Mike Aldridge

Hello Friends and Family.  Thank you for visiting this site and sending your encouragements to Mike as he recovers!  He truly enjoys reading all the messages of love and support and each one makes him smile so keep them coming!  We know so many people love and care for Mike and want him to get well soon.  He is a character that is hard to forget!  He has made so many people laugh and smile so lets return the favor!  I wanted to provide a bit about what happened.  
Typical Saturday at our home, we love to do home projects-Saturday July 11 was no different.  To make a long story short-he fell about 20 feet from an extension ladder and hit several parts of the hall on the way down.  We were able to keep him calm and still until the paramedics arrived.  There were 6 of them and they all worked diligently to keep him still and secure.  The tricky part was doing that while trying to remove him from a narrow Hallway.  He is big and strong like a football player so maneuvering that was a challenge but they prevailed.  In order to get him the fastest care and smoothest ride, they sent a helicopter to pick him up from the dam of our Lake Community we live in.  
He was flown to St. Lukes on the Plaza where they are equipped to deal with level 1 Trauma cases.  Once there, It was evident he was going to need emergency surgery to repair his spine so they gave me that news and he was off to the operating room.


Nearly 5 hours later they came and gave us the news he has a spinal cord injury and several broken bones and contusions (bruises) in his lungs.  He broke his Left Scapula (shoulder blade), 3 posterior ribs on the right, his sternum, and the vertebrae on T10.  The surgery was to fuse the spine from T8-L1 and remove a disc.  His other breaks will heal on their own.  His spinal cord was not severed, but it was injured and so right now he is unable to feel his legs; HOWEVER he has a lot of potential and as the swelling subsides everyone caring for him is hopeful those nerves will begin waking back up.  As you can imagine, these injuries are serious and he is in a significant amount of pain as these bones begin to heal.  Our main focus right now is keeping him calm and comfortable and focused on the positives, and there are a lot of positives including the love and support of family, friends, and our community.


He is getting great care and has begun some light physical therapy such as sitting up in bed and even sitting in reclining chair.  We have a long way to go but I have no doubt he will give it his all and regain function!  The doctors say he has great potential.   Right now he will remain in ICU until Monday or so, then he will be moved out of ICU but remain in the hospital, and after that he will be at an acute care facility where rehab will begin.  We have been given no timeline as this is dependent on so many things....One thing we do know is that everyone cheering him on will be a big factor in helping to keep his spirits up so he can push through and get back to being the Mike we all know and love. He can do it!


Everyone is asking how they can help, and I get it and SO appreciate it, but I want everyone to remember there is this thing called COVID 19 (you may have heard of it??) in the world right now and so visitors-even at our home is a no no!  We have to be vigilant in making certain that pesky virus stays far far away from our bubble so that I, his Mom and Dad, and Ashton and Sydney can all continue to visit him, and most importantly keep him safe.  Please honor this request as it is crucial for his continual progression, none of us get it. THANK YOU.


I promise to post pictures of him as I can and we will look into some Facetime calls in the near future as he feels up to it, and I know he will make comments and respond as he can.  Please do not worry about us, but please do continue to say prayers and words of encouragement.  Not gonna lie-this is tough,  but we are tougher.