Amy Bowens will never forget the day her teenage son, Spencer, finally opened his eyes in the intensive care unit at UPMC Williamsport.
It was nearly two weeks after a car accident on Feb. 13, 2024, had left him with severe injuries. Along with a brain hemorrhage, Spencer also had a broken pelvis, seven cracked ribs, two collapsed lungs, a laceration of the spleen, and a bladder contusion.
“It was the sign we needed,” Amy says. “Once I saw his eyes, it was the first time I thought things might be okay.”
Spencer, now 18, doesn’t remember the accident or being in the ICU. He barely remembers his time in the inpatient rehabilitation unit, where he was discharged to after spending more than three weeks in the ICU.
After months of hard work, he made a full recovery. But if not for the care team at UPMC Williamsport, his mother says, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
‘He Needs Time’
Over and over, that’s what Spencer’s doctors, nurses, and therapists told Amy and her husband, Robert, about their son.
“As a mom, you want things to happen quickly,” she says. But traumatic brain injuries (TBI) play by different rules.
The impact of being hit — Spencer missed a stop sign and a truck hit him on the driver’s side — had caused several issues. He had bleeding in the right frontal lobe of his brain. He also had a diffuse axonal injury, a type of TBI common with car accidents that can cause neurological damage.
Andrea Sann, CRNP, thought Spencer’s axonal injury was mild. “She said that his body had a great shot at reconnecting the nerves,” Amy says.
But because Spencer was on a ventilator and kept sedated, his family didn’t know for sure. All they could do was wait. In the meantime, Spencer had surgery to reconstruct his pelvis, and his other injuries, including his ribs and bladder, began to heal.
And then finally, he opened his eyes.
Daily Improvements, But a Long Road Ahead
Even with a feeding tube, Spencer had lost nearly 30 pounds. He was weak and couldn’t sit up by himself.
While he was sedated, a physical therapist and an occupational therapist had been doing mobility exercises with him. Once he became alert, they assessed his needs.
The good news was that he still had his motor skills. But his voice was a whisper, his mother says, and he struggled to find the right words.
He would need extensive inpatient rehabilitation, the care team told Amy and Robert.
The Bowens researched all of their options and ultimately chose the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute at UPMC Williamsport.
One thing that helped convince them was when Melissa Michaluk, DO, came to see them in the ICU. At the time, Spencer was agitated, and Dr. Michaluk offered suggestions about medication adjustments.
“I just felt comforted by her,” Amy says. “He wasn’t even her patient yet, but she was that committed to his care.”
On March 5, 2024, Spencer was admitted to the institute’s traumatic brain injury unit.
They had cleared one hurdle, but the journey was just getting started.
A Month of Physical Therapy and Rehab
As Spencer began getting stronger, he kept trying to get out of bed. Because of his short-term memory problems, he didn’t remember that he wasn’t allowed to. “We were constantly trying to redirect him so he didn’t reinjure his pelvis,” Amy says.
One day, Spencer was so restless that Robert took him on a two-mile “wheelchair walk” around the hospital.
The unit staff made a point to learn about Spencer and what he liked. He’s a big history buff, so therapists incorporated that into exercises. “His speech therapist was always relating things to history facts,” Amy says.
They also brought the therapy room to him, because the main therapy room was too stimulating for him. “They adapted to what he needed,” she says.
Spencer has flashes of memory from his time there. “I remember things like showering,” he says. But he can’t always be sure what’s a real memory and what he’s reconstructed from hearing his family talk.
“I definitely remember the day I got out,” he says of April 3, 2024. “We went to the Olive Garden!”
The Bowens family can’t imagine having gone anywhere else for Spencer’s rehabilitation.
“It’s such a hidden gem in our rural community,” Amy says. “Having it close to home meant family and friends could visit, which was so important in his recovery process.”
Amy also adds, “Having this type of care right in our community allowed for Spencer’s sister, Hannah, to visit on a daily basis. They have a special bond and her presence comforted Spencer, particularly during his recreational therapy – he often wouldn’t participate unless she was participating, as well.”
A Bright Future Ahead
Spencer’s care team wanted him back in school and around friends as soon as possible. He went back after about a week of being home.
“The neuropsychologist said that was so key for his recovery,” Amy says.
Spencer says that it took nearly a year to feel “normal” again. For example, he struggled with math until one day, it all clicked again.
Amy says the doctors told her that’s a typical recovery time. Some things come back fast, and others more slowly.
Spencer was able to start driving again last summer, and he completed outpatient therapy in February 2025. He has now graduated high school — on time — and is looking forward to starting welding school in the fall.
He says he still struggles to find the right word sometimes, and he has some short-term memory and balance issues. But he has no physical restrictions or limitations and currently works in landscaping. “My phone showed that I walked 8 miles the other day!” he says.
For his mother, there’s nothing like seeing her son back to being himself. He worked remarkably hard to get here, but she also credits UPMC Williamsport.
“The whole team did everything right, from the EMT to the trauma unit to the ICU, to the inpatient and outpatient rehab,” she says. “I can’t thank them enough.”