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Show Hand severed in accident Teen struggles on recovery road Tyra's care, said the trauma she has suffered is not unlike other accident victims who do not understand what the psychological ramifications of a serious injury will be. SEE TRYA ON PG. 4 i I 1 F !r '- By JUDY JENSEN v Managing Editor "I thought I was going to die... I kind of wanted to." Seventeen-year-old Tyra Vance nearly got her wish as the dark oppression that enveloped her as a result of losing her hand drove her to a suicide attempt Now the courageous young woman, with the help of her physicians and support system, is fighting back and is moving toward complete recovery. Tyra's story began in October 1991. She was working as a laundry attendant at a Bountiful laundromat. It was nearing closing time and Tyra was getting ready to lock up. She had turned off all but the night light, and was checking on the last of the machines. Tyra opened the door of a washing machine that was in operation, and put her hand inside to rearrange a sleeping bag. The machine did not stop spinning and Tyra's right hand was caught in the heavy, wet bag. The force of the spinning tub prevented her from being able to extract her hand. As the spinning continued, Tyra felt excruciating pain and she struggled against the force of the whirling machine. When she was finally able to free herself, her right hand had been completely severed. "I didn't know what to do,' said Tyra, her voice cracking with emotion, "I was so scared. I ran to the telephone and tried to call 911, but I couldn't do it, said Tyra quietly as she recalled the horrifying scene. Shaken, and near hysteria, Tyra knelt by the telephone and tried to get someone, anyone to help her. Bountiful resident Dick Darnell became Tyra's unwitting savior. "I was rushing to get to the laundromat because I knew it was nearing closing time. When I arrived in the j parking lot, I saw that the lights were off and I decided to come back the next day. But I had this impression to try the door. I don't know why, but I decided to do it, said DamelL "When I got inside, I couldn't see anyone. It was quite dark and I was just about to call out when Tyra came up from behind the counter and came running toward me. It was like a scene out of a horror movie. She was screaming hysterically and at first I thought she was afraid that I was going to hurt her... then I saw her arm.' "I thought I was going to die. I kind of wanted to." Tyra Vance Darnell said his first impression was that someone had Attacked Tyra, and he wondered if the attacker was sail there. "I saw how badly she was hurt and I just grabbed her and put her in my car and took off for the hospital like a maniac honking my horn all the way,' ' recalled DamelL He rushed Tyra the seven blocks to Lakeview Hospital. There the medical team took over. Darnell said he suggested that he try to find Tyra's hand. He and a sheriffs deputy returned to the laundromat where after a short search they found the severed hand near the telephone. They returned to the hospital with the ice-packed hand, but after a consultation it was decided that Tyra's hand could not be reattached. That was the beginning begin-ning of Tyra's downhill spiral. Barry M Richards, who has intervened in Tyra Vance, 17, lost her right hand in an accident in October. She is now learning to do everything over again with her left hand. y y. , - . -s . X - I i 1 Trya CONTINUED FROM PG.l Richards, who is president of the National Institute for the Prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, said the emotional plummet Tyra experienced is a normal reaction reac-tion to an abnormal experience. "Many of the psychological problems prob-lems could have been prevented if Tyra's support systems had been appropriately oriented to the reality of post traumatic stress leading to a disorder if not responded to in time." Tyra said she doesn't remember much about the ride to the hospital, other than she was worried she was "ruining" Darnell's car and "I thought I would get fired because I left the doors open." A few days after she received her emergency care at Lakeview, Tyra was transported to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake. She said she was given medication for the pain which kept her drowsy. While Tyra was in the hospital recovering from her injuries, she was surrounded by physicians, friends and neighbors who were attending at-tending to both her physical and emotional needs. But she was not made aware of the types of symptoms symp-toms that would occur after she was released She did not understand that the body and mind seldom recover simultaneously. Tyra returned to school at Bountiful Boun-tiful High in just a few weeks. At first her peers paid her a lot of attention, atten-tion, but as time passed, the reality of how her injury would affect her life began to set in. "I started to slough school a lot. It was weird. I would just get up and walk out and no one would say anything. It was like they were afraid of me," she said. Two weeks prior to Thanksgiving Thanksgiv-ing she overheard some classmates talking about her, saying if they had her injury, they would commit suicide. The day after Thanksgiving she tried to do just that and was readmitted to Lakeview. The talk by her peers, coupled with her stress that was not understood in her home, made Tyra feel she could not deal with the magnitude of her injury. in-jury. Tyra described her stay there as "boring. There was nothing to do, and I just wanted to be left alone. I wanted to die," she said. Richards met Tyra for the first time after the suicide attempt. He went to the hospital at the request of the Workers Compensation Fund of Utah, for which he does consultations. consulta-tions. It was after this visit that Tyra was transferred to Charter Summit Hospital in December. Tyra has suffered many setbacks in her recovery as she tries to deal with the reality of her injury. While at CSH, she experienced a severe flashback of the accident where, according ac-cording to Richards, "She could see her hand, she could see the blood and she was screaming for someone to put her hand back on. ' ' With the help of the PTSD Intervention In-tervention Orientation she is learning learn-ing to understand what she is feeling feel-ing is normal. "Patients need to understand when they are seriously injured, Tyra finds her new surroundings at the youth group home "nice." She is hoping to live with a foster family after her recovery. Tyra plans to study psychology and therapy, "so I can help other people." they must recover emotionally as well as physically," said Richards. He listed the "Survival Realities" Re-alities" a patient and their caretakers must understand as: 1. Life will never be the same. 2. Complete recovery is both physical and emotional. 3. Early response to the emotional emo-tional trauma is just as important as the physical. 4. Just because you look fine, doesn't mean you are. 5. No two people are the same during recovery, and there is no way to gauge how long it will take. Understanding these things has helped Tyra progress in her recovery. She is now living in a youth group home where she has resumed her school work and is learning to adjust to her new life. A junior in high school, Tyra is now ahead of her class in her studies. She enjoys writing poetry, and she is learning to speak French and has prepared 4 'a delicious quiche and French crepes ' said her psychologist Dan Weinrich. Tyra is becoming less nervous about seeing people, but said the hardest thing is "trying to learn to do everything over again." She said it seems that every day there is some reminder of her injury. Dr. Weinrich said these reminders have created some setbacks set-backs in Tyra's recovery. He prompted pro-mpted Tyra to explain what had happened at a recent gymnastics meet she had attended. When the performance ended, the audience applauded, "And I realized I couldn't clap," said Tyra softly. Tyra is now learning to use her new prosthesis, and she hopes to master it in the very near future. Although Al-though she will never play the piano as she used to, Tyra has learned she can still make music with her left hand. She has also become proficient profi-cient at writing with her left hand. Richards said Tyra's future now looks bright, and he expects with time, she will fully recover emotionally, emo-tionally, but it will require a lot of help from her support system. Tyra hopes to find a foster home in the near future so she may live with a family and continue her education. edu-cation. 4 'This experience has helped me think a lot about what I want to do with my life. I plan to study therapy and psychology," said Tyra, "so I can help other people who have challenges. Tyra Vance Trust Fund The Davis County Clipper and the National Institute for the Prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have established a trust fund for Tyra at Zion's Bank in Bountiful. Contributions will be used for Tyra's ongoing treatment and her future education. Please make contributions to the Tyra Vance Educational Trust Fund at any branch of Zion's Bank. Attorney Scott King, representing the law firm of Snow, Hutcheson and Neider, is the trustee. j Tyra is learning to use her new "Utah hand." The hand opens and closes, allowing her to pick up objects. The fingers are 4 immovable. v n |