CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In 2023, Border Patrol Agent Christopher Alaniz's life was forever changed after he was critically injured in a high speed crash while on duty. Today, he stands as a testament of hard work and faith.
"Thank y'all, thank y'all. Not only for y'all but for everyone's hard work. Because y'all made it to where I was able to get back home to my family," Alaniz said. "A lot of things were not right with me at the time, so a lot of hard work from the nurses and doctors here got me back to waking up and got back to going home."
After being in a coma for two weeks, Alaniz is now back to independent living and defying the odds.
"You know, the biggest problem with head injuries, and unfortunately with young patients like him, is that those that are disabled, those are years of productive life lost," said Regional Trauma Program Director John Adamski. "So someone that's disabled at 37 years old, loses the next 30 years of being a productive member of society. So for us to get him to rehab, and then subsequently back into society doing exactly what he was before he came as a patient, is a complete success story."
Doctors who worked closely with Alaniz said the outcome of his recovery was almost impossible to believe, considering how he came in. But love and support from family, goes a longer way than medicine in situations like these.
"Patients like him, would have spent a minimum of four weeks in acute rehab and then outpatient. He spent two weeks and then outpatient and was able to get back to work, that's amazing. That's not medicine, that is miraculous as well as support of family," said Adamski.
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