Senior Zack Roehl is back on campus after an eight-month recovery from an ATV accident that happened June 24, 2014 on the ranch where he was working.
Roehl is getting back on track to finish his degree in nursing. He said he is looking forward to being active in men’s social club Pi Kappa Epsilon and getting back into activities at Harding. It is not all easy, though.
“It’s been eight months since I’ve thought about anything nursing,” Roehl said. “I was a patient for a long time but just being a nursing student I haven’t thought about a lot of this stuff in eight months since last spring.”
The lasting effects from the accident include damaged nerves in his right eye. He currently has double vision and wears an eye patch. He also has hearing loss in his right ear that the doctors think may be permanent and less feeling in his left foot.
“There’s not a whole lot of physical effects left,” Roehl said. “Compared to where I was, that’s not a whole lot to deal with.”
The vehicle he was driving flipped one and a half times before coming to a stop beside the road. He was transported by helicopter to the hospital where he was not expected to live. Roehl was in the ICU for 21 days following the accident.
His family was told it would be a two year recovery, but he has made a near complete recovery in less than eight months. He was on a feeding tube for six months and had to attend physical therapy to re-learn how to swallow.
Roehl said his perspective has changed on nursing after being a patient for an extended period of time.
“I haven’t started clinicals yet, but this past spring I had patients that were in a feeding tube and trach,” Roehl said. “If I have clinicals this semester, I can really relate so much better because that was the worst part of the accident.”
His mother, Nancy Roehl said her son has been looking forward to getting back to Harding and seeing his friends again. She said she is grateful for his recovery and the support from the student body.
“We got thousands of cards from all 50 states plus 19 countries,” Nancy Roehl said.
