Cody Vance Stands Tall
Cody Vance's soul ran, jumped and kicked as his leg was amputated- but even one of the most severe forms of physical impairment can't cripple Vance's spirit. Vance, 21, has always been a daring, active boy-a trait that landed him in the hospital with broken bones more than a dozen times as a youngster. But he bounced back from each break with incredible resiliency, laughing and eager for a new adventure. "You can't hurt steel," expressing a complete lack of fear, was his motto because his body always healed-until now.
In January 2005, Vance had spent the last two years in Argentina on a missionary for his church. Although he had completed his planned time, he decided to extend the trip for another two months. Soon after, he and his friends were passing the time by tying sheets together, hanging them out their window, and repelling down. After it safely held the men, they decided to up the ante by extending their crafted rope to the roof. Vance jumped onto the sheets, they came untied, and he plummeted six stories, crashing onto the ground.
The fall crushed eight of Vance's vertebrae, severed his tail bone, shattered his right wrist, fractured his skull in the front and in the back, damaged his eyesight, bruised his internal organs, caused stomach ulcers, cracked his teeth, bruised his brain, and, most damagingly, pulverized his feet. He was injured January 14, 2006, the Saturday before Martin Luther King Day. His family couldn't visit him until January 20 because everything was closed for the holidays and they were unable to get visas. The wait was an especially difficult time for Cody's mother Marilyn, who knew her son was in grave condition. "When I first learned of the injuries I was somewhat in shock, and totally powerless being so far away. I just wanted to be there and help him in some way. I wanted to take his pain on me."
After spending nearly six weeks in a poorly equipped Argentina hospital, with dirty water and perhaps unclean blood transfusions, Vance was able to return to Utah where he met Dr. Timothy Beals, an orthopaedic surgeon at the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center. Although Beals' humble, understanding, and compassionate manner was a relief to Vance, the news he bore was not. Vance's leg, the limb with which he walked fast and worked hard, would be forever gone.
