After a freak accident that left David with a fractured C2, he was taken by helicopter to UNC Health for spine surgery.

 In November 2024, David left his house to go collect political signs that he had set out around town for a friend. At one of the stops, five miles from his home in Rocky Mount, David struggled to pull the sign out of the ground. When the sign finally came up, David lost his balance and fell face first onto the side walk. He heard something pop, and thought he had broken his glasses.

David never lost consciousness and was able to clean up the blood on his face before climbing into his truck to drive the five miles home. When his wife, Susan, saw his face, she insisted they drive to the emergency room to make sure that he did not have a concussion. “I was still in denial that it was serious,” recalled David.

Susan drove him to the emergency room in Rocky Mount. He was immediately ushered back to a room and ordered an x-ray. “I could hear the technicians talking as they were doing the x-ray,” said David. “One said, ‘we’ve got to get a collar on him.’”

During the fall, David had also dislocated two fingers on his left hand. An x-ray showed that his fingers were not broken, and he was given a metal splint.

X-rays confirmed that during the fall, David had broken his C2 vertebrae in his neck, and required immediate surgery. He was told that he needed to be transferred to a trauma center, and Susan insisted that they go to UNC Chapel Hill.

“I was lucky that I was not paralyzed. The vertebrae was so close to the spinal cord.”

David’s x-rays were sent to Chapel Hill, and the UNC helicopter was dispatched to Rocky Mount to safely transport him. When he arrived in Chapel Hill, David was immediately transported to the ICU. “I was still aware and conscious and I knew what was going on,” recalled David. “I kept telling my wife that I felt like I couldn’t breathe and that I would suffocate. A nurse from UNC saw me and said ‘his esophagus is closing up, incubate him immediately.’”

A rapid response team was called and David was then heavily medicated and a tube was placed to help him breathe. On a Sunday morning, while David was sedated by medication, his wife met spinal neurosurgeon Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya. “My wife was amazed by him,” said David. “The nurses told my wife that I had the top guy to do this surgery. That made her feel great. Dr. Upadhyaya knew his stuff.”

Dr. Upadhyaya had a halo placed on David and a 10-pound weight on the back to help lift his C2 vertebrae since it was completely off set and hanging by a shard, digging into David’s spine. This was done to stabilize David for surgery the following day. “I was lucky that I was not paralyzed,” said David. “The vertebrae was so close to the spinal cord.”

The first time David was conscious and able to meet Dr. Upadhyaya was two days after his surgery. “When he saw how I had recovered, he was grinning,” said David. “We gave each other a fist bump and I thanked him for pulling me through all of that.”

“Three months later, I am walking around doing everything I could do before.”

After surgery, David spent 10 days in the hospital before being transferred to UNC Hillsborough’s rehabilitation center. While in the hospital and rehab center, David was determined to be released as quickly as possible to go home, so he pushed himself during his physical therapy exercises. David spent five days in the Hillsborough rehabilitation center before being discharged. “I wanted to move along as quickly as I could so that I would be able to be released.”

Now, David is back to doing everything that he could do before surgery. He notes that he is discouraged from getting on a ladder, a direction that is easy for him to follow due to his dislike of heights. He goes to UNC Nash near his home in Rocky Mount twice a week for physical therapy and is trying to strengthen his back and posture. “That’s going well and working as it should,” said David.

He notes that the injury to his hand may require surgery since he is still unable to move his two fingers. Despite the slow recovery of his hand, David is pleased with the outcome. “Three months later, I am walking around doing everything I could do before,” said David. “Most people would not know that I had had an accident at this point because I am doing everything that I have always done.”

David is grateful for the care he received at UNC Health, and even more grateful to Susan for insisting they go to the emergency room after his fall. “Had she not been there, or had I been home when I couldn’t breathe, the outcome would be far different. She was watching over me.”