Cory Odeniyi was driving home from a friend’s birthday party when a driver drifted into oncoming traffic and hit his car head on.
“I remember seeing the Jeep coming toward me and then, I blacked out,” Odeniyi says.
He was rushed to Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital where the team assessed his injuries. He suffered broken ribs, a wrist, pelvis and hips, as well as a lacerated liver, a heel decapitation, knee fractures and femur fractures. Of all his injuries, doctors were most concerned about his left leg.
His mom, Abisola “Bisi” Teluwo, a nurse, received a phone call at 2 a.m. and rushed to Ben Taub Hospital to see her son, who was in surgery.
“This team was doing everything they could to keep my son alive,” Teluwo remembers.
Odeniyi’s time in the hospital was a rollercoaster for the family.
“Seeing my son connected to all the machines was hard,” Teluwo says. “As a nurse, I know what is happening. He was on a ventilator, he’d spike fevers, have tremors, was on dialysis and had multiple blood transfusions.”
The first memory Odeniyi has is three weeks after being admitted. He remembers being surrounded by doctors and according to his mom, he tried to get up and said he had to get to work.
“I was so confused,” Odeniyi recalls. “I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t let me get up.”
The doctors and his family explained what happened and broke the news that his left leg couldn’t be saved even though he had undergone multiple surgeries.
Odeniyi and his family grieved the decision, but knew it was best for his recovery.
“My son received the best care—the nurses, the doctors, were amazing,” Teluwo says.
Today, Odeniyi has a bright outlook on life and continues with physical therapy.
“I just received my prosthetic and am looking forward to learning how to walk and re-start my life,” he says. “This was a humbling experience. It felt much longer than it was, but I am grateful to be here.”