Orem man moves forward after crippling injury
Derek Barney is confined to a wheelchair, but he isn’t restricted from moving forward. In 2008, he plummeted three stories and severed his spinal cord. He had to relearn how to roll over, sit up and do every other simple act that was once so involuntary.
Self-reliance seemed as unthinkable as walking again for the young Orem resident. But in actuality, the better part of Barney’s bitter trials had been fought before the accident that left him forever paralyzed.
For years, Barney struggled with substance abuse. And it was the misuse of alcohol that resulted in his spinal cord injury.
“I’m happier now in a wheelchair than when I was out using drugs,” Barney said. “One of the main ideas I’ve learned from this experience is that happiness is a choice.”
Nearly two years ago, on May 1, Barney was teetering on the railing of an apartment balcony while drunk. One hand provided him minimal balance while the other was texting. Thirteen days later he awoke from his coma in the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Utah Hospital and was told that he had fallen 35 feet onto his head. He had cracked his skull in five places and bled from the ears, which ultimately saved him from brain damage.
Barney’s parents and friends were given word that he had been hospitalized after an accident, but they didn’t know the extent of his injuries.
Initially his mother, Laurel Barney, thought he had superficial injuries as a result of roughhousing, and she was planning to give him a “what for.”
“I thought, if he has broken his leg … but then we learned he had injured his spine,” Laurel Barney recalled. “That night we were prepared for him to die.”
Barney’s hospital room turned into a revolving door for visitors. His mother encouraged everyone from close friends to acquaintances to get a good look at him as a way to make the substance-abuse-related tragedy a reality.
“I just broke down. I had to leave. I couldn’t deal with it,” his longtime friend Hayden McCoy said. “You didn’t wake up forever,” he said addressing Barney on a recent visit to his home.
“I hit rock bottom … now I’m just trying to chisel my way up to the concrete,” Barney jibbed. “A little levity goes a long way.”
It’s a wonder that Barney is still in this world. Though his limited mobility and double vision is certainly not the life the active 23-year-old once had, being a realist allowed him to adjust. And being an optimist is allowing him to prevail.
“He instantly wanted to make the best of it. If it were me, I’d be pretty down,” his brother Kyle Barney said.
His brother is referring to Barney’s daily triumphs, and it includes everything from riding the bus alone to attending college classes at Utah Valley University, where he is studying behavioral science. But recently added to Barney’s list of accomplishments is his public speaking engagements.
Barney has been telling his story to groups within the community who struggle with drug and alcohol addictions.
“I’ve decided to use my experiences to help others,” he said. “None of us can change our past, but we are all in control of the choices we make today.”
Barney was clean most of his teenage years. But a lack of coping skills concerning personal issues led him to experiment with illegal substances. He said it began as recreational use, but in an instant, drugs took a hold on his life.
“Disappointments led to my angry tendencies,” Barney said shaking his head. “I jumped into it that fast.”
He made it to his senior year of high school before using drugs. He smoked marijuana only twice before a friend slipped him some opium. He then found himself selling narcotics to support his drug habit.
Not long after, he asked his parents for help and was sent to a youth rehabilitation boarding school in West Jordan.
“My heroin addiction led my parents to send me to the Utah Boys Ranch,” he said. “I stayed clean for seven months, and then started using again because I was hanging out with the same friends. Soon I became sick of my heroin addiction, so I took up cocaine thinking it was a better alternative.”
His cocaine addiction resulted in drug court. In February of 2008, the 21-year-old graduated from drug court. He didn’t go back to using but would drink alcohol occasionally.
“Three months after graduating drug court, I woke up in a hospital and didn’t know what had happened to me. I couldn’t feel or move my legs, I couldn’t sit up, couldn’t talk, feed myself or go to the bathroom. I was virtually helpless,” Barney recalled.
Though it was initially terrifying for Barney, he realized that regret was a waste of energy. So the only logical thing to do was move onward.
“We are all in charge of what we do today. You have to actively change your habits,” he said.
Barney routinely goes to physical therapy at Neuroworx in South Jordan. The staff there says that he has not only improved from a physical standpoint but has also made mental progress.
“I just wanted him to have his old life back. … We were the ones who had the hard time moving on,” Laurel Barney said. “But he’s closer to God now, he has a better mind-set about life, and he’s got an awesome attitude.”
Barney has found a way to work out his own salvation, but his responsibility is not only to himself. Right before his accident, he became the proud father of Mckenzie Louise Bingham. When considering his past, he worries about the course his daughter will take. But he’s hopeful that just being a presence in her life will impart the right example.
“I want my daughter to learn from my example that giving up is never a wise choice. No matter what life throws her way she can always come out on top if she’s willing to have faith and keep pressing forward,” he said.
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