EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – A Posey County college student injured in a car accident has made it home after rehab in Atlanta. Aiden Gilligan flew into Evansville Regional Airport this afternoon on July 9 after undergoing rehab at Shepherd Rehab Hospital to learn how to walk again.
Aiden and his mom, Pamala, were welcomed home by many cheers and hugs at the airport. The Wanderers, a Mount Vernon motorcycle non-profit organization that helps the community, escorted Aiden and his mom to their home in Mount Vernon.
The last four months away from the Tri-State have been one of perseverance. Aiden’s journey to recovery began at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky as he was finishing his freshman year.
In the early morning hours of March 10, 18 year-old Aiden was a passenger in a very serious car accident. He was transported to a trauma center in Nashville, Tennessee by helicopter.
Aiden’s first diagnoses was a complete spinal injury that left him unable to have mobility from the shoulders down. Life as a quadriplegic was the reality that Aiden was facing.
On March 15, Aiden was accepted into Shepherd Rehab Hospital in Atlanta and arrived there on March 17. After 12 weeks of therapy at Shepherd, Aiden is now able to walk again and drive without any adaptive equipment. And more importantly, he is coming home.
“People just don’t get it. It’s a family. I know I wasn’t in this alone. I know my wife wasn’t in this alone or Aidan,” Bill Gilligan, Aiden’s father told Eyewitness News. “En route to Nashville, we had immediate support from the brothers and sisters of the wanderers and it’s been a long journey and I don’t know if I could’ve gone through it without them. We are family “
Aiden’s Journey is a Facebook page dedicated to Aiden’s progress. Aiden’s arrival at the airport can be viewed on The Wanderers Facebook page.
