Kevin Coutts Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

August 17, 2022 started out like any other day. I was away at a cottage with my oldest grandchild, while the younger one was at a Special Needs summer camp. Meanwhile, I assumed my Electrician husband was hard at work.

Little did I know, everything was not as usual…

Kellie

Our friends Kevin and Kellie Coutts, have faced many challenges in their 32 years together. They met during a difficult time when Kellie was raising her 7 year old daughter on her own. They quickly realized they made a good team and within a few years, bought their first home.

At the age of 14, their daughter was diagnosed with schizophrenia – the teen years were challenging, but they were strong together.

In 2004, they welcomed their first grandchild and 20 months later, a second. Kevin and Kellie were very involved with the grandchildren from the very beginning – having them over to their house most weekends, to give their daughter a break.

In April of 2007, it became apparent that the responsibility of raising two children was too much for their daughter. Kevin and Kellie willingly opened their hearts to raising these two grandchildren. They put their lives on hold and started over. They spent their life savings to gain full custody of these precious children so that they could lead happy and healthy lives.

As a family, they have enjoyed many fun filled times as well. They bought a bigger house with a swimming pool, they loved to camp – travelling mostly around Ontario and taking in the beauty close to home. In 2017, they took their biggest camping adventure – they loaded up the trailer and van and headed south – stopping in Kentucky to see the Mammoth Caves, then on to Florida and Walt Disney World. It was a vacation they saved long and hard for. Most recently, in July of this year, they took the kids for their first trip by plane. They were so excited, and spent a lovely week in the Dominican Republic.

On August 17th, while Kellie was away, she was trying to reach Kevin to touch base and see how his week was going. She phoned and texted him throughout the day and just figured he was busy at work and would call back when he could. After many attempts and no reply, Kellie called a neighbour to see if Kevin’s work truck was at home – it was there. She then asked the neighbour to enter the house to check on him.

That moment in time has changed their lives forever.

Kevin was found in the bedroom, laying at the foot of the bed – unable to move. It is unknown how long he was there.

Kevin was rushed to the hospital and, within 24 hours, was operated on to fuse his spine from C2 through T2, and underwent a decompression from C2 through T7.

On Friday August 26th, the surgeon informed Kevin and Kellie, that due to the length of time Kevin’s spinal cord was compressed, there is significant damage to the nerves. Had they gotten to him within 8 hours of the initial injury he might have had a chance to regain some use of his legs.

At this point, with extensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation, they are hopeful he will regain use of his arms and hands, and they will work on building core strength to that he will be able to transfer himself in and out of a wheelchair.