'Miracle' man returns home after accident

It's been a long road for Darryl Key. After suffering severe injuries in a motorcycle accident, Key's family wasn't given any hope he'd survive.

"No chance" is the prognosis Angie Key, Darryl's wife, was given after he had been flown to a hospital in Greenville.

Today, the one-year anniversary of his accident, the 47-year-old husband and father isn't only alive, he's back home after being discharged from Mattie C. Hall Health Care Center.

"It's unreal," Darryl said at a party held in his honor at Mattie C. Hall on Friday.

The injuries Darryl suffered were very real and led to the initial, dire prognosis. He suffered severe brain injuries, respiratory failure and below knee amputation on his right leg. It was only after surviving 72 hours on life support, with the aid of a feeding tube, did doctors offer any hope.

Since then, Darryl has been in four hospitals, three rehab facilities and undergone so many surgeries that Angie couldn't remember if he's had eight or nine. In November, Darryl was admitted to Mattie C. Hall.

"Other rehabs didn't think he would improve. He had to come to a long-term care facility," Angie said of the move to Mattie C. Hall.

The prognosis was that Darryl would spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. Once again, he defied the odds.

A healthy, 200-plus pound man at the time of his accident, Darryl was a shell of himself when he was admitted. He weighed 113 pounds and was unable to eat, walk or even talk. Just moving was almost impossible, as Darryl needed help to roll over and sit up.

Six months later, Darryl - who now weighs 148 pounds - is eating, reading, writing and is able to transfer himself to and from a wheelchair without assistance.

"He's gone from a vegetative state to alert and oriented," said Mary Hawks, an LPN at Mattie C. Hall.

"Getting to this point was a miracle," said Angie, who has endured much in the past year.

She had to deal with trauma, closed Darryl's heating and cooling business and relocated her family from Greenwood to Aiken. Additionally, she was dubious of admitting Darryl to a nursing home.

"I was devastated when he had to go to a nursing home," she said.

Fearing the worst, Angie was pleasantly surprised by the facility, staff and care provided at Mattie C. Hall.

"I was amazed," Angie said. "It's clean, and the staff is so wonderful. If I had an issue, they would be on it."

Her preconceived notions have been so dashed that Angie, who is going to nursing school, has taken a job working at Mattie C. Hall.

"Everybody's been a blessing. I hate to leave. I feel like (the staff is) family," she said.

While Angie is quick to sing the praises of the team of doctors, nurses, therapists and others who have helped Darryl recover, the feeling is mutual.

"Not a day went by where family wasn't visiting," said Kathy Dutton, who is responsible for clinical nutrition at Mattie C. Hall. "Some of us have cried watching the compassion and love from Angie and the family."

Thanks to the team effort and all of the hard work, the next step in Darryl's recovery will be at home.

"This is what he's trying to do - go home," Hawks said.

Discharged, Darryl will have rehab three days a week with in-patient help, and he'll finally do something he's been looking forward to for a long time - sleep in his own bed. He'll receive a prosthetic leg in the next few months, and Darryl said his focus for the future is "getting a leg sewn on and we'll take it from there."

Contact Noah Feit at nfeit@aikenstandard.com.