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Family, friends welcome accident victim home
Thursday marked the end of a long journey -- temporary though it may be -- for Nevada resident Trey Manes.
In a way, a second part of his journey, or maybe third part, is just beginning.
After being paralyzed in an automobile accident in December, undergoing a 12 1/2 hour operation in St. Louis and three months of rehabilitation at Craig Rehab Hospital in Denver, Manes made the long trip home, first by flying to Kansas City and then by vehicle to Nevada
"Yes Ma'am," he said when asked if it feels good to be home.
A close friend, a small Chihuahua, climbed up into his lap and curled up for a nap while his young nieces circled his wheelchair showing him a newly completed poster they designed especially for him.
"Wait until you see my new dog," he said, responding to a comment on the size of the tiny dog.
"It's a malamute with brown eyes," he said, describing it as larger than a Siberian Husky.
Manes' sister, Samantha Williams, said her brother will be home from three to six months while he undergoes more therapy at Nevada Regional Medical Center and at a facility in nearby Fort Scott, Kan.
A groundswell of family and friends stood in the yard holding signs welcoming him home and sported black and orange balloons on their vehicles and around a newly constructed deck, complete with a ramp from Manes' wheelchair.
Many of those on hand to greet Manes wore "Team Trey" T-shirts, their sign for what one described as never ending support. The back of the shirts sported a saying, "Please pray for Trey. We want to hear him play." The saying was illustrated with a guitar.
Williams said her brother is a musician and had just gotten home from a trip to Nashville, Tenn., and performing at the Grand Ole Opry, when the accident derailed his plans.
Derailed -- not squashed.
Williams wore a T-shirt that she and their other three siblings wear as a sign of solidarity against the storms of life.
"Brothers and sisters to the end... Ready to face whatever life sends."
At one point while greeting visitors, Manes asked his sister to scratch his nose and she happily complied. She then bent over and kissed him on the cheek, drawing out a bit of the personality his family knows and recognizes.
Other sisters asked him if he noticed their signs and when he said, "no," they brought them in from outside and the group posed for a picture.
Williams said her family knows her brother has a long way to go and tough road ahead, but he has already come along way, just to be able to come back home.
The family has drawn lots of support from the community. Benefits have been held to raise money to help pay medical expenses. Four friends built the new deck on the house and On My Own Inc., an agency charged with empowering people with disabilities to live as full and productive members of society, made modifications inside his mother's house to make it handicapped accessible.