Cody Bryan is on the long road to recovery after accident

Walking to the kitchen. Driving his truck to work. Playing with his children.

Cody Bryan won’t be taking those or any other activities of daily living for granted anymore. 

Bryan was seriously injured in an accident on Nov. 12 when he was struck by a car while riding a hunting cart on Highway 15 near Linwood. 

He suffered a dislocated hip, seven broken ribs, a broken sternum, a broken neck and a broken back in two places. Fortunately, his spinal cord was not injured.

He had surgery at the University of South Alabama Medical Central, which is known for its care for people who have suffered trauma injuries. 

And within a month, he was back at work. Now he is driving himself to work as director of the Philadelphia-Neshoba County Park Commission.

“My spinal cord was not hurt,” Bryan said. “The neurosurgeon who operated on me said it was a miracle I wasn’t paralyzed. The type of injury I had and as severe as it was, he didn’t see how I was able to walk and move around as well as I do.”

Bryan loves to deer hunt. He was in the woods at his place that Friday evening. There are three roads in and out of his place. Bryan parked his truck at the second entrance. He was driving his hunting cart and came out on an exit, about 60 feet from his truck.

“There is a trail off the road that I usually use when I’m going to the second entrance,” Bryan said. “But it had rained the day before and the culvert had been washed out so I was driving north on Highway 15, south of the Linwood.”

After the accident, Bryan said he was conscious. He said the only thing that really hurt at the time was his dislocated hip. 

A friend came by to check on Bryan and found him. The vehicle turned over in the accident and the driver needed attention, too.

“They took me to Neshoba General first,” Bryan said. “They got me stabilized and popped my hip back into place. Then I was airlifted to South Alabama.”

After he got there, Bryan spent the rest of that Friday night and most of Saturday in the emergency room. 

A room opened Saturday night and he was transferred to ICU. The next day, he had surgery. The surgeon put a rod in his back and fused his neck and back together. He stayed in the hospital a total of seven days and was then sent home.

“I’m lucky to be here,” Bryan said. “I had been driving on Highway 15 between the two entrances throughout the deer season. I may have done that  six or seven times.

“I had lights on the cart. It was one of those deals, just an accident. If it had been a truck or an 18-wheeler, I would have probably been killed.  I am so glad the other guy wasn’t hurt. It flipped him. 

“I had that golf cart since I was 13 years old. I had fixed it up with a lift so I could hunt out of it,” Bryan said. “But it was good to be back home. I had been going back to the doctor every four weeks to be checked. Now the doctor has cleared me for every three months.”

Physically, Bryan said he is at about 50 percent of where he was before the accident.

“I have to go to physical therapy three times a week for six weeks,” Bryan said. “I lift light weights, do stretches, working my arms and my neck.

“When I went back to work, I had to wear a hard brace from my belly to my neck for 12 weeks. I still have a long way to go. I don’t know if I could every regain full mobility in my neck. I have a rod in it and it is going to stay forever. I’m hoping I can play golf again one day and other things.”

When he got home, Bryan said he was overwhelmed by the calls and texts he received with people checking on him.

“I didn’t have my phone for seven days,” Bryan said. “People would call my wife and my mom.. And when I got home, I got hundreds of calls and texts. It makes a fellow feel good when you are laying there and can’t do much. I appreciate the calls and the prayers and the food people brought over. That made me want to fight that much more. We live in a real caring community.”

Bryan said he started his recovery by getting up and walking to the kitchen. Then he walked to the mailbox. Later, he walked around the block.

“I have to stay active,” Bryan said. “I can’t just sit there or I get stiff. I can tell at night time, when I sleep, I wake up and feel like somebody is hitting me with a baseball bat. One good thing, this is temporary. It’s not permanent.”

When he first went back to work, his mother, Linda, helped him put on the brace and then drove him to work.

“I felt like a school kid again, having to be dropped off,” Bryan said. He started driving again in mid-February.

Bryan lived an active life before the accidents. In addition to working on his place and his duties as the parks and recreation director.

Before, he averaged running 20 to 25 miles per week. In fact, he competed in the Heart o’ Dixie Triathlon last year. He hopes to do it again this year.

“I don’t think I will ever get on a bicycle again,” Bryan said. “I can’t take another lick if I had a wreck. But I may be able to be on a team and either do the run or the swim.”

He had good care at home. His wife, Crystal, is an RN.

“I trusted her and she did a lot of my care,” Bryan said. “She was great. I wanted her to take care of me.”

Cody and Krystal have three children, Anna Lauren, 14, Gracie 12 and Kynlee, 6.

“It shook them up pretty good,” Bryan said. “They are glad to have their daddy back home.”

Bryan was born and raised in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Philadelphia High School and East Central Community College. He has worked as parks director for six years.