Shawnee Mission West junior Abby Buell was most eager to get back on the field with the marching band this school year.
But it’s looking a little different for the trumpet player now.
Early in June, Buell was at swim practice at Overland Park’s Young’s Pool, practicing diving off the starting block when something went wrong.
The first four or five starting dives were good. The last one, well, she’s not exactly sure what happened — and neither is anyone who was watching — but something about it was weird.
The next thing she knew, she was being pulled from the pool. Buell remembers someone putting “this weird tinfoil blanket” over her, and her grandma, who lives nearby, arriving.
Before long, the ambulance was there, and paramedics were loading her up. Her grandmother rode with her straight to the Children’s Mercy Hospital in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Then, Buell didn’t go home again for 58 days.
Buell needed surgery to remove a damaged vertebra
Ultimately, Buell was diagnosed with an incomplete spinal injury. Her C-6 vertebra — located in the base of her neck — was destroyed.
As Buell puts it, “it went kaboom,” and it had to be surgically removed and replaced with a metal one. She’s disappointed they didn’t let her keep her vertebra once it was removed, but she did end up with “a nice scar” to show for it.
In addition to the damage to her C-6 vertebra, there were other fractures in her spinal column, mostly toward the top.
After surgery, she spent some time in the pediatric intensive care unit before graduating to a regular hospital room. Before too long, Buell moved to the inpatient rehabilitation program at Children’s Mercy. There, she spent a few hours each day in physical and occupational therapy.
She went home at the end of July
Buell has feeling in her legs, but she is unable to move them, so she now uses a motorized wheelchair to get around.
So, while she was busy working on getting stronger in therapy, her parents were preparing their northern Overland Park home for her return. It’s all been a big adjustment.
“All these little things that I took for granted, that are now front and center in our lives, but realizing that you can’t just navigate the world like she used to or like we used to,” Adam Buell said.
"You can’t just navigate the world like she used to or like we used to.”Adam Buell
The first big hurdle was getting an accessible vehicle to drive her around in, so they got a van. They also needed to make adjustments to the entryway to their home, which they did by pouring a new concrete ramp that Buell has nicknamed Sir Rampington.
Buell is getting the hang of getting around in her wheelchair, too, though it’s not always smooth sailing.
“The doors are my biggest enemy,” she said.
Walls are also giving Buell a bit of trouble from time to time, and she’s taken off some paint and baseboards at home.
Still, there’s more to do to make the ranch-style home accessible.
“We still have modifications that need to be made to make our lives easier,” said Mary Buell, her mom.
Right now, they are planning a bathroom renovation since theirs are too small for her wheelchair to get into, and she’s having to bathe at her grandma’s house currently.
All these upgrades and renovations have been expensive, so a family friend has started a GoFundMe to help raise money to offset the cost. As of Thursday evening, they’d raised about $47,000 of the $75,000 goal.
Last month, Buell went back to school with her classmates and is settling into the year. However, she finds the elevator situation at her school to be a bit tedious, and definitely prefers the elevator in the newer part of Shawnee Mission West.
“The original elevator that came with it is the jankiest piece of crap that I think you could ever have,” she said, lamenting a confusing situation with the elevator keys that don’t always work as intended.
Buell is still working on physical therapy and occupational therapy, too, going from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday each week. That means she’s also taking an online class to make up for the class she’s missing to accommodate that.
“Every day, she gets stronger, she gets better,” Mary Buell said. “She gets more and more improvement every day.
Buell is back on the field with the marching band
Buell wants to find a way to stay involved in the swimming and golf teams she previously participated in, but her biggest focus right now is on marching band.
Hospitalized through the majority of the summer, she missed summer camp, where band kids learn a lot of the music and formations they’ll do for the upcoming marching season.
Also, still dealing with some finger mobility challenges, Buell is unable to play her trumpet right now. However, her mom has already seen significant improvement in that area.
“She’s already made so much progress,” Mary Buell said.
So, she’s on the field in her wheelchair, marching alongside her bandmates, but isn’t playing an instrument.
She’s hopeful they’ll have a solution by winter concert band season that will allow her to play her trumpet, and someone is making an instrument for her that she’ll be able to play, Mary Buell said.
In the meantime, in jazz band, Buell has become an honorary member of the percussion section, playing the shaker and the wind chimes.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
