After a serious accident during a track and field meet on March 15, Rock Falls senior Dylan Wescott suffered a broken neck and was left partially paralyzed.
Since then, he’s been making steady progress following several major surgeries.
Dylan, 18, was recently moved from Javon Bea Hospital in Rockford to the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago.
Doctors had to insert two cages in his neck for stability and replace a damaged vertebra with a titanium plate.
Altogether, he went through about 12 hours of surgery within just over a day.
At this point, Dylan remains paralyzed from the chest down, but he’s continuing to fight forward with the support of his medical team and loved ones.
Dylan Wescott Continues His Recovery With The Support Of His Family
Dylan’s dad, Brian, works for the Candlelight Group and has stayed with him every step of the way, only briefly leaving to check in at his hotel.
Dylan’s mom, Nicol, teaches at Southside Elementary School in Morrison. She balances work and supporting her son.
His sister, Madison, is finishing her senior year at Northern Illinois University and will graduate in May.
Dylan’s dad, Brian, has been updating friends and family through a Facebook page called Dylan’s Diary. On it, he shares daily moments from Dylan’s recovery journey.
On April 11, Brian shared that Dylan started his day playing bocce ball with his recreational therapist, who introduced him to adaptive sports that can be played in wheelchairs.
Dylan had a great time and even beat his dad at the game.
Brian also posted a video and photo from a session with their favorite physical therapist, Rosie.
She had Dylan practice balance by sitting up straight on a mat and then challenged him to toss weighted rice bags into a bucket.
First, she handed him the bags, but then Dylan worked on grabbing and throwing them on his own—another big step in building strength in his hands, arms, and fingers.
Brian mentioned that Dylan had very little pain that day and his blood pressure stayed steady, which meant they could make the most of the session.
The good news is that Brian was recently cleared to take Dylan for walks around the rehab center and nearby areas, and he can now use the electrical lift on his own.
With family and friends visiting over the weekend, there’s even more support surrounding Dylan.
To top it all off, Dylan was featured on Channel 6 News, and Brian gave a special shoutout to Aunt Kim and Coach Bontz for speaking to the media on their behalf.
On April 14: Sunday was all about relaxing. Dylan did not have any scheduled sessions, but we did our own therapy that they had kind of assigned us as homework. We worked on his breathing treatment to try to strengthen his core and his lung function to help him with learning to cough again. Something sounds so simple, but it is hard at first. I then just massaged his hands, and his legs. He still has no feeling from his mid chest down, but we still massage and bend his legs anyways..
Brian Wescott
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Local sports teams, businesses, friends, and even strangers have come together to help with Dylan’s recovery.
- They’ve made “Dylan Strong” bracelets and shirts to show their support.
- Dylan was briefly knocked unconscious after the collision. When he woke up, he realized he couldn’t feel his legs.
