Eganville – A Deep River woman who was seriously injured in a hiking accident in the High Falls area of Algonquin Park in July 2020 recently had the opportunity to say thank you to members of the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service who responded to her accident.

In an exclusive interview with The Leader, Brie Birdsell recounted her mishap and the important role members of the County’s Sierra team played in giving her a better chance to recover from her extensive injuries thanks to the fact she was expedited to a trauma centre in Ottawa.

A native of British Columbia, Ms. Birdsell grew up in the outdoors and hiking and camping in the backcountry is something she enjoyed and has been doing since she was a kid.

“It was my first time to High Falls,” she explained. “That day, we were there swimming and diving into those lovely pools.

“We went on a little exploration to see the waterfall, I got excited and I deviated from the path to get closer to the falls,” she added. “I thought I could scramble down to this one rock ledge that would be a great view. I lost my footing and in doing so, fell.”

An article on the mishap, notes she fell approximately 20 feet and suffered multisystem trauma. Other visitors to the park responded initially, however, the rescue efforts were hampered by the lack of cell phone and radio service in the area. Fortunately, one of the bystanders was able to make the 911 call on a satellite phone. Meanwhile, some of the bystanders did what they could to care for her until and off-duty member of the County of Renfrew paramedics, who happened to be in the park, heard the call, and ran to the scene. Ms. Birdsell expressed her gratitude for the initial care she received from the bystanders until the paramedics arrived. One of the bystanders was trained in first aid in his military career at Garrison Petawawa.

“We are fortunate to live in an area where many military members have wilderness first aid training,” she remarked. “I believe the bystanders who came to my rescue had that training and I am very grateful for that.”

The rescue effort included the paramedic’s Sierra team, the Ontario Provincial Police, park staff, a chopper from the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton and an Ornge air ambulance. After she was stabilized, she was hoisted in a basket to the JRCC chopper and flown to the trauma centre in Ottawa with multisystem trauma.

“The spinal cord injury was at L1. I had no movement in my legs,” she said. “My upper body was never affected by the spinal cord injury. I also had head trauma.”

Ms. Birdsell said doctors have told her because she was in Ottawa and on the operating table so quickly after the accident gave her the chance of a more positive outcome.

“The spine surgeon, Dr. Phan, said that my return of leg strength and function is largely due to the fact I was on the operating table within eight hours of falling. And that is a huge credit to the speed at which the paramedics were able to get me out of the middle of woods and to the Ottawa Civic Hospital.”

She was in hospital for three months, most of which was at the Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre.

“The biggest challenge of my rehab has been adapting to how inaccessible our world is. My wheelchair gave me freedom to move around independently again after being paralyzed. I love my wheelchair for that but out in public spaces moving around is often a struggle.

“Things that were not obvious to able-bodied people are huge barriers as a wheelchair user, like stores with just one step, cracks in sidewalks, poor snow removal, ‘accessibility’ ramps that are way too steep to get up, public washrooms that a wheelchair cannot fit into. The list goes on.”

She said even as she continues to get stronger on her feet, she still largely depends on her wheelchair and accessibility barriers will continue to be a challenge.

“Access is a human right. We even have the Accessible Canada Act that mandates it. And yet, here we are where in most cases accessibility is an afterthought, if even thought of at all.

“When our public environment is accessible, everyone benefits. We can do better,” she added.

She noted the Ottawa rehabilitation centre has a very cool virtual reality lab for physical rehab, which is basically a fancy treadmill on a moving platform in front of an Imax screen where one can simulate walking in different environments like a bumpy uphill trail or a suspension bridge, while in a harness. Through doing multiple sessions in the VR lab she gained confidence in her walking and she even has gotten up to a jog.

By the time she left Rehab, she had just started to walk with a rollator walker.

“There is a lot more to a spinal cord injury than just the inability to walk,” she explained. “Other major components are loss of sensation, neurogenic bowels and bladder, nerve pain and managing how much longer activities of daily living take.”

Ms. Birdsell said she is a naturally optimistic person and has always liked sports and challenging herself physically.

“Faced with a new physical challenge, I just kept trying things,” she said. “I would get an inkling that I might be able to wiggle my toe, or take a step, so I would try.

“As an incomplete paraplegic, there is no clear prognosis as to what leg function would come back and what wouldn’t, so I don’t limit myself in what I try,” she added. “I am still gaining functions two years later.”

She credits always being an active person all her life with helping in her recovery.

“Being an active person with strong muscles helped me regain my strength as my spinal cord recovered. I played roller derby for the Montreal roller derby league 2007-2014 and was mainly a defensive blocker and I also coached.

“I travelled with my team to play in many places across the US and Canada,” she added. “I also played on Team Canada for the inaugural roller derby World Cup in Toronto in 2011. My derby name was Bone Machine.”

Her rehab goal with her physiotherapy is to be able to hike again. She is currently able to do short loops on the Four Seasons trails in Deep River using her forearm crutches for stability.

“I am also trying to find an adaptive mountain bike that suits my particular disabled needs so I can go further on trails. My fall has not detoured me from getting out into nature.

“It was very touching that a couple of the paramedics said they would love to go hiking with me, so I invited them to do a short ceremonial hike with me at Shaw Woods that day,” she continued.

Ms. Birdsell said being able to thank the paramedics and bystanders who saved her life has been on her mind since day one.

“But I knew it would take me a while to feel emotionally ready to face that day in that way. After two years of therapy and healing, I felt ready.

“It was a very emotional and healing day for me to be able to meet them,” she added. “It meant a lot to me to give them that closure as well, after a dramatic rescue.”

She would still like to meet the bystanders who came to her rescue, noting she literally owes them her life.

“I am so grateful for their efforts of holding my spine straight and my fears at bay in the cold water until the paramedics arrived. If they are reading this: thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”