After nearly eight months of therapy after a chiropractor severed four of her arteries, Caitlin Jensen is now residing in a new home with handicap accessibility
After eight months of treatment, a recent graduate who saw a chiropractor for lower back pain and left with four damaged arteries and paralysis has returned home.
Caitlin Jensen, 29, experienced heart attacks and strokes following a visit with Dr. TJ Harpham on June 16 for back and neck problems brought on by long hours of studying.
The Georgia Southern University alumna was released from a rehab center on February 16 after regaining the ability to move her head, arms, and legs.
Her mother, Darlene Jensen, has shared photos of Caitlin’s long road to recovery on a GoFundMe page that raised enough money for a new, handicap accessible home for her. Despite her condition, Caitlin appears to be smiling in several pictures that show her in a wheelchair, in bed and doing physical therapy.
‘It struck me tonight that Caitlin will return home a week from today – exactly 8 months to the day from the morning she went to the chiropractor,’ Darlene wrote in a February 9 update.
‘She will return to a different life, but the most important part in all of this is that she still has a life!
‘When she was laying in the Neuro ICU unit in June, we didn’t know if that would be the case, or what her cognitive capacity would be if she did make it. Bringing her home next week is a gift of hope.’
Caitlin earned a degree in chemistry and biology and had spent more than a year working at the Sitka Science Center in Alaska with high career aspirations.
After the chiropractor adjusted Caitlin’s neck, she quickly started feeling sick and was rushed by ambulance from the appointment office to a hospital. Tests showed that she had brain bleed. She had a stroke that caused cardiac arrest and lost her pulse for more than 10 minutes before being revived, according to the GoFundMe page.
Caitlin underwent surgery and doctors discovered that four of her arteries were dissected. They repaired some of the tears and put a stent in one of her arteries. She was in a neuro intensive care unit at a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, and was still in critical condition a month later.
The GoFundMe, created on June 22, has raised more than $166,300 as of Tuesday evening. Darlene used the funds to buy a new home for Caitlin that has outdoor wheelchair rails and other accessibility elements.
‘Caitlin now has a space that is accessible for her, and is also lovely to be in. It is a home of healing, with space to put her equipment, and a space that will grow and evolve with her changing needs,’ wrote Darlene in a March 5 update.
‘It is also a space of streamlined function and practicality from a caregiver’s standpoint, all while being beautiful at the same time.’