Health Watch: It Won't Happen to Me

ATLANTA - David Burke never planned on spending his first summer out of high school at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, practicing how to climb back up into his wheelchair in case he falls.

"They've taught me here how to do that, and I've come a long way, that's probably the best one I've ever done," said Burke.

Little things, like putting on his shoe, have been a challenge for Burke, since May 18 when the Goldsboro, North Carolina 18-year-old dove down a Slip-N-Slide he and his friends were using in a kickball game.

"I dove for home plate and lost my balance and landed straight on my head," recalled Burke.

Suddenly, Burke couldn't move his lower body and he'd suffered a spinal cord injury.

"Most people black out, lose consciousness. But I remember every moment, just before, just after, and right up until I was put under for surgery," Burke said.

Danielle Vincent recalls only bits and pieces of the February, 2006 morning, she was driving to college on a winding country road.

"I saw a case of CDs in the passenger floorboard, and something told me I'd regret it, but I reached for them anyway," recalled Vincent.

The University of West Georgia freshman swerved, flipping her Honda Accord into a tree and suffered a brain injury.

Four years later, Vincent is still recovering.

"Getting my body to cooperate doesn't really work," said Vincent.

Vincent has recovered most of her memory and can think clearly, but she sometimes feels like a prisoner in her own body.

"The physical has been the most difficult. Just because I want so badly to be normal again, but until I can overcome the physical disability, I won't be normal," Vincent said.

In the last year the Shepherd Center, which specializes in spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation, has treated about 150 young patients between the ages 11 and 20.

Almost all of the young patients ended up at the center because of an accident that could've been prevented.

"They're more risk-takers than adults are," said physical therapist Cathi Dugger.

Dugger has worked with hundreds of injured teenagers. "A lot of times they think they're also invincible. Teenagers don't think of the consequences," said Dugger.

Dugger and the Shepherd Center staff are trying to break through the, "it won't happen to me" attitude.

"To say, 'Hey, it does happen. Don't let it happen to you!'" Dugger said.

Most teens will spend a lot of time on the internet, but they won't set foot in a hospital like Shepherd Center.

That's why the young patients are going to them.

The staff at Shepherd Center is turning to popular websites like YouTube and Facebook, and patients are using those platforms to describe the split-second accidents that changed their lives forever.

"A 15-year-old saying, 'You know, my dad told me not to dive and I still dove and now I'm a quadriplegic.' There's a video of him saying that and maybe that's what it takes for one kid to just think twice," said Dugger.

Vincent said she didn't want her story to scare teens away from driving.

"It deserves a certain amount of respect. In other words your attention needs to be solely devoted to driving when you're behind that wheel," said Vincent.

"The one thing I would say to teenagers is, 'Just think.' You know?" said Burke. "It could happen to anyone and you don't realize that until it touches you somewhere close."

Later this month, Vincent will take a big step forward and return to college with the help of a motorized wheelchair.

For the first time, Burke is seeing signs his body is healing. "I've recently gained movement back in my lower body. Just a little bit. Not enough to get help with every day activities, but enough to give hope, you know. There's hope there now, for what's to come," said Burke.

For more on how to keep teens safe from injury, go to the “Think First Foundatiotion’s website http://www.thinkfirst.org/ .

To hear more teens share their stories, go to www.shepherdcenter.org .