Life after paralysis: Newport Beach fundraiser supports rehab for spinal injury survivors

Erica Predum believes doctors’ orders weren’t enough to set her onto a path toward real healing. She was in constant pain after getting launched out of her car in a 2007 crash and fracturing nine vertebrae in her neck and back at the age of 23.

For years she was confined to a hospital bed in her home in Fort Wayne, Ind., and told she’d likely spend the rest of her life there, only ever leaving for medical visits and reliant on friends and families to accomplish day-to-day tasks. Meanwhile, she grew increasingly dependent on the opioids and anxiety medication she had been prescribed, at one point leading to an overdose.

“There wasn’t much of a recovery,” Predum said during a phone interview with the Daily Pilot. “I’d say I was in survival mode for a good probably two, three, four years. I was just trying to survive. I wasn’t doing anything to help myself to get better.”

Erica Predum holds her son’s hand while lying in a hospital bed after a traumatic spinal cord injury.

(Courtesy of Erica Predum)

Isolated, she had all but lost hope until discovering a rehab center in Atlanta that specializes in helping survivors of spinal cord injuries regain mobility. She reached out to Southern California-based nonprofit Walking With Anthony, and they helped her raise thousands of dollars to cover the cost of the program.

Predum overcame the expectations handed to her in the aftermath of her injury and earned the ability to get around by herself with the aid of a wheelchair. That breakthrough gave her the courage to set goals some might have considered impossible.

She’s one of over 100 people who have regained life-changing degrees of mobility thanks in part to money raised with the aid of Walking with Anthony. The organization hosts its annual Stand Up for a Cause Soirée Friday evening at the Balboa Bay Club.

Founder Micki Purcell, a Newport Beach resident, said they hope to fill a 300-seat banquet hall and bring in as much as $250,000 to further their mission. They’ll also honor the work of Peter Wilderotter, the former president and chief executive of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, as well as the contributions of the late Jerry West. The Lakers legend had been a donor and supporter of Walking with Anthony as well as a personal friend of the Purcell family.

Walking with Anthony began in 2010, shortly after Micki Purcell’s son and the organization’s namesake severed two of the vertebrae in his spine in a diving accident. Their family discovered that the first year of physical therapy after a spinal cord injury can cost around $100,000, but medical insurance typically only covers the first few weeks. Although they had the means to shoulder those costs, the Purcells decided to act on behalf of others who might struggle to access that kind of care.

“We have people who were told they would never move again who are walking,” Micki Purcell said. “Anthony is a pure example. He couldn’t move his finger when he got hurt, had a horrible injury. And now he’s pressing 150 pounds, driving to work, just had a baby. He got his life back. We’re trying to help as many people as we can get their lives back.”

Starting a charity was the last thing on his Anthony Purcell’s mind when his mom approached him about becoming the executive director of Walking with Anthony 14 years ago. He had lost control over most of his body and struggled on-and-off to find the will to keep waking up each morning for almost two years following his life-altering injury.

“I looked at her like she had three heads,” Anthony said. “In hindsight, if we did not start the charity I don’t think I would be as healthy mentally and physically as I am now, not just because of how I work out and things like that. But really, what heals me is seeing others get better from the benefit of Walking with Anthony and talking with people, talking through things, making sure that they understand we’re here for them.”

Their family has formed lasting bonds with many of those aided by their nonprofit, including Predum. About five years ago, when Anthony found out she wanted to learn to drive again, he donated his personal truck specially outfitted for use by drivers in a wheelchair and sent it to her home in Indiana.

That enabled Predum to go back to college the following year, and she graduated last spring with a degree in human services. She plans on leveraging her education and firsthand experience to create her own nonprofit in hope of improving access to activity-based therapy for others who have been paralyzed in the Fort Wayne area.

“I know the difference that a good support system can make,” Predum said. “I signed up for human services because I thought I could get into the helping field to be that kind of support for somebody else. I’ve been through it, and now I’m really connected with a lot of resources now in the community.”

Erica Predum shows off her cap and diploma after graduating college last spring. She had been paralyzed and confined to a hospital bed for years after a crash in 2007.

(Courtesy of Erica Predum)