SALT LAKE CITY — After suffering from a rare spinal cord stroke about two-and-a-half years ago, a 24-year-old is gearing up to graduate from the University of Utah this week.
Brian Maynard used to love drawing and the outdoors. Now, he is still mostly paralyzed and is on a slow road to recovery.
"It’s very, very slow. It's worse than watching paint dry,” he said.
When Brian was a senior at the University of Utah during winter break in 2022, he was home in Cedar City with his family. In a matter of just hours, the healthy student was hospitalized, airlifted and left paralyzed without the ability to breathe on his own or speak.
WATCH: University of Utah student left paralyzed following rare spinal cord stroke (January 2023)
Since Brian couldn’t speak then, FOX 13 News spoke to his mom, Fiona Maynard, about Brian’s condition and what would come next. She and her husband, Bruce Maynard, moved to Salt Lake City to help Brian.
"With your news story, a friend of a friend had an empty place by the zoo and they contacted us through Brian's friend's mom and we were able to stay there for the duration that he was in the hospital, which was absolutely amazing,” said Fiona.
Brian is now about to speak and move his neck. He still uses a ventilator to help with his breathing, moves around in his chair, and is working on building mobility in his right hand. He is doing occupational therapy at the University of Utah clinic in Sugar House, working to be able to use his right hand again.
"It’s always great to be part of the process of giving patients hope that there's something more that they'll be able to do again, and be able to function in a way that’s meaningful to them,” said Tanita Brown, the occupational therapist who works with Brian.
Brian is able to slowly hold small things, working his way up to hopefully feed himself and do other little tasks to make him more independent. He also loves drawing and would love to be able to do that again to some extent.
In the meantime, Brian used assisted technologies to help design a video game.
"Each little input is bound to sipping and puffing,” Brian said, describing how he can control the screen and draw 3D images with a mouthpiece. "To just be able to draw and use my creative mind like I did before has really helped."
"We hold onto the hope and hold on to any little milestone,” said Fiona. “And in my book, graduating college when you can't move is pretty amazing."
Brian is getting a degree through the university's Games program, focusing on entertainment arts and engineering. About eight months ago, his family didn’t know this was possible.
"There's been times when I don't want to try, but I go back to, 'Would my past self be mad at me for not trying?' So, I just keep pushing forward because that’s all I can do,” said Brian.
