Dane Gomm had a paragliding accident in April 2005



On April 17, 2005 Dane Gomm fell over 100 feet in turbulent winds while paragliding. Three other paragliders witnessed his fall and were able to get help for him. He was life-flighted to the University Of Utah Surgical Intensive Care Unit. His pelvis was shattered and disconnected from his spine. To make things worse, his sacrum (located at the bottom of the spine) was driven into his pelvic region. Things were touch and go for 36 hours, then he went into surgery for eight hours. He was bolted back together and his prognosis is quite good. He has been transported to a convalescent home to wait for his bones to knit and then he'll be taken back to the University of Utah for some rehab.


On April 30 Dane's sisters had a bake sale and carwash to raise money for Dane. The helicopter flight to the hospital was almost 8 thousand dollars and Dane doesn't have any insurance. We are hoping that Medicaid will pick up some of the medical expenses, but it is uncertain at this time. We raised about $500 at the bake sale and with other donations from friends , family and the community, we have about $1300 towards expenses. Friends who enjoy the sort of Paragliding have sent up a fund and requested that we get a PayPal account so that folks who are on-line can donate. We appreciate all that has been done in Dane's behalf.

On Monday, May 2nd, Dane was seen and evaluated by doctors at the U of U Medical Center. They have decided that he will need to wait another month before any rehab can begin, they need to let the bones knit together more. This news was a bit of a setback in Dane's mind. He was looking forward to beginning the rehab process. Dane broke his back about 6 years ago in a motorcycle accident which partially paralyzed him for about a week, but after the trauma of surgery, he was able to begin rehab two weeks after his accident. They knew that he might have some nerve damage on his left side. They confirmed that today, feeling is slow in returning and he can't feel his left big toe. Feeling may return, it's just too early to tell. Generous people who participate in the sport of Paragliding have donated nearly $500 to Dane (see PayPal button below). We really appreciate all the kindness that has been extended to Dane and towards our family.

It's been two weeks since Dane last saw his doctors (1 month since his accident) and things are sometimes a little confused because one doctor has one opinion and the other has another opinion. The consensus is that he will have to wait another 6 weeks before even thinking about trying to put weight on the pelvic bones. He does a little therapy each day, but it's surprising how much your muscle mass is lost after a few weeks of inactivity. Just simple leg lifts are a serious workout. Last Monday, Dane was really down because he realized how much muscle mass he's lost in his legs. They are the size of sticks and he looks very skeletal. He was also in a lot of pain on Thursday, he has a bladder infection and we're very concerned that he's not getting very good care where he's at. Saturday, May 28th, he was in great spirits. A Spanish speaking therapist came and helped him with some better exercises and he was very happy from that. Also he's on antibiotics to combat the infection and he felt like he wasn't sick for the first time in two weeks. Monday, June 07, Good News today. Dane was taken to see his doctor, who gave him a complete exam. He is very encouraged with the way Dane is knitting back together and says he will be allowed to sit up to 90 degrees and try to get vertical in two weeks. He showed Dane and his Mom the x-rays of his pelvic area when he was first admitted to the hospital and described the surgery. They were shocked to see the x-ray of his pelvis which was obviously broken in half, and his spine was pushed into the pelvis. The doctor said that much of the time in surgery was trying to decide what to do. They would try one thing and then another trying to get the spine back in place and pulled out of the pelvis. They had to use vise grip pliers to pry the spine back into place. Dane only complaint right now is that two of the screws holding him together are very close to the skin and cause some discomfort. His doctor said, "Well, I'm sorry to say it, but your just screwed!" He's supposed to try to bulk up and gain more weight in the next couple of weeks.

June 20, 2005 Monday was a great day for Dane. He had a rough night the evening before and only got an hour of sleep, so he was exhausted. His therapists knew his night had been hard, so they were going to wait on therapy till another day. When his mom heard this, she asked if she could talk to Dane first before they made a decision. They agreed. She reminded Dane how long he’d been waiting to have a chance to be able to try to sit up and he got fired up to have the chance to try this first step. The therapists came in and got him up in a sitting position, which he stayed in for twenty minutes. Now that might not sound like much, but remember that this is the first time he’s sat up in over 2 months. The blood drained out of his head and he felt faint and nauseous and he was in danger of passing out. They kept asking him if he wanted to lay back down, but Dane wanted to try to keep sitting up as long as possible. His feet began to turn purple because the blood was going downhill and his body wasn’t used to the extra work.

On Tuesday, he was able to get into a wheelchair. Dane had been very worried about getting in one the day before because of the dizziness and nausea, but just one day later he was able to sit in one and it felt pretty good. They got him to the rehab room and with the help of three guys, got him in a standing position for a few minutes. Most of the time, his weight was on his arms until they pointed that out to Dane and then he was able to take most of his weight on his legs. He said he can tell that he has very little strength in his legs, but he feels that he might be able to begin to walk in the near future instead of some far distant time in the future! He had me take a picture of his "skinny, shriveled, twinkle toe, pencil legs." So he'll have something to remember when he's recovered. His therapy is going so well that they plan to let him try a walker on Thursday.

They got him up and using the walker last week and his progress is amazing to us, who have waited for any results for the last couple of months. Below are the two men doing the majority of his therapy.

What you don't see in the pictures are all the internal problems that Dane yet has to overcome. But it's especially encouraging that he can lift his feet well, which indicates that he has healthy nerve endings in his feet and legs. On Wednesday, they gave him a haircut.

Saturday, July 9th was Dane's 27th birthday. He was able to use a walker to leave the care facility and get to a car which took him a couple of blocks to his sister Sarah's house. We all met there to celebrate Dane's birthday and his continuing progress. He had to be very, very careful to keep his balance and sat in a firm chair. When the party was over, it was hard to return to the care facility.

Things are going well for Dane, but the system may work against him. The rules of Medicare state that he has to be disabled for more than a year for them to cover Danes expenses. Now it may look like he's doing well, because he is. He's able to walk a short distance with a cane. He can walk a lot more with a walker. So his bones are getting stronger and his muscles are getting stronger. But there are hidden issues. It may be as much as four years before his bowels and bladder work properly (if ever). Right now, the nerves in that area just don't work, so he's not normal in that respect. But it was quite great to see him walk with a cane for the first time the other day.

Dane would like to get back into classes at Provo College, but is quite concerned about his ability to sit through a class. His stamina is low and the screws holding the bones together kind of poke the skin on his back out and causes a painful rubbing point that is a problem.
August 19, 2005 -4 months and 2 days after his accident, Dane is coming home! He still has a lot of rehab and we still don't know anything about how his nerve damage will recover, but this is a real milestone.

Jeanne left to pick up Dane at 9 this morning and they got home at about 11. His dog was so happy to see him that she wet all over the sidewalk as she danced about and greeted him.

Dane dressed up on Halloween by putting on his reading glasses and demonstrating how to walk with a cane. He clowned around recently while getting ready to go swimming. His brother, Christopher comes to pick him up and take him to the pool once or twice a week. As a former lifeguard, Dane really feels inadequate since his abilities are so limited.

He has been home for months and recovery is very slow. He is in great pain and has to take heavy medication to alleviate the pain. His spirits are good but he is having a hard time since recovery is so slow. Medicaid and Social Security have both turned him down and he is appealing their decisions. But in the meantime, he can't work or really do anything to earn a living. His doctors are hopeful that he will continue to mend, but it's pretty hard to maintain a positive attitude when things move so slowly. We're kind of surprised that the government has a system in place which regularly turns citizens in need down, rather than being proactive in helping them.

In February 2006, Dane just felt that he needed to go camping. He said, really since I can't walk very well, I'm not so much going camping, I'm just going somewhere else to watch TV. So he put some things in his truck (including his portable DVD player) and went down to the Moab area to "camp out". He did get some pictures of a slot canyon, you can see Tiga exploring with him in one shot.

It's April, 2006 and the anniversary of Dane's accident. Dane was told that he would only qualify for Social Security and Medicaid if his injuries were going to last over a year. His doctors ALL wrote in their notes that his recovery would be at least a year. But Medicaid turned him down. pretending that he wasn't hurt that badly. In trying to get them to reconsider, they point to social security and say that if he isn't picked up by them, they can't help. He is caught in a "Catch-22". We plan to start writing to congress and legislative representatives. It's time that the system starts to acknowledge Dane's needs. He is in constant pain, managed only with the help of heavy medications which barely help him to deal with the pain which he deals with constantly. He still has internal injuries which may never heal, nerve damage, bladder control and other problems. If you have ideas that we might explore to get help for Dane, e-mail us and we'll be happy to try them.
	Dane took a dayhike in July, 2006. He was able to hike a short distance. It was very slow and stressful. His progress is interesting, he has better strength in his legs, but he can't stand up for very long at a time. In June he was pulled over by police in Pleasant Grove for a headlight that had gone out. The officer decided to give Dane a blood alcohol test since he'd had a beer four hours prior to driving. When he passed the balloon test, the officer decided he needed to do a drunk test by walking in a straight line. Dane can't walk in a straight line any longer and he needs to lean on something for balance. All this caused the officer to haul him off to jail for additional tests. Blood tests revealed that Dane had some sort of substance that was related to heroin in his bloodstream. WHAT A SURPRISE! He takes methadone twice a day to manage pain! No one cared or even listened to Dane's reasonable explanations to the fact that he couldn't perform the tests they were giving or the fact that he had a prescription for the medications they found in his bloodstream. Now Dane will have to go to court to fight for his driving privileges.
The courts in their wisdom decided that Dane might have a drug problem, even though his pain medication was prescribed by a physician and he has to see his doctor each month to get it renewed! So they set him up to visit with a counselor who would evaluate his case. They got along great the first couple of visits, but when he missed an appointment, she decided he must have a problem so he was forced to have drug testing for six months. All because he was legitimately taking medication to manage the pain he will probably have for the rest of his life due to the injuries suffered in his paragliding accident.
September 2007, Dane packed up his truck and headed to Riverside, California. He's taking a college class. He can only handle one at a time, but it's progress.
Good News! Dane had a Social Security hearing 2 months ago and will begin to receive a small income. Now we'll be able to talk to Medicare to get all those surgical bills paid. It's like a catch-22, but we finally see an end to the bill struggle.
The legal system! Dane was supposed to pay a fine to the court and medical bills because he and Laura had a fight and the police got involved. The bills were paid by medicad and Jeanne mailed a monthly payment until the fine was paid off. But in February, 2008 a notice came warning that the entire bill hadn't been paid and none of the fine had been paid. The courts had lost the document that showed the medical bill had been paid, so they had taken each of the payments for the fine that Jeanne had paid and sent them to Laura. So now Dane has to pay the fine, which was already paid once, or risk more legal proceedings. The moral to the story, never get the government involved in your life if you can avoid it!

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