Most people would have trouble staying positive after a near-fatal car accident, but anyone who has met Shelley Gulley know she's not like most people.
For years, Shelley has been known by friends and family for having a certain...quirkiness. A unique quality that makes her very outgoing, very positive, and above all, very determined.
A graduate of Fleming County High School and Morehead State University, Shelley, 23, is a support broker at Buffalo Trace Area Development District.
Graduating school and going to work, Shelley was doing all the things young people are supposed to do, until tragedy struck on a Sunday afternoon.
On Nov. 22 of last year, she attended a Thanksgiving dinner at her grandmother's house in Hillsboro. At the time, Shelley was living on Cranston Road in Rowan County. She headed home on Kentucky 158, a road that runs through the southern portion of Fleming County and connects with Kentucky 32 a few miles beyond the Rowan County line.
It was a simple enough drive home, and one she had made many times before. But this time proved to be very, very different.
"I fell asleep, I guess," she said. "I woke up to my car veering (toward) the ditch line on the right side of the road. I freaked out and I over-corrected, and went across the lane of traffic, over the bank, over a hill and into a tree."
Shelley said her car came to rest on its side, with a tree partially inside the vehicle. The top of the car had been crushed. Her legs went through the floorboard of the car and were pinned by the tree.
"I just looked up and I couldn't move my legs," she said. "They were stuck. I kept telling myself to move my legs and they wouldn't move. The tree was actually crushing my legs through the bottom of the car."
Shelley's story may have ended there if not for Vanessa Fannin.
"She heard the noise," Shelley said. "She came down and actually held me up, kind of straight, so that my neck wasn't dangling anymore."
Fannin, a retired nurse, said she ran out her front door and across the road to what she described as a "devastating" scene.
She wasn't able to free Shelley from the wreckage, but she was able to stabilize her while they waited for emergency personnel.
"I climbed down into the creek and placed my arms under her back and head, and held her as still as possible until EMS arrived," Fannin said.
Oddly enough, Shelley's accident wasn't the first Fannin had assisted with near her home. She counted at least three other serious accidents she had helped with. She said Shelley's wreck was one she will never forget.
"I know I can't do great things, but I can do small things with love," Fannin said.
Fannin's help, whether she considers it great or small, may have been Shelley's saving grace.
"My doctors have told me since then that I could thank her for me not being paralyzed," Shelley said. "I know it sounds kind of crazy, but she had a glow around her. I've always referred to her as my angel since then."
Shelley described the moments immediately following the accident as "floating between life and death." She said she faded in and out of consciousness to the sound of Fannin's voice, comforting her while help was on its way.
When EMS arrived, Shelley instinctively reverted to her usual, outgoing, self.
"I was more alert then," she said. "I began asking everyone their names."
A tarp was placed over Shelley's face to shield her from debris as the car's twisted metal frame was cut away from her legs.
"When they put the tarp over me, I was concerned that I was dead, like in the movies," she joked. "I actually asked them, 'Am I dead,' so we all got a kick out of that."
She was transported from the scene via helicopter, but her long journey had just begun. She had sustained an injury commonly called the "hangman's fracture," a fracture of the axis (C2) vertebra. Her C3 vertebra was also fractured, to go along with severe injuries to both legs, including a broken femur. Hours of surgery and months of rehab lie ahead.
She was taken to University of Kentucky Medical Center where she was rushed to the operating room.
It was day one of a 108 day process.
Shelley underwent numerous skin grafts. She said doctors also performed a reconstructive procedure on her right foot, taking a portion of muscle from her thigh and fashioning it to fit her heel.
She described the early days of her grafts healing as feeling like needles constantly pressing into her legs.
A unique procedure was also performed to repair muscle tissue near her right knee.
"This diamond piece," she said, pointing to a diamond-shaped scar on her leg, "this is actually where there was no more muscle. They made a fake muscle out of shark, bovine and human collagen...so some people call me shark girl."
She said she was on a ventilator for seven days following the accident. Two days after the accident, she was fitted with a halo, a medical device designed to stabilized the spine during recovery. She was unable to move her head for the next 12 weeks.
Shelley's mother, Anita Gulley, told her daughter there was nowhere to go but up after such a serious accident.
"Shelley is my most tenacious child," Anita said. "In the earliest stages following the accident, I told her that my expectation was for her to always move forward. It's OK to hold where you are if you need to, but never slide back, never give up, never look back."
It was a slow process, but Shelley was able to take her mother's advice and kept progressing. She said she remained on bed rest at UK until Jan. 18, when she was transported to St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead for rehabilitation.
"That's where I learned how to stand, walk, and kind of come back to myself again," Shelley said.
She said she was located in a rehab unit where most other patients were significantly older.
"It was very much like a nursing home," she joked.
She may not have had much in common with the other patients, but over time Shelley developed friendships with her nurses and therapists.
"On the last day, I cried because I didn't want to leave," Shelley said. "They had become some of my closest friends. They'd seen me when I couldn't walk and they helped me walk."
Being the ambitious person she is, Shelley wasn't satisfied with simply walking.
She developed a running joke with nurses and therapists that she wanted to be able to do the Cha Cha Slide again. On her last day in rehab, she pulled it off.
"It was maybe a handicapped rendition of the Cha Cha Slide," she said laughing. "I had parallel bars for safety. I skipped certain parts that were a little bit too difficult for me, but it was a big step. I came from not being able to walk on Jan. 18 to doing the Cha Cha Slide on March 8."
Before she was able to walk (and dance) Shelley had to invent ways to pass the long hours. She took up painting, one of her favorite works being a portrait of her cat, Honey Badger. She also started a blog, called "Shelley Survived," where she writes about her accident and recovery.
"It's been kind of therapeutic to tell my story online," she said.
Her parents, Anita and Jeff, have been by her side through the entire process.
"I've promised them that I'll take care of them when they're old," she joked. "Because they've been my biggest support system."
Jeff said Shelley's accident and recovery have been difficult, but the family is simply glad she lived to tell about it.
"We came close to losing her. It's been very hard," he said. "It's been very trying, but you can't look at the negative."
Jeff said such a traumatic event has made him a more spiritual person.
"I never was much of a church goer, but it sure changed my outlook on things," he said. "I'm very proud to be her father, very honored. She's a tough person, one of the toughest people I've ever met in my life."
Shelley's angel, Vanessa Fannin, visited her regularly in the hospital and organized a card therapy program. Shelley received over 100 cards from family, friends and well-wishers.
Shelley said there has been an overwhelming outpouring of support, with donations and cards coming from all parts of the community.
March 9 was day 108 of hospital beds and rehab. March 10 was day one of her new life. All the love, support and hard work paid off and Shelley finally went home. She moved to her parents' house in Flemingsburg to continue the final stages of her recovery. She goes to regular outpatient therapy in Morehead and her mobility continues to improve.
She said she has a long road ahead, but she's determined to get her life back to normal.
"I remember when I first walked, I just cried because there were days when i didn't know if I'd ever walk again," Shelley said. "I've come a long way, but I have a long way to go. I am expected to have a full recovery, and I intend on having a full recovery."
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