Wreck Victim Spends 3 Weeks Healing at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center
When Austin Sisk was discharged from the Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Intensive Care Unit (ICU), his parents cried.
For Andrea and Justin Sisk, leaving the ICU after three weeks was like leaving their family.
In an update to friends and loved ones, Andrea shared a picture of a quilt given to her by the ICU team before Austin was transferred to another facility. The fabric featured cardinals – her favorite bird – against a Christmas green background and was accompanied by a handwritten card featuring a verse from scripture and the following message:
“Thank you for allowing us to care for your family. You are in our thoughts and prayers, and we hope that you know you are loved and appreciated. Get well soon Austin! FMC ICU.”
The signature was preceded by a small heart drawn in ink, and the words “loved” and “appreciated” were underlined.
Andrea said her family had built relationships in the ICU as they stood watch over their son and interacted with staff members who worked with Austin and kept them informed.
“That hospital will always hold a special place in our hearts moving forward,” she wrote.
Austin was critically injured October 14, 2022, just five months after he had graduated high school. His truck was struck broadside on the driver’s side. While Austin suffered no broken bones, he sustained four tears in his brain, a consequence of the impact and of the Marfan’s Syndrome with which he was born.
Austin was comatose and on a ventilator for much of his time at Atrium Health Floyd, and his prognosis was not good. There was a 5% chance he would emerge from his coma with no lasting effects, a 45% chance that he would “wake up” with permanent injury and a 50% chance that he would remain comatose for the rest of his life.
The Sisks said those early, difficult days were made bearable by three ICU nurses: Stephen Hopkins, Matt King and Joey Tarleton. Those three caregivers were Austin’s nurses when he first arrived in the ICU. They made the Sisks feel so comfortable with their son’s care, that the Sisks requested to always have either Stephen, Matt or Joey always care for their son.
Those nurses often switched schedules with other ICU nurses to ensure Justin and Andrea were at ease about Austin’s care. As a result, the nurses and the Sisks have become good friends.
Those relationships, born from expert care at an extremely critical time, were difference makers, Justin said.
Austin’s journey has been a series of seemingly “just in time” miracles. After receiving care at Floyd, Austin was moved to a long-term rehab facility in Chattanooga. When he needed to show signs of improvement for him to move to the next level of care, he began to emerge from his coma eight weeks after his wreck, changing the course of his medical treatment.
While in Chattanooga, he needed to show more signs of improvement to be eligible for the Disorders of Consciousness program at the Shepherd Center. With less than two weeks before the improvement deadline, Austin began speaking. Austin has been a patient at the Shepherd Center since Jan. 9, and he is expected to be released on April 28.
That will be a day of celebration, Justin said, and one of the first things they hope to do is to visit the ICU at Floyd to thank Austin’s caregivers for their expertise, compassion and friendship.
“You never want to be in the ICU,” he said, “but if you have to be there, Floyd is the place to be.”
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the fifth-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health.
Atrium Health Floyd employs more than 3,500 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at three hospitals: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 304-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; as well as Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health – a freestanding 53-bed behavioral health facility in Rome – and also primary care and urgent care network locations throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the fifth-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs nearly 150,000 team members across 67 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $5 billion in annual community benefits.
