Teen paralyzed in rodeo to head home
His parents have been learning how to take care of their son
Jeremiah Gouin is going home. Gouin, a Las Vegas, N.M. -area teenager, was injured in a rodeo accident over the Memorial Day weekend and has spent much of the time since then at the Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., just outside of Denver. It’s a specialty rehabilitative center designed not only to treat the patients, but also to help the patients and families adjust to the inevitable lifestyle change.
Gouin, who has attended and played sports at both high schools in Las Vegas, was paralyzed while at a rodeo camp at Vermejo River Ranch. While trying to distract a bull away from a rider who had fallen from his atop the beast, Gouin was struck in the back by the charging bull’s head.
The impact, or possibly the ensuing confusion during which Gouin may have been stepped on, crushed his vertebrae.
He is paralyzed from the middle of the chest down, said his father, Dennis Gouin. He has movement of his arms, but he can’t control his fingers and it’s still uncertain if he ever will, he said.
The staff at Craig has been working with him to learn how to use voice-activated computers and, on graduation, he plans to attend either New Mexico Highlands University or Luna Community College.
Dennis Gouin said the staff at Craig has also been working with him and his wife on the things they need to do to be able to care of their son.
“We’ve been taking a lot of classes,” he said. “People don’t realize what happens when somebody is paralyzed. For instance, they no longer have the ability to regulate their temperature. Right now, he’s sitting in the sun with a sweater and a blanket on.”
Blood pressure regulation is changed and sleeping patterns are different, the father said.
“There are so many medical issues,” he said. “We’re probably not even going to be able to find a caregiver that knows anything about how to deal with all the medical issues, so we’re going to have teach them, too.”
As one of the final tests before Jeremiah can return home, his parents will spend a full day as his caregivers.
“We have to do everything for him,” Dennis Gouin said. “We have to bathe him, feed him. They’re getting us used to doing everything here before we get to go home.”
Because of transportation issues at West Las Vegas, Jeremiah Gouin will have to return to Robertson to finish his final year of school.
He was a part-time varsity starting catcher with Robertson High School’s baseball team as a freshman and a junior-varsity basketball player at West Las Vegas last season.
“He has mixed feelings because he has a lot of friends at West,” his dad said. “But he’s got a lot of friends at east (Robertson), too.”
So far, the support has been tremendous, Dennis Gouin said, with plenty of visitors.
“We’re really blessed when it comes to that,” he said. “But he’s ready to get home and start living his life again.”
Jeremiah has heard from a number of his former coaches, and he’s even been promised a chance to throw out the first pitch when Robertson and West Las Vegas meet later this year in baseball, Dennis Gouin said.
In addition, many of the coaches have inquired about the possibility of him being a team manager for football and baseball.
And Shelley Unser, who is president of the Cody Unser First Step Foundation, has reached out to the family to encourage participation in the Unser program. The global not-for-profit organization is dedicated to raising research funds, public awareness and quality of life for those afflicted with all forms of spinal cord-related paralysis.
“Cody would really like to meet Jeremiah and encourage him to try scuba diving,” Shelley Unser said of her daughter, who also is paralyzed, but via a neurological disease. “He’s just going to need so much support and encouragement.”
That is certainly something the Gouins will look into in the future but, for right now, Jermiah’s just looking forward to getting home.
“We live on a ranch, so reality hasn’t hit and it won’t until we get home,” Dennis Gouin said. “It’s going to be trial and error as far as we can do.”