After Mark Billions suffered a serious injury, the lifesaving care he received at Regional One Health inspired him to cherish every moment with his family and look for ways to give back.
Mark noted anyone can suffer a traumatic accident at any time, and he is committed to helping make sure expert care is available in our community.
As a member of the Regional One Health Foundation Board of Directors, he will work alongside other leaders and philanthropists to help make sure the hospital can continue to provide exceptional care for generations to come.
Sometimes, the act of doing something incredibly ordinary causes life to take an extraordinary turn. It is why level one trauma centers like Regional One Health’s Elvis Presley Trauma Center exist: to give patients a second chance when the ordinary becomes a life-threating emergency.
For Mark Billions, that experience has brought an even deeper appreciation of family, a desire to embrace all the adventures life holds, and the motivation to give back by joining the Regional One Health Foundation Board of Directors.
In Mark’s case, the ordinary became extraordinary the night of his daughter’s prom last March.
After taking photos and seeing her off, Mark walked across the street to a friend’s house. A little while later, he needed to stop home briefly – the family’s dog had recently had teeth pulled, and Mark needed to give him his medication.
“I never made it in the front door,” Mark said. “I walked up two or three steps and I slipped and fell and hit the back of my head. I have a memory – I don’t know if it’s real or not – of seeing the tops of trees and hearing a crack and saying something like, ‘That isn’t good.’”
Mark’s friend got worried when Mark didn’t return, and found him unconscious. He called 911 immediately: “There was so much blood coming out of my ear, that they thought I’d been shot,” Mark later learned. “They roped it off with crime scene tape and everything.”
Mark’s care at Regional One Health inspired him to give back by becoming a Foundation Board of Directors member. “I’m looking forward to raising money for the huge projects Regional One Health is looking at,” he said. “I just want to give back to them. The benefits to our community are a win-win for everybody.”
Mark was rushed to the Elvis Presley Trauma Center with a fractured skull and traumatic brain injury. Within 60-90 minutes of his fall, he was in surgery.
The team, led by Stephanie Einhaus, MD, a renowned neurosurgeon and assistant professor at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, removed half of Mark’s skull to allow the brain to swell. He spent over a week in a coma and on a ventilator.
“They told me there is a certain number of days you can be on a ventilator before they intubate you, and thankfully I was one day from that when I came out of the coma,” Mark said.
He remembers the days that followed as a blur of pain and confusion.
Mark had been working in St. Louis right before his fall, and the view from his hospital room was so similar to the view from his hotel that he was convinced he was still there – even using a family member’s phone to try to book a flight home. There was an armoire in his hospital room, and he was certain if he went through the doors there would be a tunnel to the bathroom.
He suffered excruciating migraines and couldn’t walk without support. He needed constant monitoring to avoid falling. Doctors told him his speech and mobility might never be the same, and that he wouldn’t be able to return to work, exercise and other activities.
But he refused to give up, and so did his medical team.
Mark has always enjoyed spending time with his family, but his accident made him appreciate it even more. “I’ve always loved doing stuff with my kids, but I think I cherish it more now,” he said.
“I’m not just going to take no – I’m going to do the opposite,” he said. “I was going to get my life back to normal…I was going to do all the things they said I wouldn’t be able to do.”
As Mark’s strength improved, Dr. Einhaus was able to operate sooner than expected to replace the portion of his skull that had been removed. “It was like a light switch,” Mark said. “Everything I could do before I could do again. Dr. Einhaus was amazing. I couldn’t have had better treatment – it was unbelievable.”
He was transferred to the Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital for physical, occupational and speech therapy. “The nurses and therapists there are an amazing group of people. I was not in good shape at all for a while, and they did a lot for me,” he said.
The experience left him grateful that expert trauma care was right around the corner when the ordinary became extraordinary. “Our community needs Regional One Health, because anyone could need it at any time,” he said.
It led Mark to live life to the fullest and to give back to the place that saved his life.
In June, he returned to work as a senior vice president at an investment firm. Later that summer, the family traveled to Colorado, where they hiked 13,000-foot peaks. “I was a little slower than I was before, but it was awesome,” Mark says.
The care Mark received at Regional One Health has allowed him to embrace a variety of adventures, including dogsledding in Alaska!
They’ve also traveled to Mexico, California and London. He took his kids to see the Rolling Stones in Chicago. When Mark’s son went to Alaska with his high school, Mark joined him for the trip there and even tried out dogsledding.
“I’ve always loved doing stuff with my kids, but I think I cherish it more now,” Mark said.
Now, he is starting another new adventure: Regional One Health Foundation Board member.
“I enjoy seeing the people who took care of me, and I’m looking forward to raising money for the huge projects Regional One Health is looking at,” Mark said. “I just want to give back to them. The benefits to our community are a win-win for everybody.”