A Leamington truck driver is slowly recovering after sustaining a traumatic brain injury on the job.
Mike Doyle fell six feet off the back of a truck while delivering a shipment to an Oldcastle business on January 16. Doyle fractured his skull and suffered a traumatic brain injury, and also broke his collarbone, four ribs and his left shoulder. He also had pinched nerves, blood in his lung and a cracked vertebrae in his spine.
Doctors said Doyle would never walk again.
He tells CTV Windsor he doesn't remember the incident, and he was in the ICU in hospital for a month, but he returned home in May and is walking again.
Now, he is focused on his recovery and wants to ride his motorcycle again. "I hope that my hands straighten out a little bit, because I just can't see myself getting on the bike. That is something I have done for many years," says Doyle.
His wife of 21 years, Peggy Doyle, says the whole ordeal has taught her an important lesson. "It makes you take a step back and hopefully the little things don't bother you, things that would have bothered me before I find aren't really as important as they were before," says Peggy.
She also continues to have hope that Mike will continue to fight and improve."You've gotta have hope, you've gotta have patience," says Doyle. "You have to take every little victory, every little thing you see as a big big step even though it isn't."
On Saturday July 7, Doyle's family is holding a welcome home party at Memorial Park in Tilbury from 11am to 5pm.
The event is open to the public.
With files from Manny Paiva