{"id":5871,"date":"2017-01-26T14:52:45","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T20:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=5871"},"modified":"2017-01-31T11:05:55","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T17:05:55","slug":"sau-student-new-outlook-life-recovers-boating-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2017\/sau-student-new-outlook-life-recovers-boating-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"SAU student has new outlook on life as he recovers from boating accident"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Landon Darden, a Southern Arkansas University freshman psychology major from Smackover, Ark., has a new outlook on life after he suffered major head injuries in a boating accident in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to become an occupational therapist,\u201d Darden said. \u201cWhen I graduated high school, my idea was to become an electrician, but the new game plan is to go into therapy, mostly because of all that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darden, who is 18, said he and his best friend, Tanner Birchfield, set out in Birchfield\u2019s jon boat (a flat-bottomed boat used for fishing or hunting) on the morning of\u00a0Sunday, Sept. 13<\/span>, for some early-season teal hunting at Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were following my GPS,\u201d Darden said. \u201cI was telling Tanner how to get where we were going. Bass boats go through there every day, but we just got very unlucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their boat \u201chit something underwater,\u201d Darden said, and he was thrown toward the front of the 14-foot boat. The transducer on the propeller broke on impact, causing the blades to strike Darden three times in the head.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a freak accident,\u201d he said. \u201cThe motor was still attached to the boat; it was just the transducer that broke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darden said he still has no memory of the propeller striking him. His friend sprang into action, taking off his shirt and using it to try to stop the bleeding from Darden\u2019s massive head injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put my hands across my lap and sat on them and called 911,\u201d Darden said.<\/p>\n

Birchfield got lucky with phone service in an area of Felsenthal where normally there is none, Darden said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good Lord was there, that\u2019s all I can say.\u201d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They were five minutes from the nearest boat ramp, but emergency responders answered the call. \u201cThey got me to the ramp, and by the time we got there, the helicopter was waiting on me,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember any of this \u2013 it\u2019s still a blank.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that no more than 1 hour and 15 minutes elapsed from the time the initial 911 call was received to his arrival at the hospital in Shreveport, La.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got me stable enough for my parents to come and see me,\u201d Darden said, \u201cand then I was in brain surgery for eight hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accident had cracked Darden\u2019s skull and broken the membranous sac holding his brain. Following surgery, Darden was in a medically-induced coma for 18 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in ICU for a total of 32 days,\u201d Darden said. \u201cAfter I woke up it was still all a blank. They sent me to Dallas to a pediatric (facility) called Our Children\u2019s House for rehabilitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was walking out by duck season. It wasn\u2019t fun and it wasn\u2019t easy, but I did it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Darden said the injuries to the right side of his brain incapacitated the left side of his body. \u201cMy left foot was messed up; my right hand was messed up. They\u2019re both still getting better. I had to learn how to walk, crawl, turn over in bed. It was pretty bad. I was there 31 days. They had me up and walking again in 30.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that he told his doctors that \u201cI was walking out by duck season. It wasn\u2019t fun and it wasn\u2019t easy, but I did it. They got me eating again and they got me up and walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said his parents, John and Glenda, sustained him throughout the ordeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people at the Shreveport hospital helped Dad get through it, and Mom, too. In 60 some-odd days, Dad only went home twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLandon is our walking miracle,\u201d said Glenda Darden. \u201cWe are truly blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landon said he never really worried about his recovery. \u201cI remember all the rehab, but it never really hit me what had just happened. I don\u2019t know if the good Lord said don\u2019t worry, but I never had a thought. I just agreed with it and said OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am taking all my pre-requisites for occupational therapy. I want to make sure people get the same kind of help I did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though he missed half his senior year at Smackover High, he continued with his therapy and went on to graduate in 2016. He entered SAU last fall, following in his mother\u2019s academic footsteps. He said she graduated as a Mulerider in 1992.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m enjoying it, and I haven\u2019t had one problem,\u201d Darden said of his experience at SAU. \u201cI am taking all my pre-requisites for occupational therapy. I want to make sure people get the same kind of help I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fund-raisers and donations aided the family with medical bills and Darden said he has spoken to several local hunting and fishing groups about his experience. He has also returned to Felsenthal since the accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my time,\u201d he said of his brush with mortality. \u201cI know it could have been worse, but I have more to do. I don\u2019t know what it is yet but I know it\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Landon Darden, a Southern Arkansas University freshman psychology major from Smackover, Ark., has a new outlook on life after he suffered major head injuries in a boating accident in 2015. \u201cI want to become an occupational therapist,\u201d Darden said. \u201cWhen I graduated high school, my idea was to become an electrician, but the new game… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":5872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[297,32641,7753,288,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bss","8":"category-featured-layout","9":"category-homepage","10":"category-regional-news","11":"category-student-life","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}