Living a Beautiful Life

On the evening of February 24, 2025, Brooklyn Boyer and her boyfriend, Alan Mann, were having a belated Valentine’s Day and birthday dinner when Alan got down on one knee.

“With a photographer taking pictures nearby, Alan asked me to marry him,” Brooklyn, age 22, recalls. “I am so, so happy. I’ve been through a lot in the past few years, and Alan has been by my side the entire time. He is a blessing straight from God.”

A Lifesaving Event

Back in June 2020, Brooklyn—who had just finished her junior year at Lubbock Christian High School in Texas—was swimming at a friend’s house.

“I went headfirst down the pool slide, which I had done many times before, and hit my head on the bottom, crushing my C5 vertebrae,” she says. “I knew something was wrong as soon as it happened. I remember hearing a loud noise when I hit the bottom and felt tingling in my body, but couldn’t move.”

Brooklyn’s friends quickly flipped her over in the water and called 911. Alan, who she had just started dating, jumped into action.

“Alan had just completed a lifeguard training class the week before, so he knew exactly how to put a rescue board under me, ensure I could breathe, and keep me stabilized until the paramedics arrived,” she says.

Shortly after, Brooklyn underwent emergency surgery and spent the next two weeks in the surgical ICU in Lubbock before flying to Colorado to begin spinal cord injury neurorehabilitation at Craig Hospital.

“It was the height of COVID, and only one caregiver could stay with me,” she explains. “My dad and older brother, Tyler, stayed in Craig’s family housing, while my mom stayed with me. We are a very close family, so the many pandemic restrictions added stress to an already tough situation, but we made the best of it.”

She adds, “My parents and Alan’s parents actually met for the first time in the emergency room in Texas—and then Alan and his family traveled to Craig to help support my recovery.”

Becoming Family

 While at Craig, Brooklyn spent eight hours a day relearning basic skills in physical therapy, occupational therapy, therapeutic recreation, Wheelchair Clinic and the School Program.

“Laura Magnuson [Craig’s teacher and school coordinator] set me up for my senior year of high school by communicating with my teachers back home and working with the Assistive Technology Lab to figure out which adaptive equipment would help me.”

In addition, Brooklyn’s occupational therapists, Julie Kirby and Joanna Watson, spent time teaching Brooklyn to apply makeup with her limited hand mobility.

“I have always loved applying makeup; however, that was no longer easy after my injury,” Brooklyn says. “But Julie and Joanna ordered me specialized equipment and taught me how to use it. It was extremely meaningful that they took the time to help me learn something so important to me. I now think of makeup as an art form, and I’m grateful to Julie and Joanna for this.”

Craig’s Adolescent Program—an adolescent-focused program offering positive peer support and age-specific programming—was also an important part of Brooklyn’s rehabilitation.

“It was great to spend time with other teens in a similar situation,” Brooklyn says. “Because we all had been through some type of life-changing trauma, we bonded together and supported each other. There are not many power wheelchair users in Lubbock, so it was special to make close friends with others like me. I think of it as another blessing.”

Coping with Trauma

Before Brooklyn’s accident, she had always loved swimming, but that changed on the afternoon of June 10, 2020.

“After my injury, I became very nervous around pools,” she explains. “But because I had always been a water baby, I desperately wanted to feel comfortable again. I also wanted to stop being afraid of loud noises. The loud, banging noise I heard at the bottom of the pool that day haunted me, and I desperately wanted to get past it. I needed to feel like myself again.”

So Brooklyn began working with Craig’s psychology team and Danielle Scroggs, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist and aquatic therapist.

“The first step is establishing trust and rapport,” explains Danielle. “It was important for Brooklyn to trust me to keep her safe near the water, as well as in the water. Every patient’s journey is unique, so going at Brooklyn’s pace was vital.”

To help address Brooklyn’s trauma symptoms with an eye on prolonged post-traumatic stress, her psychologist used exposure therapy.

“This type of therapy is standard practice when dealing with trauma,” explains Toby Huston, PhD, Craig’s director of psychology. “The goal is to manage one’s fear responses associated with trauma by teaching coping mechanisms and then gradually exposing patients to trauma-related stimuli in a safe and controlled environment. Basically, this type of therapy helped Brooklyn reduce her anxiety by becoming less reactive to her fears. It also helped her restore a sense of control by helping her confront the fears brought on by her injury.”

Danielle and the psychology team worked together to address Brooklyn’s fears by using relaxation and calming strategies, virtual reality, mindfulness and video journaling.

“These methods help decrease an individual’s reactivity, which helps minimize the chances of acute trauma reactions developing into prolonged PTSD,” Toby explains.

Brooklyn adds, “All of the hard work I put in paid off. Today, I have no issues with water and minimal problems with loud noises because of the specialized therapy that I received through Craig. I now have the feeling of freedom that I used to love. I thank God every day for Craig. It’s a wonderful place full of wonderful people. You hope you don’t have to go through these situations, but when you do, Craig is certainly where you want to be.”

Home Sweet Home

In late September, Brooklyn and her family headed back to Lubbock. “When we got home, our house had been converted into an accessible place to live, thanks to my community who banded together to complete necessary modifications to our house,” Brooklyn recalls. “Everything was ready for us. I was so excited to be home again.”

Back in Lubbock, Brooklyn’s parents, Tonia and David, became her full-time caregivers. “My nurses at Craig taught my parents everything they needed to know,” she says. “So it was an easier transition from Craig to home.”

Brooklyn returned to school in person to complete her senior year, graduating with her class: “At first, it felt weird and scary to be back at school in a wheelchair, but Lubbock is a small, close-knit community, and everyone rallied around me with tons of support. It felt good to be back at school with all of my friends.”

She began attending Lubbock Christian University in the fall of 2021. Brooklyn graduated this past May with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in family studies. She intends to spend the summer planning her wedding and applying to graduate school for counseling.

“I have always been drawn to the helping profession,” she explains. “And my spinal cord injury has inspired me to focus on counseling because I would not be where I am today without the therapy I received following my accident.”

After Brooklyn and Alan get married, the couple plans to move in together, with Alan becoming Brooklyn’s caregiver: “This will be a transition for us, but Alan is willing to learn how to help me with everything I need. We love each other, and this experience has taught me what unconditional love looks like.”

Reflecting back on her accident, Brooklyn admits that her injury and recovery were extremely challenging, but there have been many blessings that came from it.

“After my injury, I told Alan that I would understand if he didn’t want to continue dating – since I am fully aware that not everyone can do that, or wants to do that – but he never left my side. I know we have hard things to deal with, but I try to focus on the positives because we really do have a beautiful life.”

To learn more about supporting programs at Craig Hospital, please visit craighospital.org/donate.