Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM — During this Holiday, it’s a time to reflect on all we have to be thankful for.
And for one Orem family, they’re grateful for what they call their Thanksgiving miracle.
31-year-old Casey Fehlberg has always been the life of the party. His father, Rondo Fehlberg, said, “all of his nieces and nephews, and he has many, call him “funkel Casey” because he’s the fun uncle.”
Casey is the uncle who was once BYU’s Cosmo. The one who was always up for the biggest adventures. The one who always went all out.
“The one at family gatherings that did stuff nobody else could do. That’s likely to change,” his father said.
Casey’s life changed dramatically on February 27th when he and several friends went snowboarding in Park City. After a few warm up jumps, Casey went first. The landing was nearly fatal.
Rondo said after he landed, “the helmet didn’t help because he took a toe-side edge and went right down on the side of his face and his cheek.”
“It’s kind of like Shaken Baby Syndrome,” his mother said of Casey’s prognosis. “His brain had ricocheted inside of his skull and so they call it a ‘severe traumatic brain injury’, not just a ‘traumatic brain injury.’
For nearly 3 weeks, Casey remained in a coma at the University of Utah Hospital. Once he awoke, his progress, his family says, was nothing short of a miracle. He was able to pull himself off the ground and kneel, brush his teeth, and put on his socks.
His stay at the hospital lasted a total of 4 months. He’s currently receiving regular physical, occupational and speech therapy. He also goes to the gym with his father nearly every day.
“I try hard,” Casey said. “I didn’t like to try unless it was hard.”
And he still tries hard today. Whether it’s raking leaves in the yard, or helping his mother set a Thanksgiving table. He said his biggest frustration is his body “won’t match my mental abilities.”
Whether his body will ever match his mental abilities is still uncertain. Doctor’s believe he could recover to be a full independent active adult, though they don’t know if he’ll return to the Casey of old.
But as the Fehlberg’s celebrate this Thanksgiving Holiday, they know they have so much to be grateful for. And Casey, who is living with his parents, may be the most grateful of all.
“I think so,” he said. “I would like to think so.”
His mother added, “in fact my thought this year is to send out Thanksgiving cards instead of Christmas cards. We have so very much to be grateful for!”
