HonorHealth patient reunion brings motorcycle crash survivor and staff together

It's not often that survivors meet the people who saved them, but it's become an annual gathering at a Valley hospital. Former patients meeting the doctors and nurses who helped them recover, including a Valley man who nearly died in a motorcycle crash. I was out, really without a helmet on, and it hurt me down. Stuart Sparks was in a bad crash in the summer of 2024. He was not wearing a helmet and woke up in the hospital connected to a feeding tube. So he started the second chapter of his life, recovering from a traumatic brain injury at Honor Health Rehabilitation Hospital. And my brain injury was really bad. I saw a picture that she had taken of me when it first happened, And I was just amazed I was amazed that I was still alive. Sparks is one of several patients attending the hospital's annual patient reunion in North Scottsdale. I could not hear out of both ears, and I could not see out of this eye. When I first met Stuart, he really didn't know what was going on. He was very confused and agitated. He met up with members of his care team, the same people who helped him recover from head to toe. One step at a time. When we met him, he was having a really hard time speaking, hard time eating, and just very confused, so we were kind of able to help him. I had a ways to go, but I had not eaten since May, and this was August 12th, when this happened. And I missed our anniversary, I missed my daughter's birthday, I mean, I just missed a lot of stuff. Then I just started getting a little better. Fast forward two years and Sparks has made huge strides. Getting to see somebody from right when their injury happened and then one, two years after the fact and seeing their recovery and how well they're doing, it's truly such a rewarding profession to work in. Stuart Sparks faces many challenges ahead, but he's on the path to recovery with help from his care team and excited where the future may lead him.