Written by Mallory Blanchard
Kai Wilson (WHS ‘08) was critically injured after falling off of a wall at a Halloween party at the University of Minnesota. It has been over a month since the accident occurred and Wilson has made enormous progress since being admitted to the Hennepin County Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit.
He suffered damage to the right side of his brain and underwent surgery to stop bleeding and to monitor his brain functions, said doctors. Several U of M students said at the time of the accident that Wilson showed signs of intoxication earlier that evening. “It was really obvious that he was overly intoxicated. He was really incoherent and stumbled around,” said Grant Sorenson back in October (WHS ’08), who knew Wilson well.
Wilson is no longer comatose. His eyes are open and he is conversing with friends and family. Wilson’s mother, Janie Dahl, said that Wilson is, “mostly tubeless.” After a recent brain scan, he had no scar tissue, and the swelling of his brain was down. Doctors do not anticipate any brain damage, and expect that, after rehab, he will make a full recovery. Wilson has started to remember the night of the accident, but still has many questions about his accident. “He has been trying to understand his accident and the time warp he finds himself in,” Dahl said.
Wilson was admitted to HCMC on October 25 and stayed in the ICU until November 13, when he was moved to Bethesda hospital in St. Paul. He is breathing on his own. While at Bethesda he is undergoing physical and speech therapy.
After a few more weeks of rehab, he will probably go to Courage Center where he will receive long-term rehab. “He will need 24 hour care for a while,” Dahl said. A lot of people have been thinking about Wilson since his accident. The website devoted to his progress www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaiwilson has seen over 30,000 visits from friends and family to date.
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