Wesley Neff

Wesley Neff, 72, has always been a busy man. He lives in Brownsville, KY, with his wife of 42 years, Annie, with whom he has two children. Originally from California, the Neffs moved to Brownsville 15 years ago, with Wesley taking a job at Hardin Wholesale Flowers in Bowling Green, where he is still employed. Annie works at Bella Spa and recently decided to get her massage therapist license. The Neffs are active members in their church and small-town communities, which they love. During his remaining free time, Wesley loves to bowl, golf, and play guitar.

Then suddenly, everything changed. Driving one day, Wesley was in a motor vehicle accident and sustained severe injuries, including a femur fracture, cervical spine injuries, and an odontoid fracture. Wesley was transported to Skyline Medical Center, where he required intubation, dialysis, and placement of a trach, PEG tube, and ventilator before transferring to Medical Center Bowling Green. He continued to undergo many procedures as part of his plan of care, including nephrology, pulmonary, vascular surgery, infectious disease, and CTs.

This experience proved a sudden and significant change for Wesley as he was a healthy man with no previous hospital stays before the accident.

During his hospital stay, Wesley went into acute kidney failure requiring hemodialysis and experienced multiple cases of pneumonia. He had a hard collar around his neck, a permacath, and copious amounts of secretions from his trach. After two months, Wesley had a stroke, resulting in left-sided weakness. He required assistance with bed mobility, eating, transfers, and ambulation.

To address his deficits, Wesley admitted to Southern Kentucky Rehabilitation Hospital for inpatient rehab. Wesley stayed in SKY Rehab’s new Brain Injury & Stroke Unit and loved his spacious, private room near the nurses’ station.

Wesley extended a special thanks to Alexsey (PT) and Haley (OT), Dr. Little, and the nursing team. “They treated me like family,” he stated. “There is no way I could have been treated any better than here.”

“Alexsey and Haley should be nominated for sainthood. You gotta want to be here. This job isn’t easy, but it shows with these two therapists that have taken care of me. My goal was to walk to my car, and today, I am able to walk to my car and go home with my wife!”

Having met all his goals, Wesley finally returned home after months away. However, Wesley’s recovery isn’t quite finished yet. He will continue with outpatient therapy at SKY Rehab and looks forward to seeing his same therapists and team here at SKY.