On Nov. 13, just shy of a month after an ATV broke his back, 15-year-old Caiden Baxter, who was told he might never take another step took one. And then another step and another — 12 steps in all.
Now six months after the accident, Caiden has seen the Niles community, family and friends rally around him, each pushing him to take yet another step in his recovery.
The accident that almost left Caiden paralyzed happened on Oct. 14. Caiden was riding an ATV with a friend on their farm in Niles, when a sudden drop off surprised him. Caiden fell and the ATV landed on top of him. He was rushed to an intensive care unit in Indianapolis and
eventually transported to a hospital in Grand Rapids.
“I was just grateful he was alive,” Caiden’s mom Lori Baxter recalled.
Caiden underwent surgery that placed a titanium rod and eight screws in his back.
After six and a half weeks in the hospital, Caiden got to come home to his family in Niles. Through a GoFundMe account, raised more than $8,000 from the community and helped pay for Caiden’s house to be updated, a wheelchair ramp and other handicapped accessible additions were added to the house.
“The support has been amazing and [helped] him come this far,” Lori said. “This would have been a lot more difficult without support.”
With the help of a walker and leg braces that support his ankles, Caiden now walks around his house or across the supermarket with his family. At school, he speeds across the Niles New Tech and Andrew’s University campuses in a wheel chair. His friends, who sat by his hospital bed in Indianapolis and Grand Rapids, treat Caiden like they did before the accident. The friends attend movies and hang out in their spare time. For Caiden’s 16th birthday on Jan. 27, his family threw him a surprise birthday party at Olfactory Hue Bistro.
But recovery always has its uphill battles. There were times throughout the recovery when Caiden said he was plagued by self-doubt.
“I lost a lot of confidence,” the teenager said.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and several hours over the weekend, Caiden attended physical therapy while in the hospital. Along the way, the Niles community pushed him. Friends told Caiden that he was inspiring them to accomplish their own goals. When they ran a 5K or made a goal they would tag Caiden on social media and this helped to encourage Caiden further.
As someone who had been taught the importance of helping his community, Caiden said it felt strange to be on the receiving end.
Lori has always encouraged her children to be civic minded. The family would often volunteer together with Meals on Wheels. Caiden also started his own projects to help others, like a T-shirt fundraiser for a local boy diagnosed with cancer. Seeing first-hand how big a difference that support makes in someone else’s life has been a rewarding experience, his family said.
“It felt weird, but it was really helpful” Caiden said.
In addition to the $8,000 raised through the GoFundMe. Another $6,000 from family and friends helped to support a trip to California for Caiden to attend Project Walk, where he worked with physical therapists to improve his condition.
The trip helped to encourage him.
“I feel like it showed him what his abilities are and what he is capable of doing,” Lori said.
The key to making progress, Caiden said, was to set up his own personal goals. Last week during Project Walk, Caiden said he wanted to be able to sit and stand up with as little support as possible.
Looking back on the past six months, Caiden said he is “grateful” for all the support, from family, friends and doctors who have helped his recovery process continue.
Caiden said he is next working on regaining some strength in his ankles. His physical therapy is down to two hours per week. Caiden is also on a basketball team for those who use wheelchairs.
“People still push me forward every day,” Caiden said. “They say encouraging things and a lot of people I have met are in similar situations or harder situations than I am. If they can do it then why can’t I?”
Caiden is hoping to make a second visit to California for another week of therapy with Project Walk, but it will depend on the funds that are able to to be raised.
All he need from the community now he said are “prayers.”