At just 24 years old, Gabe Villanueva has been through a series of life-threatening challenges – seven years of struggles that included several heart attacks, a brain bleed and ruptured spine.
But with some hard work and great support from the skilled teams at University of Michigan Health in Ann Arbor and Lansing’s UM Health-Sparrow Specialty Hospital, he has the chance to recapture his life.
Life changing accident, second chance
Villanueva’s health struggles began in March 2017. While racing with a friend near his home in Adrian, Michigan, he lost control of his vehicle, sending it tumbling into a cornfield. Miraculously, he survived, but not without serious injuries.
His scalp was torn, and debris was lodged in his head.
“I woke up and my eyes were shut,” said Villanueva. “At that point, I decided to go to U-M Health for better care and to get my head washed out and taken care of, and they did that successfully.”
But in the months following the crash, Villanueva’s health began to rapidly deteriorate.
“Gabe called me at work from school and said that something wasn’t right. So, I picked him up, and we went to the ER, where they discovered he had a heart attack,” said Lindsey McMordie, Villanueva’s mother.
In fact, over the next few months, Villanueva suffered several heart attacks, culminating in a stroke and a brain bleed the size of a tennis ball.
Experts at U-M Health determined he had a tear in a cardiac artery, likely sustained during the crash, which led him to undergo a heart transplant in January 2020.
New life in jeopardy
Villanueva’s resilience would be tested once again when a tragic car accident in September 2023 left him with a ruptured spine, shattering his prospects of ever walking again.
“I don’t exactly remember what happened, but I hit a tree while in my vehicle and ruptured my spine in 14 places,” he said. “This broke every rib on one side of my body and fractured the rest.”
“He was transferred to the closest hospital to the scene of the accident and the doctors there told us that Gabe had suffered a lot of injuries to his spinal cord, and that he wouldn’t walk again,” said McMordie.
Faced with the prospect of paralysis, his family sought a transfer to University Hospital in Ann Arbor.
“We got to U-M, and they assessed Gabe and did imaging to give them a bigger picture. At that point, it was very likely that he would be paralyzed, but they had more hope than Jackson did. So, we agreed to a major spine surgery, and then from there, it was just step by step each day,” said McMordie.
Recovery and move
Villanueva remained in the intensive care unit at University Hospital for two months when his family decided with his doctors to move him to UM Health-Sparrow Specialty Hospital in Lansing.
“Sparrow was further from our home than a lot of other places, but for us, we wanted somewhere we knew was skilled at weaning patients off vents because we just weren’t having luck weaning him in the ICU,” McMordie said.
“And then learning that Sparrow is now a part of U-M, that did ease our mind.”
Villanueva quickly made progress, as his care team set three main goals; to wean him off the ventilator, heal his wounds and then get him back on his feet.
“Gabe and his mom worked well together to achieve success,” said UM Health-Sparrow physical therapist Erin Choi.
“Gabe was always ready to participate in therapy and always gave his best effort,” said UM Health-Sparrow physical therapist Ryan Koenigsknecht.
“It was actually a phenomenal experience. Their program, they have it right down to science, and it works,” McMordie said.
Regaining strength one step at a time
After six weeks, Villanueva returned to inpatient rehabilitation in Ann Arbor, where he defied the odds, gradually regaining mobility through intensive physical therapy.
“I’m to the point now where I can walk with a walker. I just push myself and I keep getting stronger,” he said.
While Villanueva still has a challenging road ahead, he wants everyone to know that with courage, determination and unwavering faith, anything is possible.
“I know I that I can make a difference and I’ve gotten to a point where I need to be my own man.”
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Previously Published on michiganmedicine.org with Creative Commons License
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