'It changes my whole outlook'
In the matter of a moment, Jocie Van Kirk's life changed.
She became a survivor, daring to live after falling 80 feet from a path in McConnells Mill State Park on Sunday.
“To find out my chance of surviving something like this was really low, it changes my whole outlook on life,” Van Kirk said.
A 21-year-old psychology student at Slippery Rock University, Van Kirk was discharged Wednesday evening from UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.
She returned to her mother's home in Aliquippa.
The path forward likely will be a painful one.Van Kirk said she will need physical and occupational therapy to recover from fractures in her spine, neck and pelvis.For the fractures in her pelvis, if the pain continues to be too great, she will need surgery.But for now, she wears a neck brace and uses a walker to help her get around.“I'm definitely going to have to work on walking and working through the pain in my legs because of the fractures in my pelvis,” she said.Van Kirk said she also has to find a way to balance her recovery with a possible return to SRU, where she is a senior.She said getting healthy comes first, but she'd like to finish what she started.Before the accident, Van Kirk was on track to graduate in the winter of the 2020-21 school year.“I'm hoping to go back to school,” she said. “The last thing I want is to take a medical withdrawal.”Van Kirk wants to specialize in criminal psychology.Natalie Burick, director of disability services at SRU, said her department has support structures in place to help those who have a temporary injury or illness.“We offer a lot of different types of accommodations here,” she said. “It's case-by-case for each student.”Burick said these accommodations could be extensive excused absences, extensions for assignments or makeup work.“In most cases, those things seem to work well for our students,” Burick said.Van Kirk she said she is coming to terms with the experience and how it fits into her life, part of her narrative.“It shows me a strength I never even knew I had,” Van Kirk said.
She had been hiking with friends on a sunny afternoon when she slipped and fell. The moments during and shortly after the fall were the most terrifying she has experienced in her life.“Just waiting for me to stop falling, or for everything to just end for me,” Van Kirk said. “It was rough.”Emergency crews secured her at the scene and talked with her while they worked to move her to an area in the park where she could be flown to the hospital.She said the people who helped her were nothing short of amazing as they tried to keep her calm.They even made her laugh to keep her mind off the gruesome nature of her accident.“All of their attitudes toward me just helped me out a lot,” Van Kirk said. “I definitely have them to thank for making my experience easier to cope with in that moment.”
Van Kirk said she also has received a lot of support from family and friends.Facebook posts about her have been booming with comments of prayers and support.“A lot of people have been so supportive and sending me the best wishes while I recover,” Van Kirk said. “I've had a few of my friends come visit me while I've been here.”Van Kirk said the support shows her she has people in her corner and it gives her a confidence boost heading into recovery.But she will also need to find a way to stand on her own.“It's only been a few days, but I know I'm not finished here yet,” she said. “I'm really happy I get a second chance in life.”
