Doctors believe Wooley passed out because of dehydration and suffered a central spinal cord injury during to his fall, causing the paralysis he was experiencing from the chest down. He thought he might not move his legs again.
Crediting the strength of his wife Lauren, the knowledge of the dozens of health care professionals who worked on and with him, and the community that supported them, Wooley has been able to recover and just weeks before Christmas returned home to his wife and their two boys.
But none of it was easy and Wooly said he’s just thankful for the time he already been given.
“I just kept thinking, God gave me 48 years to be able to do anything and everything, and I feel like I didn’t really waste a lot of time,” Wooley said. “I was always busy. I was always active. I just feel pretty blessed that I had the 48 years because some people don’t get very many.”
Immediately following his fall, Wooley was taken to an area hospital where doctors explained everything that was happening along the way, which helped give him some comfort, he said.
Wooley eventually underwent a difficult surgery with UC Health, one that had a chance of leaving him paralyzed for good but also came with the possibility of a full recovery, he said.
“I am very fortunate that, within two days, I had pretty good feeling and I could move even though obviously that kind of surgery was very painful and the discomfort was pretty high, but again, the ICU folks down at UC West Chester were phenomenal,” Wooley said.
After spending two weeks in the ICU, Wooley was transferred to inpatient rehab at Kettering Health Hamilton where he spent another three weeks recovering there.
“The care that I received there just picked right up from where I was with UC,” Wooley said. “They were phenomenal, so encouraging, just very just attentive to my needs, attentive to helping me get better every single day.”
Wooley went from not being able to get out of bed to being able to walk all around the hospital, having full range of motion in his arms, and being able to take care of himself and get discharged.
His church and the youth football community supported him and his family, helping keep Bill and Lauren’s boys, Beckett and Lincoln, busy while Wooley recovered.
“My boys weren’t scared…they kept them so busy and active, I don’t even think they had time to truly absorb what was happening,” Wooley said.
“Due to his injury, he had very limited use of his hands, which most people don’t realize how much that impacts your day-to-day activities.” said Erin Mueller, an occupational therapist at Kettering Health. Getting dressed, eating, and brushing his teeth were difficult for him due to the limited use of his hands.
The biggest challenge Wooley had to overcome, though, was pain.
“It’s a very painful injury,” said Mueller, who was a member of Wooley’s care team.
Much of the occupational therapy included the team helping Wooley figure out ways to adapt to his condition. They found ways for Wooley to position himself so he was in less pain. To get his balance back and practice walking, medical staff had him use a LiteGait, which is a harness system that can be used with a treadmill or just over the ground, Mueller said.
Wooley’s mindset and focus also helped with his recovery, Mueller said.
“He had very clear goals from the beginning,” she said. “I think his kids motivate him a lot, and we could all tell that was a big motivating factor for him. There were days where you could tell he was in pain but he definitely pushed through a lot of that to get back to his family.”
After those three weeks, he was able to leave the facility without an assistive device. His pain was controlled, and he could complete all tasks of daily living independently.
“I’m to the point now to where, if you didn’t know I had an accident, you wouldn’t know I had an accident,” Wooley said.
Wooley is doing well, he said, and is continuing outpatient rehab. When he first got to go home, he was able to surprise both of their kids that he was home for good.
“It was really kind of surreal just to sit and watch them goof around and tease each other and just do the family stuff that that you don’t realize how much you miss until it’s not there, so very fortunate to get to come back and be a part of that,” Wooley said.
There were times when he was nervous he wouldn’t get to a complete recovery.
“I was just very nervous and obviously thinking about the impact of what’s it going to be like for my kids and what if I can’t get back to 100%, how do I still be a good dad?” he said. “I know a lot of folks overcome those things, so I was just trying to figure it out and trying to think through it.”
While every Christmas he can spend with family is special, recovering from this injury is making this season that much better, he said.
“I definitely feel like you can slow time down a little bit in your mind and just watch and just be thankful,” Wooley said.
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