TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Nashville woman who was nearly paralyzed while on vacation in Florida was reunited with the doctor who helped save her life.
In October 2021, Alyson West was with her friends in Fort Lauderdale when she fell 12 feet on a boat.
The fall nearly paralyzed the 27-year-old, who fractured part of her cervical spine and injured nerves near the back of her neck.
Dr. Roberts, the chief of neurosurgery at Broward Health Medical Center, said he vividly remembers the critical moment when West was brought to the hospital.
“I recall she didn’t have any sensation or movement. We typically call that a complete injury, and patients usually don’t recover from a movement standpoint,” he said.
Roberts performed two surgeries on West. She was later taken to the Respiratory Care Unit (RCU) to recover.
“This accident has impacted my whole life,” West said. “I went from being fully independent to now moving with great difficulty, relying on a wheelchair or a walker.”
More than a year after the incident, West returned to the hospital to meet with Roberts and thank him for helping her.