Inside Linco: Responding to Tragedy

Midlander Juan Natividad and his wife Margarita attend the gathering at Memorial Rehabilitation Center as part of National Rehabilitation Week. (Photo by Brian Adamcik)

Article from: Midland Reporter Telegram, written by Gary Shanks (August, 1996).

Midlander Faces Life With True Grit After Fall From Roof Paralyzes Him

Surviving and prospering after a catastrophic spinal injury, Midlander Juan Natividad faces each day with the kind of true grit portrayed on the Silver Screen by his favorite movie entertainer.

With the help of therapists and social workers at Memorial Rehabilitation Hospital--along with friends, family and co-workers, Natividad, 35, has recovered from the kind of life-changing injury that psychologically overpowers many victims.

In the summer of 1994, Natividad fell off a roof and shattered his spinal column at the mid-chest level, costing him the use of his legs.

"They stuck a lot of metal in me," he joked about his 12-hours in surgery to stabilize his spine.

"I spent 30 days ... in the main hospital, before coming out here," Natividad said Monday on the grounds of Memorial Rehab, where he was invited to return as part of the National Rehabilitation Week.

Natividad, who has lived in Midland for most of his life, was transferred in August of 1994 to the rehabilitation hospital, which sits alone in the pasture land west of Loop 250 and Thomason Drive.

Within seven weeks, Juan's therapists helped him go from totally bedridden to self sufficient in seven weeks of intense physical therapy. "I lost all my balance ... I couldn't even sit up. It was tough, at first," he said.

"Juan was a determined young man," said Katy Waldrep, a social worker at Memorial Rehab. "He worked very hard and very long," she said.

His wife, Margarita Natividad, stayed at the hospital and helped her husband whenever he needed it and his other family members and friends were supportive. Even other patients at Memorial Rehab helped, providing each other with incentive as they struggle to regain abilities lost to injury or illness.

Some of Natividad's most formidable weapons used in overcoming his injury were the fellow employees and employers at Linco-Electromatic, Inc., in Midland, where Natividad worked as a foreman prior to his accident.

The employees of Linco helped make Natividad's house wheelchair accessible and the company, with the help of employees, continued to pay Natividad in the long months of his rehabilitation.

Linco-Electromatic personnel adapted the building for wheelchair access and Natividad was told that a job would be waiting for him upon his return. Since he is continuing his recovery and still has considerable pain some days--his employers allow considerable flexibility in Natividad's schedule, although it rarely gets him down. "That pain is going to be there whether you're at work or laying down," he said. "You just got to hang in there and keep praying," he said.

This kind of support from an employer is a powerful tool in regaining one's life after this kind of catastrophic injury. Unfortunately, it is not available to all rehabilitation patients.

"If they hadn't given me my job back--I wouldn't have blamed them," Natividad said.

"They're a bunch of great guys, all of them--every one of them," he said of his fellow Linco co-workers.

In addition to friends, family, co-workers, Memorial Rehab employees, and fellow patients--the Texas Rehabilitation Commission provided a $25,000 "High-rider" chair that allows Natividad to perform his job, by adjusting to hold him in a standing position for some tasks.

The whole community rallied around Natividad and he has worked extremely hard for his own rehabilitation, Ms. Waldrep said.

It is still difficult sometimes, such as after dreaming about "running on the beach," Natividad said. "You wake up and see that chair and it gets you down," he said.

"But you just make yourself get in it and get going," he added.

The next challenge in Natividad's struggle is driving, getting an adapted vehicle and learning to use hand controls.

Having always loved being outdoors, Natividad looks forward to a hunting trip scheduled this fall and hopes to be able to take his family on a trip for his daughter's upcoming 15th birthday.