I Was Paralyzed After Falling from a Tree. I Learned to Walk Again with My 1-Year-Old Daughter

For Ohio woman Leah Weiher, the morning of Nov. 5, 2023, began as usual, as she and her then-partner, Mason Darnes, were out hunting. Instead, the day turned tragic as Weiher fell 15 feet from a tree, leaving her paralyzed. At the hospital, doctors told Weiher that because of her injury, there was no guarantee she would ever walk again. But with physical therapy and the love of her one-year-old daughter, Laken, a miracle happened. Here, Weiher, 24, shares her story with PEOPLE, in her own words.

Mason and I were at Battle Darby Creek Metro Park in Galloway, Ohio hunting on public land. We walked about a mile to where the tree is, parked off the road and headed down the creek bright and early in the morning.

We put our things away and I started climbing the tree. I ended up running out of sticks to grab onto, and I don’t know if I was tired or what, but I mistakenly grabbed Mason’s stand and it immediately unrolled. I fell straight back with him and landed on our crossbow.

I couldn’t move and immediately thought I was dying. I remember staring at the sun and Mason said I had a death moan. He immediately called 911, but we were in the middle of the forest.

I was internally decapitated after a motorcycle crash. This is my new normal

The ambulance took about 35 minutes to arrive. Then the doctors gave me an intravenous injection and gave me painkillers, which made me completely unconscious. I don’t remember getting from the ground to the ambulance, but I do remember waking up in the ambulance to bright lights — to the realization that they were ripping my clothes off.

After about an hour in the intensive care room, the doctors came in and said I would have to have surgery if I wanted to walk again. If I hadn’t been operated on, then they said there was no chance of that happening, because [fracture on my L2 vertebrae]the bone was pushing against my spinal cord, which paralyzed me.

Leah Weiher.

Leah Weiher

My mom didn’t want me to have surgery, but it was also the only option to potentially fix things. So I did it.

I spent a little over a week in the hospital before being taken to the Ohio State Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital. At that moment I couldn’t do anything with my left leg. In order to even stand up, I had to be connected to this ZeroG machine. I used a walker and my physical therapist would take my legs and manually walk them to try to connect my brain to my legs.

I also did a lot of upper body strength training, as there was no telling if I would be in a wheelchair forever or not.

Leah Weiher in Physical Therapy.

Leah Weiher

While at Dodd, I finally managed to wiggle my left toe.

Even though the movement in my right leg was coming back much faster, I started to think that the leg wouldn’t improve because it hadn’t been that long. So when I started wiggling my toes, my mindset completely changed. I said, “Okay, it’s coming back. I’ll get it all back.” And it definitely gave me a lot more hope.

A tourist survived a terrifying fall from a bungee jump in Thailand after the cable snapped

My mom and my sister took care of Laken the whole time I was in the hospital and often brought her to see me. She could sense something was wrong.

I think she was afraid to sit on the bed with me or she wasn’t sure why I wasn’t a normal awake mom. It was hard, I could feel it.

Leah Weiher (L) in rehabilitation after falling from the podium.

Leah Weiher

When I left Dodd for home on December 20th, I was still in a wheelchair and still unable to walk at all. Not long after that I did start using a walker, and by January I was able to take a few steps while using it.

Through it all, Mason took me back and forth to physical therapy and was my primary caregiver. But eventually he left the relationship. There was too much on him. So I had to work even harder to continue my recovery. Although it was very difficult, it motivated me.

Laken was also a great motivator. I know a lot of people would probably say, “Oh, I couldn’t do it without this person,” and I truly believe in my heart that I wouldn’t be as motivated if I didn’t have my daughter because seeing Laken walk or take her steps made me I’ll go with mine.

Leah Weiher with daughter Laken.

Leah Weiher

I took the first steps again at home. I walked through my kitchen to the front door and back, so maybe 15-20 steps? It was a very slow process, but I still managed. Laken was walking with me at the same time and she was delighted and crying. Walking with her was indescribable. I felt like I was dreaming.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

Now, depending on the day, and whether I’ve been in physical therapy or not, I can usually walk pretty far, although I usually only go to stores if they have electric wheelchairs because I get tired really quickly. I also can’t lift things or carry things and walk at the same time yet.

I need to get more stability and balance, but it was very good. I still need help with some things, but I’m generally independent.

The only thing I don’t have yet is my left leg. I can’t lift it myself. When I get in the car, I have to lift it with my hands — so we try to work on that in physical therapy.

Leah Weiher (C).

Leah Weiher

Looking back on how I handled it and how hard I tried, I now know that I am much stronger than I thought.

Statistically, it’s a miracle I’m walking, especially this early. My goal was to walk by my accident anniversary, and I completely blew that out of the water. I was walking in four months.

“Never give up” is my conclusion from my accident and my recovery because naturally sometimes you want to give up in such situations. If you’re not in a good mental state, then you’ll say, “I can. Don’t do it or it seems impossible,” but it’s not. You just have to push yourself.

Leah Weiher and daughter Laken.

Leah Weiher

A GoFundMe was created to help with Weiher’s ongoing recovery.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education