Deanne Niedziela needed emergency care to survive, and then her evacuation to her hospital in O.C. was the start of a journey she believes will lead to her return to work.
Deanne Niedziela lay in a surgical Intensive Care Unit bed not far from her corner office in a tower at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.
To that end, she’s been doing all she can to make it happen, even if it’s her reminding doctors and nurses about evidence-based treatment that she knows she needs. While she has no control over her lower body, she knows she has to keep it functioning no matter what. To get her spine to come alive again, she undergoes physical therapy multiple times a day, among myriad other restorative treatments.
As a patient at Mission Hospital, Niedziela has visited all five departments and the staff of 400 she oversees; she celebrated her 29th wedding anniversary on June 18 and rang in 30 years as an employee at the hospital on June 28. She began her nursing career in 1983 as a bedside nurse, then worked her way up to charge nurse, then manager, then director, and into her current position.
Deanne Niedziela, executive director of nursing at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, center, is wheeled across the Susan D. Morrison Healing Bridge of Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, as hospital personnel line the hallway, cheering her return.
Matt Fuller, left, a rehab services aide; Ellen Collins, center, an occupational therapist; and Caitlin Healy, right, a student intern, at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, ride the elevator with Deanne Niedziela, in wheelchair, as they take her to a shower on June 30, 2023. Niedziela, who is the executive director of nursing at Providence Mission Hospital, was on a trip in Costa Rica with her husband Ken when a tree limb fell on top of her causing extensive spine damage.
Ken Niedziela and his wife, Deanne, the executive director of nursing at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, as she lies in a bed at the hospital on June 30, 2023. The balloons mark the 30th anniversary of Deanne working at the hospital. The couple were on a trip in Costa Rica when a tree limb fell on top of her causing extensive spine damage. The couple flew back to Orange County via air ambulance from Costa Rica on Saturday, June 3, 2023.
Deanne Niedziela reacts as she is gets a “clap out” while leaving Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA, on Monday, July 3, 2023. Niedziela, executive director of nursing at the hospital, suffered extensive spinal injuries in May after a tree fell on her in Costa Rica. She is leaving the hospital and heading to a specialty facility in Colorado.
Deanne Niedziela reacts as she is gets a “clap out” while leaving Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA, on Monday, July 3, 2023. Niedziela, executive director of nursing at the hospital, suffered extensive spinal injuries in May after a tree fell on her in Costa Rica. She is leaving the hospital and heading to a specialty facility in Colorado. Niedziela and her husband, Ken, of San Clemente, were on a trip in Costa Rica with friends when the unimaginable accident happened.
Nishiyama said he saw the commotion, then saw someone running in with a backboard and saw people in uniforms surrounding Deanne but didn’t want to butt in because he didn’t want to be “that guy.” While in the clinic, Ken got a text saying a private ambulance was on the way to take them to Hospital Metropolitano Lindora in San Jose. In the end, it would take six hours to finally get Deanne to the appropriate team of specialists to give her a fighting chance to survive.
Hwang’s assessment – and from reading the medical records later – was that Deanne was going into shock and respiratory failure. In the end, Dr. Andrés Gamboa did nine hours of surgery, working on the front and back of her body because everything had been crushed by the 5-foot, 100-pound limb.Returning home
She had one more surgery to repair her clavicle on the left side where the limb had struck her and, since then, has made some steady progress, according to her doctors, who say most people with spinal cord injuries don’t see real improvements for up to six months. In just her time at Mission Hospital, and after her clavicle surgery and help with pain management, Deanne was pleased about little things that in the past she took for granted, like the ability to pick up jalapeno chips off a plate, grasping dark chocolate bites from Trader Joe’s and even using a little stick-like device to send text messages.. According to her and her doctors, it’s among the top in the nation for rehabilitation for brain and spinal cord injuries.
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