Nightmare Accident, Lifesaving Dream Team Following a rollover ATV accident, Haley McCommon met a group of doctors and nurses who not only saved her life, they inspired her future. Life can change in an instant. One minute, you’re a carefree 19-year-old girl, enjoying a summer day. The next, you’re in a hospital 100 miles away with your spine crushed and an incision from emergency surgery running the length of your stomach. You start asking yourself hard questions: Can I do this? What’s next for me? In June 2018, Haley McCommon was in a rollover ATV accident. At first, she didn’t know just how badly she was hurt. “I didn’t have any blood on me,” Haley recalls. “There was no cell service, so we rode 20 minutes back to town to call 911. When the paramedics got there, they said I didn’t have time to ride in an ambulance. They shut down a local highway and dropped a helicopter down.” She was on her way to Regional One Health’s Elvis Presley Trauma Center. Thanks to highly-trained specialists, cutting-edge technology and ongoing support from the Regional One Health Foundation, the trauma center treats the most critically-ill patients as the only Level 1 Trauma Center in a 150-mile radius. Haley was alert the whole time. She recalls pain and fear, but her first memory of Regional One Health is of humanity and compassion: “I remember a nurse with an Ole Miss scrub-cap leaning over me,” she said. regionalonehealth.org/foundation/change-a-life-donate-today/ 33
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