Local man paralyzed from car crash finally makes it home
Ryan Stevenson is now home.
“Being here is very sentimental and symbolic to me because I was on my way here when the accident happened so actually being here is great for me.”
In July 2015, Ryan was driving on Route 50 when he was hit by a drunk driver going almost 100 miles an hour. The impact left Ryan paralyzed from the shoulders down.
He spent 481 consecutive days either in the hospital or nursing home. But last Friday, he made it back, something his family has been waiting for, for a long time.
Ryan’s mom, Terrie, holding back tears, says, “Spending birthdays in the hospital, last Christmas in the hospital, Thanksgiving in the hospital you know it just we thought he would be home last Christmas and it didn’t happen and to have him here for Thanksgiving and for us to be able to come home to the table and sit here you know instead of him being in a facility.”
Although, it hasn’t been easy, his family has had to make some adjustments. Everyone pitches into help. Ryan’s sister can put him to bed by herself and Stevenson’s mom gave up her room and now sleeps on the couch.
She tells 47 ABC it’s nothing after everything he’s been through and how positive he is everyday.
She continues, “It blows my mind. I would go to the nursing home and just be so down and out and I mean emotionally crying and you know he’s cheering me up when he should be the one in the bed saying, why me?”
It’s Ryan’s positivity that keeps his family in good spirits. Talking with the family, there was so much laughter rather than tears and it doesn’t seem to waiver.
“Our biggest issues are heat. I like it cooler he likes it hotter, he’s always cold and him waking me up at 3 a.m. for a Pop Tart, so those are our two biggest adjustments, but its been great,” explains Ryan’s mom.
And for Ryan, he passes the time doing what he did before the crash, running Wicomico First Alert from his Ipad and listening to police scanners all day.
Ryan keeps busy and continues to convey strength and courage to anyone who has the pleasure of meeting him.
He says, “The story is troubling and it is sad but in all honesty I would have much rather had this injury happen to me than to somebody else because I feel like I can handle it more than somebody else can.”
