Neurosurgeon performs rare surgery to help former paramedic walk his daughter down the aisle

By Chierstin Susel

Click here for updates on this story

    DENVER, Colorado (KCNC) — A Colorado father with a spinal cord injury is working to fulfill his dream of walking his daughter down the aisle. Thanks to a Denver neurosurgeon, it might just be possible.

Every father’s wish is to walk his daughter down the aisle; it becomes even more meaningful when you’ve experienced tragedies that have taken that ability away. Russell McKeehan’s health issues began around 30 years ago when he was working as a paramedic. McKeehan was with a patient in the back of an ambulance when its driver fell asleep and rolled the vehicle. That was just the beginning of decades of overcoming tragedies.

“I decided to show my kids, just when you’re given a bad hand, you can’t just give up,” said McKeehan.

It’s a story of a father’s resilience, and for McKeehan, defying the odds is in his DNA.

“I often joke,” McKeehan said, “you can’t write soap opera as bad as what I’ve lived through.”

In 2007, McKeehan went in for a quick outpatient procedure for headaches resulting from his accident and ultimately came out on life support and paralyzed from the neck down.

“I truly hate even saying this, but I told them, ‘kill me now,'” McKeehan said. “I don’t want to live. I can’t live. If I can’t, at least be a productive part of society. I don’t want to live. Thank God, they didn’t let me do that.”

After a grueling 10-year battle, he went to Dr. Scott Falci, a neurosurgeon at HCA HealthONE Swedish, to try to regain some of his mobility. His surgery was a success, and he once again was able to move his arms and legs.

“It gave me that opportunity that- okay, let’s put in the work again, and let’s get going and see if we can get some things to come back,” he said. “I was definitely very excited about that.”

But that excitement was dimmed just two years later when he was involved in another accident.

“The lug nuts came loose on my son’s pickup,” McKeehan said. “I was only doing 45 miles an hour, but the worst place possible, and ended up rolling four times and breaking so many bones in my neck again and my sternum, ribs, humerus, just so many bones and so much pain.”

McKeehan survived but took an enormous step back with his health. Now, after working for six years, he returned to Falci to get a second surgery that only 10% of patients receive, with one goal in mind.

“Just to be able to walk her down the aisle, it would mean the world,” said McKeehan. “In my mind, I want her day to be about her and not be about me, and the more normal I can be, the more happy she can be about this situation.”

A raw response to a heartbreaking reality. But he is already showing signs of beating the odds.

“Twelve hours after the surgery, we weren’t expecting this, he’s moving his arm, he’s pulling his arm up to his face, and he’s kicking his left leg,” Falci said.

Even he’s impressed with McKeehan’s grit and determination.

“He’s a highly motivated guy, and he’s been through a lot, and, yeah, what he’s achieved, just with self-determination and desire is amazing,” said Falci.

McKeehan had the surgery on July 17, and says he now has a renewed sense of positivity thanks to Falci. His daughter is getting married in September, but he is up for the challenge.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.