SeanKelleys.com is currently under construction as of 05.29.11
contact me: sean@seankelleys.com
thanks,
sean k
Age:36 Occupation: Smart Ass/Loser Injury: C 3-4 Incomplete Quadriplegic Special Features:Neck Full of Metal 2 Bellybuttons No Pain Below the Shoulders Scars |
 |
How I Use The Computer
Many people ask me how I type and use my computer. It's actually quite simple. (SCREEN SHOT) I have a 20" iMac set on a hospital bed table so I can just lay in bed and do everything. Instead of a mouse I use a device called a SmartNav to control the cursor and a sip and puff tube to right and left click. I put the reflective sticker on glasses with no lenses so I don't have to stick it on my forehead each time. The only other thing needed is my onscreen keyboard. I have a bundle of Adobe CS3 graphic design programs to mess with. To draw (Illustrator), manipulate photographs (Photoshop), web site design (Dreamweaver) animation (Flash) and more. I have a device called a slingbox on my tv which works wirelessly so that I'm able to watch tv and control my tivo on my computer. I have a built-in webcam, skype, and my own phone number to my computer. Technology is GREAT.
Background Info
From what I remember, which isn't much, I had a great childhood. I have the best parents ever and a sister to pick on. I remember days of playing with G.I.Joe's, building my own Lego creations, Star Wars, Transformers, and Hot Wheels. Riding bikes was always fun. My buddies an I would find a piece of wood and as many bricks as we could and jump stupid shit. It's cool though because you're indestructible when you're young. Swimming was a big part of my summers and unfortunately so were ear infections. Watersking with the Heim's and the Huddelston's became a big part of my life about 11 years of age maybe, I can't remember, then Skurfing, and finally wakeboarding which I enjoyed until my injury. Skateboarding was my life from age 16 till I graduated from Villa Park H.S. Got my license on my 16th birthday and the keys to the bad ass Subaru wagon. It was tan, with brown plaid seats, stickers plastered everywhere inside and out, and the most kick ass stereo system. Ok maybe not the best system with one speaker on the passenger floor and a tape eating deck. That wagon took my buddys and me on many great skate sessions and adventures. We had a can of spam on the dash for extreme emergency, a little toy megaphone (with sirens), a sweet leather biker hat, and whatever else needed to keep us entertained. I can still picture Ffeog out the passenger window showing off his brains to pedestrians and by brains I don't mean his intelligence. We would skate spots like the Orange Mall, HB High, microwave bank, music plus ollie, and lots more. After high school I had to get a job or go to college. I choose a job at Lucky Supermarket. 
For 3 long years I work there part time making little money so I got a second job at a dairy warehouse in Santa Ana loading trucks which sucked but paid well. I quit Lucky and worked at the warehouse 3 days a week leaving me plenty of time for fun. I had a '96 KX 250 (click on picture). My buddys and I would ride at Reche Canyon a couple of days a week. Those were some great times. In '97 I moved to Henderson, Nv. with my wonderful girlfriend, now ex, her mom Debbie and husband Aldo, and whoever else needed a place to live. I got a temp job doing whatever they had available as soon as we moved. It wasn't to long before I got a job working at The Rio Seafood Buffet. I kept looking for other jobs cause coming home smelling of fish was not enjoyable. My next job was working for a steel construction company where I thought I was going to fall to my death daily. I met a guy when I was out riding and we we started riding together quite often. He worked at the Hard Rock Hotel where he helped me get a job parking cars, opening doors and taking your cash. In my free time I would hang out with Amber, skateboard, wakeboard at Lake Mead, snowboard, and play with our two dalmations Sampson and Madison. Sometimes Aldo and I would go out and abuse our trucks in the near by open desert. I rode my dirt bike several times a week since there were great spots within 10 minutes of the house. I loved to ride. I never really got into tracks, I like to find natural terrain jumps, line up, twist the throttle, and fly.
My Injury
I injured my spinal cord while riding my dirt bike in 1998 leaving me a quadriplegic. I don't have the control of anything below my shoulders but I do have pressure sensation everywhere on my body. On July 21, 1998 I had the day planned for my buddy and me to go to a track in Pahrump for their practice session and come home and help Aldo with his pressure washing business. If I remember correctly I also made an awesome batch of homemade spaghetti sauce. I remember my buddy Jash was driving my truck and we got pulled over for speeding on the way to the track. I told the officer that the oversized tires must be throwing off the speedometer, he was cool about it. When we got to the track all I remember was having a great time. At the track there was a pyramid style jump I hit and can't tell you anymore about my crash because I don't remember and no one else saw. At some point I died for 66 seconds. The first thing I remember was lying on my side hearing someone telling me to walk towards the light, ha ha, yeah right. They asked me to squeeze their hand, then I was out again. Then I regained consciousness long enough to hear that I was in a helicopter and a lady told me to keep breathing but passed out again. Some things will be a little out of order because morphine and Demerol played a big part in my hospital stay. In the hospital I remember my friend standing at my bedside, I kept shrugging my shoulders mouthing I can't move. No words could be heard cause I wasn't able to talk.
Someone would hold a board with the alphabet on it, point to a line and I would blink my eyes when they got to the correct row, then they would slide their finger across the line and I'd blink again when they got to the correct letter. It was a pain in the ass. Some were good at reading lips. I don't know when my family that live in California or my girlfriend who was visiting people in California got there but I was told that they should hurry cause I might not live. I was in traction which meant I had weights that were pulling on my neck taking pressure off the vertebrae, I had tubes down my throat giving me air, a tube in my stomach giving me Ensure drinks, and laid around with a towel over my pecker cause I always had a fever, I tell ya, GOOD TIMES!My first vertebra which is C1 was fractured, and C3 and C4 were subluxated which means partially dislocated (click on picture to view the spinal cord map). They took bone from the front and back of my pelvic bone to fuse my C3, C4 vertebras together from the front and back of my neck. They even gave me some screws to hold the bones in place. That little surgery cost $770,000, and the bill for it was given to us as fast as they could print it up. Because I fractured my first vertebra they screwed a big piece of metal to my head called a halo.(click on picture) It has six screws tightened to 9pds of pressure and oh ya I remember that feeling and have the scars to prove it. I think the next big thing was my tracheotomy which is where they put a hole in your neck and attach a tube. The tube is connected to a breathing machine called a ventilator. Now the damn tubes are out of my mouth but I still can't talk because my injury was so high on the spinal cord that it knocked out the use of my diaphragm. So the first month at UMC Las Vegas 
consisted of pain meds, range of motion, bed baths which suck compared to a warm shower, and little rehab. I also remember family and friends coming to see me which I took real hard cause I didn't want people seeing me this way. A lot of people sent cards and their best wishes and I hadn't realized how much I took for granted till all this happened. After a month they kicked me out of UMC so I was off to Rancho Los Amigos in Downey, Ca. My dad and I flew in a small jet plane but don't remember thanks to my buddy Demerol. Rancho is known for their great rehab center for spinal cord injuries but I have my own opinion. When I got there they removed my halo and put on a neck brace. I believe I was still in the urgent care part of the hospital. While there they had me try to get use to sitting up in a wheelchair and that's all I remember. After they moved me to the rehab floor it got real boring. My days consisted of blood work, range of motion, x-rays, physical therapy, sitting in a wheelchair, watching TV, and bitching about pain. My family and girlfriend's family were there doing whatever they could to help. I must give my ex-girlfriend much thanks, she was great. She slept on a cot next to me for the 2 months I was there. She learned how to do everything to take care of me. Like cleaning my neck hole, suctioning the fluids out of my lungs, sticking her fingers in my ass to pull my shit out, sticking a tube up my pecker to drain my bladder, and so much more, that's love. Amber, I love and appreciate everything you sacrificed and did for me, I will never forget. Not to long after getting to Rancho they put this little valve on my ventilator tube which allowed me to talk if I timed the ventilators breaths right. It was great being able to talk and communicate again. For 2 months it was much of the same thing day after day. 
Towards the end I asked my dad to turn the vent off because I felt I could breathe on my own so he did. The doctors said I would never breath on my own but I was going to prove them wrong and I did. I stayed off for 45 minutes before they came in and found out what we were doing. They got mad but it opened their eyes and they started weaning me off the vent. I also had to learn how to eat again and make sure nothing was being inhaled into my lungs. That wasn't a big deal but it had to be done. I started out with vanilla ice cream with blue food coloring, then moved on to other soft foods dyed blue, blue liquids, and finally Pizza Hut pizza minus the blue. TASTE, what a great sense. A couple of weeks before I was released they asked me if I would go out and interact with society, so I did. Another guy and I chose to go to the Long Beach Aquarium. People would stare, kids would ask their parents what was wrong with me but I expected that. I had/have no problem talking to anyone that has questions about me, so ask. A couple of days before I was released my girlfriend and family stayed in an apartment at the hospital to see if they were ready to take care of me at home in Henderson. When I was out of Rancho it was back on the little plane home. When I got there I think everything was ready for me in the downstairs room. I had to have a respiratory therapist come see me daily to make sure I was ok and getting enough oxygen. Not long after I got home a physical and occupational therapist would work on me 3 days a week. I was very optimistic and worked hard to try to improve my broken body. At this point the stomach tube was out but I still had the ventilator and oxygen which sucked but my diaphram was getting stonger so I was able to breathe on my own longer. Seven month later I would get the trach out of my neck. I was able to take breaths threw my neck with my mouth closed, it was crazy. The hole sealed up quick. I am so thankful for getting off of the vent and will never take breathing for grated. TO BE CONTINUED.......
Present Day Life
I live in the city of Orange, Ca. with my two roommates (movie: Grandma's Boy, see it! haha). You can see me driving my chair around with a chin controller. I spend most of my time with my buddy Shawn who I've know since I was 16. Five days a week Shawn plays the part of caregiver. I watch a lot of movies, go to concerts, supercross/motocross races, mess around on the computer, chess, Xbox 360 (MX Untamed, Dirt, GRID) and I love to sit out in the warm sun.