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Highlands Today

Pearson family speaks of son's ordeal

Courtesy photo

Jason Pearson is seen here with his mother, Debbie, and father, Bill.

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: May 11, 2009

SEBRING - When it comes to healing from a serious motorcycle crash, for Jason Michael Pearson, 28, of Sebring, recovery can be measured in baby steps and small sips.

"He just had his neck brace taken off (Thursday)," said his dad, Bill Pearson, on Friday at his Blue Crab restaurant. "They gave him 10 spoons of a shake and he was able to take it all."

Up until Thursday all nourishment went in by feeding tube.

It's been a rough ride for Jason Pearson since Jan. 25, when a driver made a U-turn and cut him off on his motorcycle, causing a crash near Raley Road on U.S. 27, south of Sebring.

He was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital's trauma center where his life was saved.

"They took out his spleen, otherwise he would have bled to death," said his mom, Debbie Pearson on Tuesday.

Since then, he's undergone 18 more surgeries, with 1,100 pages of bills totaling an estimated $3 million; and he's not through yet.

His therapy costs about $1,850 per day.

"By the time he gets through all this he'll be the 'Six Million Dollar Man,'" she said.

Bill and Debbie Pearson sat stoically in the restaurant's tap room, recalling events from three months earlier.

"He was on his way from Lake Placid to meet us here," he said.

Then they heard news of the crash, they said.

"They gave us a 10 percent chance that he would live and said that we should probably start to consider making funeral arrangements," said Debbie Pearson. "He remained in a medically-induced coma several weeks, so he wouldn't have to deal with the pain."

All the bones in his face were broken, his jaw, cheek bones and skull, said Bill Pearson. Oddly, none of his teeth were knocked out or broken.

"The only way I can describe him is he looked like a goldfish," she said, after she saw him the next day. "His eyes were out to here. He was so swollen his body literally took up the whole bed.

"He broke all of his ribs, both shoulder blades, one collar bone, fractured vertebrae in is upper neck and lower back. He suffered multiple fractures in his spine."

Wearing a black "Jason Pearson Benefit Run" baseball cap, Jason's brother Erik Pearson, 26, joined the conversation, but, in the uneasy moments, didn't remain seated.

He's got a plate and 12 screws in his right arm, Debbie Pearson continued.

Erik stood up, and said it was a 10-inch-long metal plate. His fingers indicated what he thought was about 10 inches. He was now at his mother's side.

He has a skin graft from his left leg to cover his knee, she said.

He destroyed all the ligaments and tendons of his knee, Erik said.

He's got a metal rod in his shin and he lost one-third of his foot, which had to be amputated. He still suffers trauma to his left arm, severely limiting his movement. Jason is still confined to a body brace.

But last week he took his first step with a walker.

They're waiting to hear from Tampa if the body and neck brace can come off next week and perhaps he'll be able to take food by mouth.

He's suffered some brain damage. The extent of the damage to his brain is unknown, but doctors expect 60 percent or more of his brain capacity should come back, they said.

Pearson has since been released from Tampa General and was moved to the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation, Inc. in Wauchula, where he continues to undergo speech, occupational and physical therapy.

"Jason is very frustrated," Debbie Pearson said. "His brain - he wants to say something but it doesn't come out (the way he wants) and it makes him angry."

He doesn't always recognize or remember friends and family relationships.

"He asked me if he could borrow my cell phone so he could call his mom," said Debbie Pearson. "I said, 'Jason, I am your mom.' He said, 'No, you're Miss Debbie.'"

Bill Pearson said he's added 16,000 miles to his truck driving to Tampa General and recently to Wauchula. And they've driven more miles than those on Bill's motorcycle, in Debbie's van and Erik's car.

"The fact that we have Jason is a miracle," said Debbie Pearson. "They called him a miracle in Tampa and they call him a miracle in rehab. They have patients there with fewer injuries, who can't do what he can.

"The nurses at Tampa say there's never been a patient in that trauma center who survived the magnitude of injuries Jason had, who wasn't wearing a helmet."

Jason loved to ride motorcycles, loved to cook and loved camping. He's well known for his bean soup. He cooked at the Blue Crab until 2005, when he decided to become a truck driver, she said.

It is not clear how long it will be until he'll be able to work again, or what his limitations might be.

"He's got a long road ahead of him, a long road," she said.

The family is grateful to Jason's friends who are holding a sausage gravy and biscuit benefit breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at Shooters May 16 and a benefit run ending at The Mixx, to help him with his medical bills.

For more information on the bike run and breakfast, call Cathie at 381-8490 or Christy at 273-0048. Donations can be deposited at Highlands Independent Bank branches in the name of Jason Pearson.

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at 863-386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com.

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