Year after falling off roof, Orange County man enjoying a Christmas miracle
VALHALLA, N.Y. -- An Orange County man is celebrating his own Christmas miracle after a bad fall nearly cost him the use of his legs.
On Wednesday, he reunited with the doctor and nurses who gave him a second lease on life.
With each lift of a kettle bell and every successful hike, Michael Dennedy is reminded of just how lucky he is.
"I don't know if you've ever been scared really quickly and you get chilled and an electric shock goes through your mind, but that's what it felt like," Dennedy said.
Last Christmas, Dennedy was adjusting the lights on his house, when he fell off his roof.
"Landed on the ground and I was frozen. From that point on, I couldn't move," he said. "They decided to call a helicopter to get me to Westchester Medical as time was of the essence."
Doctors at Westchester Medical Center rushed Dennedy into emergency spinal surgery and gave him a 3% chance of ever walking again.
"Basically, the bone in his spine, the L-2, had shattered. Like, if you drop a China plate in your house. It just shattered," said spinal neurosurgeon Dr. John Wainwright.
"I tried to keep the best mindset I could. It was hard to sleep for two months. I'd roll around in my wheelchair for exercise," Dennedy said. "Slowly but surely, I had some mobility going on."
After months of excruciating recovery at two rehab facilities, Dennedy beat the odds and on Wednesday reunited with the team that helped nurse him back to health.
"Thank you so much. That was the best Christmas present ever," Dennedy said.
"Recovering the ability to walk independently like he is now without any limp or anything, I'd say it's like a 5% chance of happening to anybody with a spine injury like that," Wainwright said.
"I'd go to the gym seven days a week, do a lot of free weight exercises," Dennedy said.
Dennedy said his year-long road to recovery has renewed his faith in the wonders of medicine and self-determination, and given him his own Christmas miracle.
He is now completely mobile, but continues to keep monthly appointments to monitor his recovery.
He said failure was never an option.