Imagine spending almost a year in the hospital with little to no hope of ever living the life you once lived. You're confined to a hospital bed in one room, unable to move, and your independence is limited. Would you keep fighting? For Jody Benngingfield, this was his reality. He transitioned from living a normal life to fighting for his life, and he expresses gratitude to JPS Health Network for helping him reclaim his life.
Benningfield's journey to JPS was tragic. He was a victim of a road rage incident, which he described as something he had never imagined occurring. Benningfield was driving to his brother's house to enjoy time with his family when things took an unexpected turn.
"As I was driving to my brother's house, I turned down the street, and another vehicle approached me at excessive speed, so I slowed down and pulled over to the side so he could go past me," said Benningfield. "Well, as he goes to drive past me, he mouths, ‘You almost hit me,’ or something like that. So, I said, ‘You almost hit me. I'm sitting still. What do you mean?’ So then, he ends up stopping."
Benningfield decided to exit his car to see what the man wanted. A life altering choice he now regrets.
"Don't give up. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Keep going. Keep pushing. When you think you can't do it anymore, yes, you can."
"I got out. I shouldn't have, but I did," said Benningingfield. "He says something to me as I get out, and I start to say, ‘What did you say?’ But I only got ‘What…’ out of my mouth before he shot me. "I remember thinking, ‘There's no way he shot me’ because I didn't feel it at first, and then I touched my stomach, and I was covered in blood."
Benningfield said he started to lose consciousness and fell in the middle of the street. Although he began screaming, no one heard him. After managing to get up, he got into his truck and drove the rest of the way to his brother's house.
"I started banging on his door. When he opened the door, I fell in," Benningfield said. "My brother calls the police, and I remember coming to in the ambulance, and the paramedic was standing over me holding the defibrillators and looking at me in my face. I'll never forget him saying ‘no one dies in my ambulance.’”
After arriving at JPS, Benningfield underwent several surgeries to repair the damage. He remembers waking up the afternoon of the next day, with the medical staff telling him everything went well. They told him he could leave as long as he had two bowel movements.
"I remember getting up to do my laps around the nurse's stations, and after that, I needed to go to the bathroom," Benningfield said. "I started to feel really weak after that, so I got back into the bed. The second time I needed to go, I had to get a wheelchair, but this time, I couldn't get out of the bathroom. I could barely pull the string to get help. They opened the door and asked if I was alright, and I said, ‘No,’ I could barely talk."
After Benningfield was taken back to bed and tests were run, he went septic. When he woke up days later, he couldn't remember what had happened. However, his healthcare journey was far from over. Because he was shot in the stomach, he had a bowel resection due to a colon injury caused by the incident. This resulted in a colostomy, where a portion of his colon was removed, and damage to his small intestine was repaired. Wound Care was consulted to provide education on it. During the education session, it was discovered that his stoma, which is the part of the intestine pulled to the skin level, was gone. So, his stool seeped into his stomach instead of the colostomy bag, posing a risk of infection.
Benningfield had to undergo another surgery to address this issue, and his stomach was cut open to remove the stool. Now, the wound care team would have to tend to the wound on his stomach and on his stoma. During this time, wound care played a pivotal role in Benningfield's success story. After his surgery, he began developing abnormal connections between the bowel and the skin, called fistulas.
According to Lori Shelman, BSN, RN, PCCN, WOC RN, Inpatient Wound Care, “In certain cases when a patient has a colostomy, it can break apart and leak stool. When stool begins to leak into the stomach, it causes fistulas, which are holes. So, the big wound on his stomach started popping fistulas, and he was having stool come out of random holes his body was making.”
The Wound Care team worked tirelessly to ensure that Benningfield was receiving the best care for his condition.
"At one point, I remember I was being taken down for procedures daily, and Lori, Claire, and Brittney were coming up with different designs and using different types of medical equipment to try and keep my stoma up so I wouldn't be losing bowel inside myself," Benningfield said.
There were many days when Bennginfield felt like giving up because it would be easier. He grew tired of waiting and thought he'd never live life like he used to. He would talk to his wound care nurses about riding his motorcycle again and just being able to live life, and when his mind started to drift negatively, they quickly redirected him. He said they wouldn't allow him to give up. They wanted him to know that he was going to get through this, and he shared that having support from everyone was the biggest contributing factor in his recovery journey.
"I used to tell them I was ready to give up because I just didn't care anymore, and they'd say, ‘No, not after all this work we've done. I don't think so,’ Benningfield said. "So, it was because of them. They kept me going. They kept me thinking positively. I also received so much support from my family and friends. I just had a lot of support, and because of that, I was not only able to return to my life but be here to see the birth of my granddaughter."
Benningfield made lasting connections throughout his journey. He said this process made him stronger than ever and advised anyone going through any situation to fight to overcome their circumstances.
"Don't give up," Benningfield said. "There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Keep going. Keep pushing. When you think you can't do it anymore, yes, you can. If you're feeling down, call someone to help encourage you, whether it's your loved one or your nurse, because someone is cheering you on. And if you don't think anyone is cheering you on, I am."