Girl pushed in pool at her bachelorette party, leaves her paralyzed

Coach AI · Nov 22, 2010

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40312492/ns/today-today_people?GT1=43001

A freak accident during a poolside party left Rachelle Friedman’s body forever broken. The mishap didn’t make even the slightest dent, however, in the bride-to-be’s spirit — or her desire to marry the man who stood by her when both of their lives were suddenly turned upside down.

“I’m doing awesome,” Friedman, 25, told anchor Meredith Vieira Monday on TODAY. “I’m determined. I’m going to marry him one way or another.”

The accident occurred in Virginia Beach in May, a month before Friedman was to marry Chris Chapman, a seventh-grade science teacher from North Carolina. After attending a bachelorette party in her honor, Friedman and her girlfriends changed into bathing suits for a late-night swim.

Then came the push that changed Friedman’s life. It was just a playful tap from behind from a friend to get Friedman into the water. Unfortunately, the pool was only 3 and a half feet deep at the end into which Friedman plunged headfirst.

Rachelle Friedman immediately knew something was wrong. “As soon as I hit the water, I felt my body kind of stiffen up. I went numb and I kind of heard a crack in my neck,” she said.

The sound Friedman heard was her C6 cervical vertebra fracturing when her head hit the bottom of the pool. She has had no feeling below her collarbone ever since. Doctors say she will never walk again.

“We were horsing around by the pool. It was a freak accident,” said Friedman. “I just went in the wrong way.”

Of course, the wedding plans were immediately put on hold. But as soon as she was able, Friedman began physical therapy to relearn how to use her arms and hands, albeit with limited range of motion.

“Every day’s a fight. There are so many things I am unable to do right now. You have to fight if you’re going to get there,” she said. “There is no use in being down in the dumps and depressed. It’s not going to get you anywhere.”

The wedding is on
Friedman’s mother and brother stay with her during the day. The rest of the time, Chapman lovingly cares for the woman he still intends to marry.

“I never once thought about leaving her or the situation,” Chapman told Vieira. “It was simply a matter of: ‘We are a couple. We’re going to get through this,’ ” he said.

Many men would have been unable to cope with the constant care that someone with a permanent spinal injury requires. Chapman, however, said he will provide Friedman with all the love and care she’ll need.

“I certainly had moments where I felt it would be very difficult, and have had trouble coming to terms about what a future could be, but one day at a time we keep working through it,” he said.

The couple intend to marry next summer, but first they have to overcome some hurdles. For one, Friedman may not quality for Medicaid after her disability payments are coupled with her new husband’s salary.

And of course, they’ll have to redo the wedding invitations. The friend who pushed Friedman in the pool, whom Friedman declined to identify, will be among the invited guests.

“I didn’t have to forgive her; I never blamed her in the first place,” Friedman said of the friend, who she said was having “a hard time” getting over the incident emotionally. “It was a freak accident.”

As for Chapman, Friedman said she never had a doubt that he would stand beside her at the altar — albeit it a year later than planned, and with her in a wheelchair.

“I knew he’d be there for me,” she said. “If the roles had been reversed, I’d be there for him.”
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RoxSqaud · Nov 22, 2010

That's horrible.

Lil Pun · Nov 22, 2010

A coworker of mine had a son who broke his C6 on the opening kickoff of a state playoff game on Friday. Fortunately, he is expected to make a full recovery and can move all of his limbs.

Feel horrible for her and anybody out there that has to go through this.

rockets934life · Nov 22, 2010

Sickens my stomach because you really can't blame anyone, it was an accident...HORRIBLE.

RoxSqaud · Nov 22, 2010

...sucks for the groom as well.

finalsbound · Nov 22, 2010

her attitude is so inspiring.

mosessmalone · Nov 22, 2010

If I got paralyzed I would kill myself. I love running and playing bball and being active way too much and I can't imagine living without being able to move

DaDakota · Nov 22, 2010

Lil Pun said:

A coworker of mine had a son who broke his C6 on the opening kickoff of a state playoff game on Friday. Fortunately, he is expected to make a full recovery and can move all of his limbs.

Feel horrible for her and anybody out there that has to go through this.
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This scares the crap out of me, I played football growing up, loved it very much, but now that I have boys, I really struggle with them wanting to play.

Dang.....that sucks for the girl....great attitude, and isn't there some research going on with stem cells where they regrew spinal chords in rats?

DD

GRENDEL · Nov 22, 2010

Wow that just horrible, I couldn't imagine what the friend that pushed her in is dealing with, I mean it was something so innocent and to have it change her friends life forever, talk about some serious guilt.

SwoLy-D · Nov 22, 2010

Sad story. Can't peeps make recovery time shorter and let their bodies "learn" things again?

rockets934life said:

Sickens my stomach because you really can't blame anyone, it was an accident...HORRIBLE.
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Why? I bet no one wants to go there, man... but...

If we're going there, you CAN blame the person who pushed her... I bet they feel like CRAP.

trustme · Nov 22, 2010

CAN anyone be blamed? I dono. How do you go from a playful tap to plunging head first into a pool fast and hard enough to crack a vertebra? Were they on a balcony or something?

rockets934life · Nov 22, 2010

SwoLy-D said:

Sad story. Can't peeps make recovery time shorter and let their bodies "learn" things again?

Why? I bet no one wants to go there, man... but...

If we're going there, you CAN blame the person who pushed her... I bet they feel like CRAP.
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Agree, you can, but it wasn't like it was a malicious push. SUCKS for everyone involved but, YES, there is blame to be awarded I guess.

Raven · Nov 22, 2010

The marriage won't last. It's horrible, but it's true. I wish her the best, though.

Lil Pun · Nov 22, 2010

DaDakota said:

This scares the crap out of me, I played football growing up, loved it very much, but now that I have boys, I really struggle with them wanting to play.

Dang.....that sucks for the girl....great attitude, and isn't there some research going on with stem cells where they regrew spinal chords in rats?

DD
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No joke and people who have daughters are not immune either as I have read cheerleading and other sports geared toward females have similar types of injury issues.

R0ckets03 · Nov 22, 2010

man...thats tough. all the best to the soon to be bride.

FLASH21 · Nov 22, 2010

Raven said:

The marriage won't last. It's horrible, but it's true. I wish her the best, though.
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Why?

sammy · Nov 22, 2010

People need to grow up. I've never pushed anyone into a pool or anything silly like this...why? bc of things like this.

Guys & girls were jumping into a pool off the roof of a gazebo thing at a pool party I was at this summer. This chick looked so nervous..I was telling her don't do it..anyways she jumps off and hit her head on the pool. Thankfully, nothing serious happened to her but I'm always against taking unnecessary risks.

Royals Ego · Nov 22, 2010

weak ass people

viva natural selection

mosessmalone · Nov 22, 2010

Royals Ego said:

weak ass people

viva natural selection
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wtf... even if you were joking. I'm sure if you fell on your neck on a concrete surface at a certain angle you would be paralyzed too.

not funny at all. dumb post of the day

Surfguy · Nov 22, 2010

I saw her on TV being interviewed. Apparently, they had a history of pushing each other in the pool like this. But, anyone who would push someone in a pool where it is only three and a half feet deep is not thinking straight. And, for her to land head first. I guess you had to be there to see how that played out. It's almost like one friend got down on all fours and the other pushed her over the friend so the victim went down head first. It sounds like the equivalent of diving head first into the shallow end.

The other thing is this same girl was saying how perfect her life was just days before and she was wondering when it would go awry.

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Girl pushed in pool at her bachelorette party, leaves her paralyzed

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