Trace Ritterhouse has always been an avid outdoorsman. Hunting, fishing, or camping… it didn’t matter. He just wanted to be outside. It’s the love and desire to resume his outdoor lifestyle that boosted the Ellinwood, Kansas, teen’s serious brain injury recovery.
On December 7, 2022, Trace and his friend were in a car accident. They met another vehicle at an intersection and collided. Trace was taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas, and was given a slim chance of survival.
“We were told right away that he probably wouldn’t make it through the night,” Sandra Hopkins, Trace’s mom, said. “We weren’t given much hope .”
Doctors told Trace’s family that even if he survived, he would be on a ventilator, and unable to walk for the rest of his life. Having heard success stories from friends and family, they brought Trace to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ specialized pediatric brain injury program.
“When Trace first got here, he was what we referred to as a Rancho level two,” Sarah Economides, PT, DPT, PCS, a Madonna physical therapist, said. “He was not able to initiate or follow any commands. He could spontaneously do some movement, open his eyes, lift his head, respond to pain, things like that, but he was not able to do anything functionally for himself.”
In a minimally conscious state, Trace had lost over 30 pounds since the accident. His mom said he was sick, weak and couldn’t participate much in therapies.
Progress started slow. Through daily physician visits and intense physical, occupational and speech therapies, Trace started to navigate the highs and lows of a brain injury.
“Trace was that slow and steady wins the race,” Economides said. “As he progressed, he transitioned into a Rancho four phase, which is someone who is very agitated. They’re very confused as they’re recovering from that brain injury. He did not understand what was going on with his body or where he was. That lasted several weeks and then he emerged out of that, thankfully. It became clear that he had very significant left-side weakness. Both arm and leg on the left side were really impaired and we used a lot of different equipment and technology to work on waking those muscles up.”
Benefiting from a variety of Madonna’s specialized technology, Trace used the Hocoma Lokomat®, a robotic assistive treadmill, to move his legs and help his body remember the walking motion. He also used the Functional Electrical Stimulation bike on both his arms and legs, as well as the Hocoma Armeo®Power, which is a robotic range of motion support for the arm.
While he made gains in his physical recovery, Trace also dealt with complex cognitive challenges.
“Working on standing, walking, balance and eventually getting to do the stairs and get in and out of the car really evolved based on how his brain injury recovery went with that cognitive ability of understanding and attention,” Economides said. “It really affects and drives each case uniquely for how we respond to them.”
To assist with re-learning some those cognitive skills, Trace and his speech pathologist, Megan Huckabee, MS, CCC-SLP, created a memory log early on to help him remember what he did in each of his therapy sessions and could talk about them later on. They also practiced immediate memory techniques frequently.
“He couldn’t remember who I was or why he was here or what he was working on or even the fact that he had deficits,” Huckabee said. “It was very frustrating to him because he’s a very independent kid. It also took a long time for him to make those little achievements, but then when he had some really good success and therapy started being a lot more positive for him, then he took off so fast, once he tasted a little bit of that independence.”
Trace continues to surpass goals set for him and loves to use his rediscovered voice to tell jokes. In his own words, his biggest accomplishment has been walking out the front doors of Madonna after six months. Back home in Kansas, he’s excited to get back to his favorite things: hunting, fishing, and his dog.
“We would not be here and Trace would not have made this much progress without the amazing staff at Madonna,” Sandra said. “They are angels disguised as therapists and nurses. Miracles happen here.”