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"I don't really remember anything about that day," Manka said. "I've been told that the fall knocked me unconscious and I was on the ground with one of my legs folded up behind my back, near my head."
He was taken to Angel Community Hospital in Franklin and within an hour transferred to Mission-St. Joseph's hospital in Asheville. Aside from Manka's broken bones, the blow to the side of his head had caused his brain to swell. Doctors warned that the increased pressure on his brain could cause permanent damage even if he survived the injury.
But he held on. After several days in a neurotrauma unit and then to a patient room, he transferred to Thoms Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville. Two weeks into the rehabilitation program, he transferred again to Shepherd Center in Atlanta, hoping it would help him regain as much strength and cognitive function as possible.
After such an event, it takes time for swelling to subside and the brain to heal, according to Shepherd Center medical experts. Sometimes the brain creates new electrical pathways so that a different part of the brain can take over the injured part. It is nearly always difficult to predict how much a particular person will recover from such an injury, and Manka was no exception. It was a long waiting game with incremental victories along the way.
Each day, a team of physiatrists, neuropsychologists, and physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapists helped him regain the strength to stand up and eventually walk; speak clearly; process information; concentrate and remember.
After two weeks in Shepherd's inpatient unit, Manka moved to Shepherd Pathways, the center's post-acute brain injury day-treatment facility that combines onsite and community-based therapy during the day, while patients commute from home or live on campus. Manka got a nearby apartment so that he could be with his wife, Stephanie, and 14-month-old twins, Haley and Harrison, and at the same time begin to re-establish a daily routine.
For the next eight weeks he continued an intense regimen of therapy, and according to therapists, made dramatic improvements.
"He has made unbelievable progress, even in the past two weeks," said Kelly Simmons, the speech pathologist at Shepherd Pathways who helped him with skills he would need to return to work and care for his children. "His speech is clearer and faster and he's much more confident than when he arrived. We're really seeing the old Jeff come back."
Motivated to resume his former life, Manka worked diligently with his therapists; his determination has paid off. He recently acquired the necessary medical clearance that will allow him to take a driver's evaluation at Shepherd in April, and he plans to return to work part time almost immediately.
"I still have things I need to work on like my physical therapy, but I've learned some things from all this," Jeff said. "I know it doesn't matter how much money you make, it's your family, health and belief in God that are important."
According to the Brain Injury Association, there are approximately 80,000 new brain injuries each year nationwide. More than 50,000 people die every year as a result of traumatic brain injury. Automobile accidents account for 50 percent of such injuries, followed by falls.
Shepherd Center in Atlanta is the country's largest catastrophic care hospital specializing in the treatment of people with spinal cord injury and disease, acquired brain injury, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular disorders and urological problems.
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Practicing return-to-work skills with speech pathologist Kelly Simmons was part of Jeff Manka's daily therapy at Shepherd Pathways in Atlanta.