A Surreal Experience

On February 5, 2020, Dustin “Dusty” McHenry, was in a car accident that felt for all the world like a near-death experience.

“No kidding, I don’t remember pain or anything. I just remember seeing all my deceased loved ones,” Dusty says. “Truly, my Mamaw Mac came up to me and gave me one of those Little Debbie Zebra Cakes. Then my Granddaddy Bill, daggum cigarette in his mouth and a cup of coffee. And he leans down to me and just says, ‘Not yet.’”

And that’s all that Dusty, now 35, remembers from his accident or many of the days and weeks before and after it. Following numerous surgeries at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, the Stockbridge, Georgia, resident had a similarly surreal experience when he arrived at Shepherd Center in March 2020.

“I began to wake up right as the COVID lockdowns happened,” Dusty says. “My wife Julie and the rest of my family couldn’t be around because of the protocols. But I didn’t understand that. I’m seeing all these strange faces in masks and protective equipment. It felt like, ‘Is this purgatory?’”

Adding to the dreamlike vibes, one of Dusty’s ICU nurses was Michael Ellis, RN — a good friend and someone Dusty’s known since high school. Dusty credits Michael and Suzie Goggin, RN, CRRN, with helping him gradually understand his situation.

Dusty’s most significant challenge to a full recovery was the traumatic brain injury he’d sustained. At Shepherd Center, his care team helped Dusty re-learn how to talk, walk, eat — in short, everything. He also received vital care for his wounds. While many people with complex injuries and illnesses face an increased risk of obtaining wounds as a secondary complication, Dusty’s expert wound care team helped prevent further complications and additional surgeries that could have derailed his rehabilitation.

“Honestly, I felt like a child at first,” Dusty says. “The progress felt slow, but with everything they were doing, my brain eventually started kicking into gear.”

Dusty also completed outpatient therapy at Shepherd Pathways, and he utilized Shepherd’s Driving Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program to re-learn how to drive. Today, he’s once more taking his kids — Madison, 8, and Rhett, 5 — to and from school each day. Dusty’s also flying again with his pilot father-in-law. And the longtime Atlanta Braves fan is excited about a new baseball season.

“I could very easily be dead,” Dusty says. “I never forget that. So, I’m just happy every day to be alive and well.”

Written by Phillip Jordan