CRASH AFTERMATH
The unstoppable Mr. Jordan Back from brink after deadly crash, teen will finally claim high school diploma.
WEST PALM BEACH — Calvin Jordan will participate in his high school graduation ceremony Thursday, more than two months after his fellow seniors at John I. Leonard received their diplomas.
“I couldn’t be there in May, but I’ll be there this time,” Jordan promises.
Instead of sporting a cap and gown, Jordan spent graduation day on May 21 hooked up to tubes and hanging onto life at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Two weeks before, Jordan was headed north on Interstate 95 when the SUV he received as an ear- ly graduation gift was struck, rolled over and burst into flames between the exits to Lantana and Hypoluxo roads.
Jordan, 18, and six passengers in the SUV were ejected. Peter Olivier, Jordan’s 20-year-old cousin, was killed.
Among the survivors, Jordan was the most seriously hurt. It’s estimated he was hurled 40 feet before the right side of his head slammed into the pavement.
Jordan sustained a brain injury — specifically a diffuse axonal injury — that often leaves its victims in a vegetative state. Doctors were not optimistic about Jordan after he arrived at St. Mary’s A neighbor of Dr. Ronald Schwartz talks about the murder in his Jupiter Farms neighborhood. See video at mypalmbeachpost.
by helicopter May 6. He remained in a coma for about two weeks and was able to breathe only with the aid of a ventilator.
Fast-forward to today, and Jordan continues a recovery that trauma surgeon Dr. Ahmed Elhaddad calls a “miracle.”
Except for a scar on his throat courtesy of a tracheotomy, there are no obvious signs that Jordan was involved in a horrific crash.
No limp. No slurring of words. No dramatic weight loss. Jordan has recovered so quickly that he’s no longer required to go to physical therapy, even though it wasn’t long ago that his mother was being advised to look into long-term rehabilitation facilities. Instead, Jordan has returned to his job at Bud’s Seafood & Chicken, where he works around 25 hours weekly in the kitchen. When he’s not working or spending time with his girlfriend, Jordan is prepping to begin college. He’s planning on attending Palm Beach State College and hopes to begin classes in August.
“Calvin is doing remarkably well,” said Kenya Ward, his mother. “He’s doing everything they thought he wasn’t going to be able to do.”
But it hasn’t all been