something to look forward to everyday,” Duran said.
It takes him a total of two hours from the time he wakes up to get out of the front door of his house in the morning, not counting therapeutic exercises he does with his aide.
“I have to depend on someone to help me with everything I do. It really makes you realize who your friends are. Some have left me, and others have stayed around and don’t mind doing things for me,” he said.
Duran’s story is both sad and inspiring, but perhaps the most stirring argument against drunken driving came from his mother, who unexpectedly made her way up to the podium after his speech, eyes swollen with tears.
“Please don’t drink and drive!” his mother pleaded with the audience. “It is a misconception that rehab will give back what you’ve lost. All rehab does is help you get back what’s left.”
“I may not walk or do things on my own,” Duran said, “but at least, thanks to God, I can think for myself.”
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