The UAB Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and the UAB Trauma Survivors Network (TSN), gathered to recognize trauma survivors, their families, and medical teams at the second annual UAB Trauma Survivors Day event on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Local organizations such as Hand in Paw Animal-Assisted Therapy, the Offender Alumni Association (OAA), UAB Arts in Medicine, and Big Spoon Ice Cream, came together to support Trauma Survivors Day, offering fun and educational activities for attendees.
The Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Injury Prevention Coordinator Libby Kellen, RN, BSN, taught Stop the Bleed training at the event.
“It is an amazing amount of resources that go into taking care of trauma patients. The support that we’ve had from UAB leadership and the administrative support to embrace this mission of trauma care is why we have the quality outcomes that we have,” said UAB Chief of Trauma Service Daniel Cox, M.D., as he welcomed attendees to the event in the opening address.
Four trauma survivors were invited to speak and share their stories of surviving traumatic injuries ranging from gun violence to vehicular crashes and accidents, with the community.
“I want you to know as a fellow healthcare provider—I know what it’s like to wonder is it really worth it. And when you have those thoughts just know that it is worth it,” said internal decapitation survivor and former paramedic, Christy Bullock. “There’s gonna be that one person that you’re everything for.”
Bullock now has a YouTube channel where she connects with other trauma survivors encouraging them with her lived experience.
Timothy Lanier, a trauma survivor and violence intervention specialist working with the newly established VIP2 program, had a special thank you for the medical team at UAB: “I want to tell you all something I couldn’t 30 years ago — thank you.”
This event would not have been possible without the honored trauma survivors and the teams of surgeons and nurses caring for trauma patients at UAB and throughout Alabama.
“The survivors here today have found purpose in their lives after trauma and let the light inside them shine through them in their service of others and by sharing their stories,” said the UAB TSN Coordinator and Communications Specialist Allie Hulcher.
About UAB Hospital’s Level 1 Trauma Center
UAB Hospital serves as the only American College of Surgeons-verified Level 1 Trauma Center in the state of Alabama and remains a major treatment center in the southeast for patients suffering traumatic injuries.
The TSN is an initiative of the American Trauma Society, with over 150 sites at hospitals and rehab centers across the United States that exists to support trauma patients and their families—from their immediate questions to providing long-term support.