Burnet teacher Nate Turner lining his life back up after serious injury

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

BURNET — To Nate Turner, an ideal life is like a Rubik’s Cube with all sides perfectly lined up.

The Burnet Middle School teacher and former football and baseball coach was living that life until Aug. 26, 2012.At a family gathering at his home, Turner was performing a backflip into Lake LBJ from a platform using a cable tied onto a tree branch. It was a move he had performed dozens of times. But on that day, at that moment, what was routine resulted in a life-changing accident before Turner had swung out over the lake. The cable came undone, and he crashed onto land from nine feet high.

“I felt, from my waist, a burning sensation all the way down my toes, and, then, there was nothing,” he said. “I knew I just hurt myself pretty stinking bad. I started grabbing grass. I was about to fall into the water. I started screaming 9-1-1.

“I never even knew the cable had come undone,” he added. “I never even knew I was falling until I hit the ground.”

Turner was told he would spend about two months in hospitals. He stayed for five weeks. He was told he would be able to walk with a cane in six months. He did it in five weeks.

“I’m considered a miracle,” he said. “I’m a Christian. I have lots of faith. That has everything to do with it.”

A DREAM CHANGES

Turner comes from a long line of family members in the field of teaching. After graduating from Brazoswood High School in 1993, his mother, Deb, signed him up for several education classes, believing he would continue in the family “business.”

Instead, Turner decided to major in law enforcement with the goal of working for the Secret Service.

He was a patrol officer for the Lake Jackson Police Department from January 1998 to June 2001.

In September 2001, he became a counterintelligence special agent for the U.S. Army and spent nine-and-a-half months in Iraq. But he was accidentally shot in the hand during a training exercise in El Paso.

That injury ended his dream of a career in law enforcement.

Once he was discharged from the Army, Turner, his wife, Emily, and son, Trevor, moved to the Highland Lakes to be closer to Turner’s parents. The couple found a house on Lake LBJ in Kingsland. Buying a lakehouse was Turner’s dream because he loved fishing and boating. He and his wife used the home as a vacation rental during the summer.

But last summer, there was a late cancellation for the weekend before school began. So Turner invited extended family over for one final summer outing and to celebrate the birthdays of his wife and mother.

Trevor and a buddy were on the lake on the family’s personal watercraft but had returned to the shore. One of Turner’s sisters and her family were there. And all eyes, except his wife’s, were on Turner, who was standing on the platform and pulling back the cable for his flip.

Trevor said he had one thought as he realized what was happening to his dad.

“Oh, my God. When he was on the ground in pain, we tried to move him. He couldn’t do it.”

KEEPING THE FAITH

Turner spent two weeks at University Medical Center Brackenridge-Seton, where he had two surgeries. The first was to clean up the bone from the L-1 vertebrae that was shattered and to relieve pressure off his spine. He was given steroids for swelling. Doctors told Turner’s family he might never walk again.

He remembers waking up and feeling his mother touch his left foot, and that it hurt. The next day, he moved his legs a little.

The second surgery was to get bone from his hip to replace the L-1 vertebrae and add bars and screws.

He was given a vest instead of a body cast and was told to sit in a chair for 30-60 minutes. Turner said he was in excruciating pain the entire time.

He was transported to St. David’s Medical Center, where he spent three weeks. The first Monday he was there, he went to a physical therapy session. He talked to his therapists for awhile, and, then, they asked him if he was ready to stand up. He grabbed onto the back of a chair and stood for 10 seconds. The St. David’s staff was blown away. Patients weren’t supposed to be able to stand two weeks after having the injury Turner had.

But Turner didn’t see it as an accomplishment.

“At that moment, reality sunk in,” he said. “It took all the energy and effort I had. Would I be a paraplegic? I’m an athlete who’s no longer an athlete.”

And he fell into a depression.

“I cried like a baby for maybe two minutes,” he said. “I lost it. My wife held me.”

When the couple reached his room, Emily Turner counted their blessings and told her husband she could see God’s hand in what was happening.

At that point, he said he readjusted his attitude.

When he returned for the afternoon session, Turner stood four more times and increased the length of time he kept standing.

“I was going to push myself like every other athlete does who wants to be successful,” he said. “I had no idea nobody thought I’d be able to stand up. Ten seconds was so upsetting to me. The fact I was on my feet was a victory for everybody else.”

Turner did his physical therapy at Seton-Highland Lakes.

And through it all, he kept his faith and re-read Philippians 2:1-11 and clung to Verse 5: “Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus.”

Turner returned to Burnet Middle School and spoke during a pep rally last year. He wheeled himself into the gym and stood up saying, “I bet you didn’t expect that.” The students gave him a standing ovation.

The following week, he was the speaker for a Burnet High School pep rally. He walked into the gym and pulled out a Rubik’s Cube, a prop he uses in his classroom, that had all the same colors on each side.

“This is what we want our lives to look like,” he said.

Then, he gave a former student, Rebecca Patterson, a Rubik’s Cube that was not complete.

By the time he finished talking, Patterson had matched up all sides with the same colors.

STILL RECOVERING

Eleven months later, Turner can do a lot of everyday activities. He can walk and play golf, carry boxes, clean the house and dress himself. But he can’t stand on his tip-toes, can’t walk for a long period of time, and can’t run. That’s one of the reasons why he’s not coaching during the 2013-2014 school year.

“I’ve got a slight limp still,” he said. “My feet are one of my main obstacles.”

His body’s challenge has more to do with nerves than muscle. He still doesn’t have feeling in some of his toes. He has a therapy dog, Nala, that he plays fetch with and that forces him to walk. He swims at Galloway-Hammond Recreation Center and gets on his toes and does leg exercises. His wife checks his feet every day and applies lotion when needed.

His son said he’s taken on more responsibility around the house. The two built a backyard pen for Nala.

“He’s a lot stronger and a lot tougher,” Trevor said. “He never stops anything. He doesn’t stop because of the pain. He was always an athlete. I thought he’d recover fast but not this fast.”

“Why did this happen to me?” Turner asked. “I’m strong enough in my faith to be able to handle it. (God has) been preparing me for this situation. Everything I’ve done my entire life is about not quitting. It’s been God’s plan for me. He’s not done.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com