Long-Time Commissioner Recovering From Broken Neck
OCEAN CITY — Less than a week after a fall left her in the hospital with a broken neck, Worcester County Commissioner Louise Gulyas is on the road to recovery.
“We received the results of the Myelogram yesterday and it appears that the break in C2 is a straight line and yet her neck is still aligned,” wrote her son Thom Gulyas in an email to local media and friends of the commissioner. “This is really good news for sure.”
It was only last Friday that Louise Gulyas, who was elected as a commissioner in 1998, slipped in her Ocean City condo after lunch with some friends. The fall left her unconscious through that afternoon and she was found the next morning by her son after she failed to appear for a scheduled outing. The commissioner spent more than 18 hours on the floor of her condo.
In the hospital afterwards, Louise Gulyas learned that the fall had actually broken a vertebra in her neck.
“We spent about five hours at AGH [Atlantic General Hospital] with them getting her stabilized, X-rays and CT,” Thom Gulyas reported. “After the doctors had read the results, they came in to inform us all that mom has in fact broken her neck. She has broken C2 upper vertebra.”
Thom Gulyas said that his mother never showed signs of paralysis and could move extremities the entire time. Her spirits remained high as well, he added, even though the fall kept her hospital bound on her birthday Monday.
Commissioner Judy Boggs commented on her friend’s consistent
show of perseverance.
“You know, you never hear any complaints from Louise and she’s had so many ups and downs,” said Boggs. “More downs than ups, lately. But she does not complain. She’s always upbeat and positive and with that attitude I’m sure she’ll come through this.”
That positive outlook, as well as an outpouring of support from the community, has helped his mother recover, according to Thom Gulyas.
“Her spirits are up mainly as a result of the many emails, posts, phone calls, flowers, etc.,” he wrote.
Thom Gulyas also thanked any in the community who have taken a few minutes of their time to put the commissioner in their thoughts and prayers.
“To all of you who shared prayers, placed her on prayer lists, stopped by, called, emailed, etc…thank you,” he wrote. “It meant so much to her and it obviously worked. As a family, we wholeheartedly believe in the power of prayer.”
Louise Gulyas has been moved to the Chesapeake Health South in Salisbury and is currently seeing visitors, answering calls and emails. She will need to wear a neck brace once she leaves the facility, likely for at least three months. But she is definitely heading in the right direction, said Thom Gulyas.