Max’s Story

“We didn’t think he was going to make it through the night, much less life.” – Max’s mom

“We have a John Doe matching your son’s description in our emergency room,” words a mom never wants to hear.

Max, a young adult with a photography career, was riding his motorbike to the corner store when he was hit and left in the street. 

“My injuries were really bad. I had a brain bleed and swelling, a broken right femur, broken left tibia and fibula sticking out of my skin, a broken skull bone and bruised lungs. I was in a coma for 10 days followed by a medically induced coma for several weeks, says Max” 

“We didn’t think he was going to make it through the night, much less life,” says his mom, Kimberly Teweles. Max had multiple surgeries to repair his injuries. He was on a feeding tube and ventilator.  When he was stable, he was moved to DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) to begin the next phase of his recovery. 

“Early days at RIM, Max had no memory, couldn’t walk, talk, eat or sit up. We didn’t know his potential,” says Teweles.

For three months, Max did inpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy five days a week. He says his therapists pushed him really hard, even coming to get him on the days he didn’t feel like going to therapy. 

“RIM is amazing. Not just the therapists, but the nurses, aides and desk clerks. It made all the difference knowing they loved him as much as me,” says Teweles.

Today, Max continues with outpatient therapy, is in a vocational program specializing in photography and videography – he’s walking, talking, eating and moving forward in life. 

“It’s all about staying positive. As much as therapy helped me at RIM, so did my therapist’s positivity and expectation that I can and will do. Because of them, I’m unstoppable.”