Maine East students get trauma training
About 150 Maine East High School sophomores spent a recent Friday morning at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for its Annual Trauma Day.
Students participated in "hands-on" activities to encourage wise choices to avoid serious injury.
They met 26-year-old Mike Deibel, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, a bruised and collapsed lung and two fractures in his neck in a serious car accident in August 2001.
Deibel, a 17-year-old high school student at the time of the accident, was driving at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his car. As a result of his injuries, he was in a coma for 34 days and remained on a ventilator for 58 days. Despite the odds against him, Deibel was discharged in March 2002 after more than seven months in three different facilities, including Lutheran General Hospital.
Ten months after his accident he graduated with his senior class to a standing ovation. Since then, Deibel has been attending McHenry County College working toward a degree in business.
He still receives physical and occupational therapy once a week and participates in therapeutic horseback riding.
As a result of his experience Deibel and his dad are now involved in the McHenry County Think First Program. His key message for trauma day participants is, "Think before you act; the wrong decision could change your life forever."