Wheelchair user not giving up hope that he will walk again

When Nickoy Bremer left work on January 7, 2017 to take his nine month-old son to his maternal grandparents, he never envisioned that he would wake up in hospital the following day, possibly unable to walk ever again.

Bremer had just completed a 12-hour shift as a security guard at a hotel. Both he and his son's mother, as working parents, needed a babysitter. So, despite the time - it was between 8:30 and 9 p.m. - they took off for Portland from Montego Bay, St James with their son and a friend. They safely made it to Portland. However, on their journey back to Montego Bay, Bremer fell asleep. Shortly after 4 a.m. Bremer's friend, who was driving the car, lost control. The vehicle hit a wall which caused it to flip. Bremer's friend and his child's mother managed to escape the vehicle but Bremer was not awake. Seconds later, a bus hit the vehicle, leaving him pinned in the car for more than an hour. When he finally woke up, he realised that he was chained to a hospital bed with his left leg broken in three places and a punctured lung.

"When I woke up, I had no idea what happened, because the last thing I remember was falling asleep and I woke in somewhere I've never been," Bremer said. He spent eight months in the hospital and was told by his doctors that he was lucky to be alive. Brener also told THE WEEKEND STAR that, despite the shock of the information he received, the first thing he wanted to know was if his son's mother and friend were okay.

"That's one of the good things that I can see, like it happened on the way back after I dropped off my son. So I was relieved that my son wasn't in the car and that nothing severe happened to my friend or my son's mother," Bremer said. But, other than the broken leg, Bremer had bigger issues. The doctor told him that he had severe internal bleeding, which resulted in the blood heavily compressing his spine. The prognosis that he would never walk again left him in a state of despair.

"I was heartbroken and I think I asked the question twice, because I could barely speak when I woke up and I was on oxygen for a month. So, when the doctor told me it was highly unlikely [that I would not walk again], that was after my surgery, and I said to him he's not God, and he said 'you're exactly right'," said Bremer. He refuses to give up on the possibility that he may walk again, and is currently doing physiotherapy.

Since the accident, Bremer's life has completely changed. He has not worked since then and now, as a wheelchair user, the 30-year-old is constantly learning to navigate his new normal.

"It's still hard because everything is brand new being in this situation. It's also brand new for my family. My mom is my biggest supporter, she's basically my nurse, my caregiver, everything. So I have an entire family that supports me, a really big support system, and they're like my hands and feet at this point," Bremer said. He said that he is looking forward to doing some intense therapy and see where that takes him.

"Jobwise, I'm not sure as yet but I have a few things in mind. Plus, I've been doing research on what I can do and how I can do it being that I'm in a wheelchair," he said. "I'm thinking about applying for jobs that I can work from home."