Tara. Don't stop believing.

Where do I start on this one. If you are reading this, then I would presume that you already read my site and are a fan of DH. If so, you would have heard about the horrific injury Tara Llanes sustained in September 2007. I first heard of the news a few hours after the accident and was on the way to work really early one Sunday morning. I pulled over for a good while, cried a bit and carried on as though I had been in a cold bath for a while, I was numb.Tara has had two lots of major surgery and has been in hospital in Denver for just over 3 months. What she hasn't gone through, physically, mentally and emotionally in those last three months is no bodies business. We popped by to see her pretty much as soon as we landed in Denver and gathered the troops. I was so excited to see her, but naturally a little scared, I just didn't know what to expect. T was AMAZIN, she was bubbly and had the same spark about her that I just adore! Her andf Polly told us all about the crazy stuff she has gone through T showed us the scars from surgery on her spine and some videos of her playing air guitar to 'Journey-Don't stop believing'. It was taken a few days after her surgery and she was pretty smashed on her combiconction of drugs...it was a pretty funny vid!! We stayed longer than I thought, time literally flew, I looked at my watch and it was 9.30pm, T was drooping. She works so hard all day everyday, she gets pretty tired early on. We all vacated and let her get on with her nightly routine.

I popped back on Monday to spend some QT with her and stay with her through a whole day of classes in the Craig rehab Hospital. It was an amazing hospital with one of thee best facilities for the treatment of spinal injuries in the US, if not the world. There were athletes and none athletes in there and the atmosphere was just so inspirational. All of the flags you see hanging up are from old patients, some with msgs on, some with names, others were just hanging.

Tara's schedule was NUTS, I swear, it was like a whole day of P.E. lessons. She started out early doors, first class at 9am, I joined her for some mat to floor work and watched her complete her first bench to floor manoeuvre, it was amazing, her determination was unreal. After that, she got to stand in a support structure that helps keep you upright. We had a wicked game of Jenga and just as it was hotting up, T took a turn, she suddenly got really cold and we all went back to her room so she could get some rest. After lunch, she had ROM testing, then a class where she learned to get in and out of a car and then a second class where she learned how to manoeuvre down steps in her chair BACKWARDS...after that, she had a demonstration of how to correct her chair if she happened to tip backwards. All that in one day, I was exhausted just watching!

I learned alot in one day and I am not going to wing out a whole load of meaningless cliches. Seeing one of your good mates struggling and fighting with a smile on her face, a world of pain on one shoulder and a bigger world of determination on the other really makes you think about what is important in life. Never be complaisant with anything or anyone and give everything in life 110% effort and committment. In the fine words of Journey 'Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling.'