‘I Dove, Hit a Sandbar and Broke My Neck’

CAPE MAY – “On Aug. 5, I was going out to take a dip in the ocean. I dove, hit a sandbar and broke my neck.”
With those few short sentences, 17-year-old Archer Senft began telling his story to classmates at the McDonogh School, a private co-ed college prep school near his hometown of Baltimore, Md. 
His occupational therapist from the Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Ga, had gone to Baltimore so that she and Archer could present a slideshow to fellow classmates so they would better understand his spinal cord injury and what it means to break one’s neck, and how to interact with him because he uses a wheelchair.
“They explained what it means to have an injury that high up on the spine and how everything below the injury doesn’t work (for now),” his mother, Louise, said. “They explained how Archer’s injury occurred, where he’s been and what he has done since the injury, how the students can help him transition back and some do’s and don’ts.”
Part of the presentation included that he had been in a trauma intensive care unit in New Jersey, and “That it had been pretty rough,” his mother continued. “He outlined that he then flew to Shepherd Center and was there a couple months or so working with his occupational therapist. He told his classmates that he then came back to Baltimore, went to Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI), and he said, ‘And I got off the ventilator. I can breathe on my own now.’
One-Sentence Story
“It’s interesting how someone can tell a story in one sentence,” his mother reflected in a blog she has been maintaining since Aug. 14, 2015, nine days after the injury. “I got off the ventilator. Or, I took a dip in the ocean and broke my neck. One line, a prior lifetime.
“We all have those chapters of our lives, some more acute than others, but they are the chapters of our lives that are grueling, arduous, with months if not years of stress, work, effort, fear, uncertainty, grief, and they get reduced to one line,” she wrote.
“I have always had hope, but I do not know what each day will bring,” the mother of five said recently. “Looking back is painful, but we are remaining hopeful so that life can be enjoyed, believing that Archer will walk again, swim again, use his hands again for art, for cooking, for piano, for volleyball, for sports, for croquet, to tie his bowties. It’s helpful to imagine.”
Each day it seems, there are ups and downs that Senft and his family face. A couple of weeks ago, for instance, he was rushed to the pediatric ICU because of fierce headaches and blood pressure swings that were dangerous. On April 30, he was in the van with his father when another driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit them from behind. Senft’s body was thrown around the van.
Continuing Battle
“We are battling these high blood pressure swings,” his mother said, “and he’s been having fierce headaches still since being discharged from the pediatric ICU. We are up and down and all over the place, but what anchors it all is that I try to focus for one moment and think, ‘This, too, shall pass’.”
The family’s world was turned upside down when they received a call that their son, a cook at the Cape May Beach Club, had decided to cool off with a swim before cleaning up at the end of his shift and dove into a sandbar. “When we got that call that he had broken his neck, we had no idea what it meant.”
Senft had shattered his C5 neck bone. “In a medical nutshell,” Senft said, “Archer broke his neck at C5, drowned in the ocean, was rescued after being head down for over two minutes and was fighting for his life for 30 days in ICU until he was transferred to Shepherd ICU, where he was still fighting for his life for another 14 days.
Thankful for Organ Donor
“The impact was so great his neck bone shattered into pieces,” his mother recalled. “He told rescuers he heard a loud cracking when it happened and knew upon impact that he was paralyzed. The doctors were able to implant bone from a donor between his C4 and C6 vertebrae for stability. We are grateful that a young person had decided to donate his organs.”
Senft had three cardiac arrests, a pacemaker installed, his lungs collapsed necessitating lung surgery, three chest tubes, and a total of nine surgeries in 38 days, six of them under general anesthesia.
After almost a month, on Sept. 3, he was airlifted to Shepherd Center, Atlanta, which specializes in medical treatment, research, and rehabilitation of C5 patients.
In November, he moved to KKI to be closer to the family in Baltimore and received further treatment before finally moving home Feb. 4, nearly six months after his fateful swim.
An Array of Physicians
“The first 12-24 months are critical with a quadriplegic,” his mother noted. He spent almost six months breathing on a ventilator and still has a steel rod in his neck. He has 14 medical expert specialists that need to be coordinated and stayed in contact with to ensure he remains healthy.
“Archer was not meant to die at this point,” his mother said. “He’s made it to this point and I believe that we will continue to pray it forward for his recovery.”
Going home required major home renovations to accommodate his 660-pound wheelchair and other medical needs, coordinating nursing help around the clock, and figuring out how Archer could continue his studies.
It also involved staying on top of medical insurance coverage and what it will cover for how long, and how to bridge any gaps. Senft said one of the problems is that her son will be 18 in July, so he’s in that “gap between being a child and an adult.
“He’s not a baby, not a toddler, he’s a 6-foot 3-inch 17-year-old who falls in between some gaps as we try to find medical doctors who will be with him for the long-term,” she said.
Schooling Continues
Continuing schooling as a high school student has been especially difficult because Senft was a straight-A student, according to his mother. He took advanced placement and honors courses in high school, even as a sophomore, working on very difficult chemistry, calculus, physics, history, government, English literature, Spanish, advanced drawing and painting that he worked to master.
“Archer is gifted, rises to a challenge and is intellectually stimulated,” she added. Trying to find homeschool teachers who know the advanced placement curriculum was difficult in the beginning, but the McDonogh staff worked with the family to figure out what was best for Archer.
He is enrolled in eight hours of weekly instruction through classes at Polytechic Institute, Baltimore, while attending McDonogh for art and socialization. He’s been able to use digital design software and other technology to return to his love of drawing.
Eternal Appointments
“Our day starts early, and ends late,” his mother said. “We are always on the phone and texting, arranging appointments, following up, scheduling and managing. Our children live close by and are always willing to help, but we want them to live their lives, too.”
Louise Senft used to say that she was “CEO of six companies (her own and her five children). Now, it’s that plus Archer’s special needs so I call them his special needs departments.”
Technology, including apps and other online teaching tools, have helped Senft with his studies and his desire to be more independent. “He’s not getting a lot of sleep these days, between homework and working on his drawing and other things,” Louise said. “Technology is a bright spot because I believe that technology is the product of men and women’s intellect and human necessity. I think the potential is incredible and do believe that he will walk someday. That someday may be the day before he dies, but I believe it will happen.”
Early Goals
Early on, Senft’s goals were to breathe without a ventilator; have use of his arms, especially his wrists, and to reduce the use of pain medication.
Today, the teen has achieved two of his three goals. “His biceps are strengthening,” his mother noted. “He doesn’t have use of his wrists yet, but we are hopeful. He is highly sensitive on his left thumb, you can’t brush up against it. This is the same thing what happened with his biceps so something is happening. They really aren’t sure what, but we are hoping these are steps toward progress. And, Archer is pain-free now.”
The path to being pain-free and off pain medication was no easy task for Senft and his family, who fought to use homeopathic remedies and alternate methods of treatment. The family’s blog describes the “powerful system” of the medical field and how they sometimes struggled to get the right people on Archer’s team.
Followed Intuition
“We asked questions, followed our intuition, our gut and our minds in determining what was best for Archer,” his mother noted, “and we never gave up. The love of your child always prevails and keeps you on course. I am always learning, and just tried to keep at it.”
His mother always tries to keep in mind that others in a similar situation may not have all the resources or expertise that she and her husband have, so “We try to keep the whole community in mind. If it’s so daunting for us, I can only imagine what it’s like for others without the knowledge or skill.”
While she would love to be able to use her experience and be pro-active in the medical field to promote changes such as standardized care and techniques, she is focused on her son now and admitted she doesn’t have the bandwidth to do both.
Archer’s Army, Faith
The Senfts’ strong religious beliefs also played a key role in their struggles and journey, as they asked friends and family – who they named Archer’s Army – to pray for them.
“We constantly prayed, asking for trust through Mother Mary and finding relief by resting in Jesus’ presence,” she said.
Throughout the past nine months, the Senfts also have tried to maintain life with their other children, keep focus on their mediation and ORANS.org business, and renovate their home to accommodate Archer’s needs.
“The inside reconstruction is complete, but the outside is not yet finished,” Senft said. “Archer has his room and a roll-in bathroom that works. He has a sofa with tennis balls on the legs so when his friends come to visit, they can roll the sofa in.”
“Local” Family Sacrifices
To reduce expenses, they also sold their office building and moved their business to a smaller location.
The Senfts returned to Cape May in early April for the first time since the accident. “We love Cape May,” his mother said of the summer home they’ve had for years.
His father’s family has been in Cape May since the 1930s, and the Senfts were considered “locals” by many.
“We came back briefly to take Archer to see how he felt about it,” Senft said. “He would very much like to come back to help in the beach club if he can this summer. We very much want to come back to Cape May this summer, but we need to renovate our home to accommodate a walkway, ramp, and the wheelchair and purchase an air mattress (that helps to prevent bed sores for Archer).
“Our Cape May friends and townspeople have lent so much care and support to us,” she said gratefully. “It’s really important to us as a family. Cape May was our place of peace and sanctuary and this tragic event put a fracture in it, but we want to come back. We just need some renovations before we can, and right now, we just don’t have the bandwidth to do so.”
Ongoing Concerns
Besides the cost of the renovations, the Senfts insurance coverage for nursing care, physical and occupational therapy ended in March, although an appeal did get a short extension for some nursing support. His nurses require additional training because of Senft’s medical needs, however, the family is focused on getting the help they need, which also provides some relief for them from 24/7 care.
“Archer’s medical care is very complicated,” his mother said, “because everything is related. Something happens with his heart which affects his breathing and causes dizziness, headaches. We are always fine-tuning. It can be scary for a nurse, but we are determined to keep focus on what Archer needs.”
A claim for workers compensation for Senft was denied, his mother said. “So far, we hope we do not have to file any lawsuits; that is not our desire.
Warrior Spirit
“I can feel when the doubt is creeping in,” Senft admitted, “and then I get into warrior spirit. There is no time for doubt, I have to remain hopeful. It is not Pollyannish, it’s just a constant commitment.
“I believe he will walk someday,” she added. “He is using his body already. I believe if we take care of his body that it will happen someday.”
His mother has said that “Archer is also wondering about his future. He wonders about what he can and cannot do. He is sensitive to not wanting to be a burden. He is fearful about not knowing.
“We need to work together to do all we can for this lion-hearted boy so he can begin again,” she stressed. “I’ll fight for our son, I’ll question authority that is not explained, I’ll be relentless in the pursuit of collaboration which often requires walking through fires together, and I’ll be unwavering in my belief in Archer’s future. He has been unwavering in the efforts he has given to live and to his breathing.” 
A website for donations has been set up at http://www.beingrelational.com/donate/.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.