Patient Stories: Chris Blanchard

As an employee at Chihuly Studio in Seattle, Chris Blanchard often worked in the rafters on one of the artist’s famous large-installation glassworks. It was while doing such work in August of 1997 that Chris fell approximately 22 feet from a scissor lift to the concrete floor below, landing on his back and sustaining a C5/6 spinal cord injury.

Chris was initially treated at our facilities at Harborview Medical Center, where doctors stabilized his condition. His transfer to the UWMC Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit was by choice – he had heard of its excellent staff, and its location was closer to his home.

A patient at the UWMC for three months, Chris remembers the time as a positive experience during which he worked extensively with his rehab team: physiatrist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, rehabilitation counselor, social worker and nursing staff. Specifically, Chris credits his physical and occupational therapists with helping him to be realistic about what he could do and to learn about spinal cord injury; his rehabilitation counselor helping him to learn how to use voice activated software and to access a computer; and his social worker showing him how to navigate the Labor & Industries system that paid for his rehabilitation, since he was injured while on the job.

When asked what was most helpful, Chris is quick to say that it was his team and his attitude. He believes that following the team’s lead and working cooperatively with them is what has allowed him to accomplish what he has following rehabilitation. Chris’s parents and girlfriend were fully involved in the team process and his care, another important factor in his success. Chris comments, “The key to success in rehab is to listen to your therapists and work with them to accomplish the goals that you set with them.”

Since his rehabilitation, Chris has led a full and productive life. After leaving the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, he started taking the bus three days a week to volunteer back at Chihuly Studio. One year later, he returned to the payroll, tracking purchases and using the Auto CAD system. Although he had had experience with the system prior to his accident, he now began to work on learning how to more fully use it for his work, both by seeking help from his architect colleagues and by self-teaching.

Today, Chris is the lead designer at Chihuly Studio and owns his own company called Pinwheel Corp, where he works with a partner and 3 full-time employees to design and build sculptures from stainless steel and aluminum cable and tubes. You can see his sculptures at the University of Michigan, Myer Gardens in Grand Rapids, the University of Puerto Rico, Paris’s sculpture garden, Nashville, New York and Holland. Currently, Chris is working on rebuilding a sculpture for the New Orleans Museum of Art that was damaged in Hurricane Katrina. For more information on Pinwheel Corp, you may visit their website at: www.pinwheelcorp.com.

[to top]