Healing Words Help Huntley Man

 On January 17, 2009, Ryan Schroeder of Huntley was involved in a snowmobile accident that resulted in severe head trauma. He was in a coma for three weeks.

 “He was in a vegetative state,” said Ryan’s mother, Karen. “He couldn’t do rehabilitation, and the doctors were not hopeful. They never expected him to live.”

The Schroeder family has lived in Huntley since 1988. They have owned Schroeder Asphalt Services Inc. in Marengo since 1997.

Ryan attended St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Hampshire until fifth grade and then continued his education in Huntley public schools. Ryan and his siblings, Brent and Jennifer, all graduated from Huntley High School. Jennifer won the title of Miss Huntley in 1996.

Ryan started riding snowmobiles when he was 8 years old. When he decided he wanted to become a civil engineer, he enrolled at the Mid-State Technical College campus in Wisconsin Rapids. He brought his snowmobile with him to Wisconsin.

Ryan was driving his snowmobile on a trail a half mile east of County Highway U near the Portage County line when a storm hit and caused poor visibility. There were four other snowmobilers with Ryan on the day of the accident. Ryan was airlifted to St. Joseph Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin.

“A prayer chain was started for Ryan at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Huntley,” said Karen. “There were lots of prayers said for him.” 

Karen said the family was later approached by a speech therapist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago who is also on the research team at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

“She said Edward Hines VA Hospital had received a grant for a study, and Ryan met the criteria they were looking for,” Karen said. “He would be the first subject of the study. Since no medications were involved, we agreed to have him in the study.”

In familiar vocal stimulation, headphones playing tapes were placed on Ryan’s head four times a day in various sequences, according to Karen. The tapes included a happy, sad, and neutral story that had been chosen by Ryan’s parents and sister. 

Dr. Theresa Pape, neuroscientist at both Northwestern University Neurosurgery and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, asked the Schroeders to talk on the tapes.

“Ryan responded after three to four weeks,” Karen said. “He was then accepted back into the RIC therapy program. He listened to the tapes again for another six weeks. He came home on June 10, 2009 and is now considered an outpatient.” 

The study suggests that a person in a vegetative state shows a better response to hearing the voices of people they know versus the voices of strangers. A familiar voice seems to spark more brain activity across more areas of the brain.

Karen said that Ryan is doing well. He was 21 years old at the time of the accident. He is now 23. 

“He has a personal trainer and does water therapy, eye therapy, and other therapies,” she said. “He has some memory problems, but he is improving. He tries really hard.” 

Karen said that Ryan can now walk with a cane and comprehend what he is reading.
 “He is aware of where he’s at,” she said, “but it’s a very slow process. Life comes back gradually. The brain is an incredible organ.”

Ryan was recently featured on the Medical Watch segment of the WGN Channel 9 evening news. Pape said that the study that began with Ryan is now being conducted with other patients.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Pape’s work “has taken on special significance for the Veterans Administration, as some 20 percent of troops injured in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan have a brain injury. Most of the injuries are considered mild and only a relatively small percentage result in long-term loss of consciousness. But for those patients who do remain unconscious, any new hope is welcome.”