BALTIMORE — Wednesday was Trauma Survivors Day.
Those who have suffered traumatic injuries are honored for the strength and courage they have shown in the healing process.
The Johns Hopkins Bayview Center honored those survivors focusing on two of their recent patients, Sierra Cave and Craig Maltese.
Cave is an MMA fighter.
She broke bones in her legs, ankle, hand, and broke several ribs after a head-on car crash.
She came to Hopkins in a coma and spent two months in the hospital.
The MMA fighter wants to kick-box again, and knows that it's up to her and her physical therapists to make that happen.
"I wouldn't be able to do these things if it weren't for the people here that helped save me. I wouldn't even, like when I first woke up, I was so scared that my legs would just fall off in my body. But they kept me together. And then they helped me build strength past that," Cave said.
Maltese was hit by a car while riding his electric scooter.
He broke his neck and spine, spending more than three weeks in the hospital.
He is optimistic about what lies ahead.
"I have like another year worth of recovery in front of me. I'm gonna look back on this video a year from now, and I'm not even gonna recognize this person. Like, my walking, my balance is defintely 99% where it needs to be, but I'll get to 110% of where it was," Maltese said.
Both said they wouldn't be where they are today without their doctors, and those doctor's support staff.
