23 March 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – After spending months in neurological rehab, a local firefighter is back home with his sights set on returning to work.
In March 2023, Steve Skrzypek was preparing for a charity boxing event. During a training session, he took a bad hit and fall that led to a severe brain injury.
His medical team wasn’t even sure he’d survive, let alone function on his own. 27 News spoke with his rehab team at the highly specialized Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. They say Steve’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle.
According to his doctor, the injury itself is fairly common, but something else makes Steve’s story pretty special.
“It definitely is a miracle,” Dr. Matt Driewer said. “The person that he is, is what makes this case unique. And his wife too, she deserves all the credit.”
Dr. Driewer credits the highly specialized treatments and technologies at Madonna for the recovery. He also says Steve wouldn’t be back home without his wife Renae.
“She definitely helped him as much as we did with his recovery,” he said.
His care team says what stands out most about Steve is his relentless courage… and his laugh.
“If you ask anyone who has met Steve, he has a very contagious laugh,” Steve’s occupational therapist, Grant Baker said. “His laughter when things didn’t go well instead of getting frustrated, again, played another big piece because he was willing to laugh at himself and brush things off and then try again if it didn’t work the first time.”
Madonna says it can take upwards of five years for patients with brain injuries to reach their full recovery potential. While there’s a long, uncertain road ahead for Steve, his attitude – and Renae’s dedication – have the team feeling optimistic about the future.
“Just seeing his ability to communicate now compared to what it was when I last saw him,” Dr. Driewer said, “like he’s still making progress. He is still making good progress, so that’s exciting to us!”