Spencer Shell recovering well

 

Recovering after an accident is no easy feat, but Spencer Shell is making it look simple.

Shell, a junior in political science, collapsed on Harris Field earlier this year while jogging.  He fell near a Campus Recreation Booth for Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow, where Jon Smetana, a junior in sports management, and Robert Olsen began to perform CPR.   

“Had CPR not been administered immediately, brain and organ damage could have occurred; the CPR helped oxygen get from his heart to his organs, which was critical for organ function and brain function,” Koby Shell, Spencer’s mother, said.

After the accident, Spencer was rushed to Rex Hospital.  Shell was originally diagnosed with cardiac arrest and eventually developed ARDS due to aspirating fluids into his lungs.  His case was rare and recovery was not expected to go smoothly.

“His case is unique.  He is the miracle boy wonder without a diagnosis on his heart. Nurses greet him as “Oh, so you’re the legend we’ve been hearing about.”  He was on life support for 6 days,” Koby Shell said.

Shell was taken off life support after six days and slowly began the road to recovery.  He returned home from the hospital after a fifteen-day stay.  Nurses, doctors, EMTs, and the firefighters who were on the original scene of the accident called daily to check his progress.

“Every single firefighter, EMT, paramedic, supervisor that was at the scene has come back to see how Spencer was doing.  They were all astonished to see how well he was doing,” Koby Shell said.

Spencer was lucky to have received medical attention so promptly.  Had CPR not been administered immediately, brain and organ damage may have occurred.  When he arrived at Wake County Hospital, hypothermia was utilized in order to cool his organs down.

“Wake County is one of the few emergency responders in the nation that utilizes hypothermia.  It protects the organs from damage and REX hospital has since changed its policy about using the techniques of inducing hypothermia on younger individuals in Spencer’s age category,” Koby Shell said.

Spencer is recovering faster than was initially expected.  All things considered, he is doing very well.  Although he has had slight issues with short-term memory, he is getting back to his normal life one day at a time. 

“If you ran into him at the library or Global Village, you would never know what he’s been through. He’s really been a big fighter,” Koby Shell said.

Spencer is currently working on returning to the University.  He has been returning to Raleigh as much as possible and working with his professors to get caught up on the semester.  His physical activity is still somewhat limited, according to his mother, but he is slowly returning to a normal routine.

“I have no clue what I would have expected.  I was impressed, very impressed,” Koby Shell said.