The Collision
Tracy was in a horrible car collision on Sunday 10/16/22 while traveling home to Taos from Denver. Driving alone, she was hit head-on by a semi-truck (her car pictured above). She was lucky to survive, however in critical condition.
She was urgently helicoptered to Memorial Hospital in Co Springs, where the team began a series of back-to-back surgeries from Sunday 10/16-Wednesday 10/19 with face/plastics, as well as leg and arm orthopedic surgery teams
Summary of injuries (more details about the current state of these injuries and care here):
shattered entire face (cheekbones, eye sockets, nose) and broken jaw with significant dental/oral damage (*trigger warning* click here to see her pre-surgery face imaging and here for post-surgery)
fractured left and right femurs
fractured left tibia/ankle joint
right ankle syndesmosis disruption
fractured left ulna, nerve damage in middle finger, as well as nerve and ligament damage (central slip) and joint trauma in ring finger
significant other general trauma, including collapsed lungs, but no traumatic brain injury (possibly minor concussion but nothing like what she has previously endured)
She remained in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until Thursday 10/20 when she transferred to the Orthopedics ward, where she remained under 24-hour care
On Monday 10/24, she completed her final surgery on her left ankle
While at Memorial, she was essentially bedridden with 1 working limb (right hand/arm)
Kathy, her mom, and Patrick, her fiance, were by her side nearly always, with other family and friend guests coming and going
The Memorial Hospital team was truly amazing: caring, thoughtful, easy to be around, fun, and so loving to our Tracy
Not to mention, the hospital team was quite impressed with her spirit and recovery. It sounded like she made quite an impact on people working there. No one is surprised, but it is so good to hear!
Hospital and other care timeline:
10/16-31/22: Memorial Central in Co Springs (ICU through 10/20 and Ortho floor with 24/7 care through 10/31/22)
10/31-11/14/22: Swedish Medical Center Acute Rehab Center in Denver, with 3 hours of dedicated therapy 6 days/week
11/1/22: She was cleared weight bearing on her right leg
11/14/22: She moved to her mom’s house in Denver to be close to needed follow up care and have more help in the home (Kathy, Calvin, Silvana, Patrick when he can be in town)
She should have started with home health from mom's house in Denver, but coordinating care was nearly impossible
11/23/22: She received approval for full range of motion and weight bearing with her left arm
11/30/22: She was cleared to work on range of motion exercises with her right CAM boot off
Early Dec 2022: She started outpatient Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy
12/25/22: She was cleared for weight bearing on her left leg, and quickly progressed to not wearing either CAM boot.
1/15/23: Her mobility and range of motion improved quickly and she walked without assistive devices, continuing to use a cane as needed. See video of her walking progress here.
1/30/23: She moved back to Taos and has worked hard to transition her necessary care to Taos and Albuquerque providers where possible.
As of 1/21/24, she is still seeing over 10 different providers with anywhere from 3-7 appointments/week, often with travel to Albuquerque.
Tracy has made an exceptional recovery and continues to surprise her providers (and everyone else) with her continued progress. To see the most up to date summary of the status of each of her injuries and next steps, see blog post titled “current state.” The journey continues!
Tracy’s Background
Growing up in Denver
Tracy grew up with a loving family of 4 living in home: her mother Kathy; father Tom, and brother Calvin.
With three older siblings (Tommy, Gina, Kristi) who were living on their own, but always around and with kids of their own (all five siblings pictured in the first photo to the right)
Plus a big, extended family -- many cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends were often visiting the Smiths, or being visited by them ◦ Because of these early connections, family has always been very important to Tracy
She was (and still is) a great athlete and fantastic student, who was musically inclined as well
She especially loved soccer, which brought out her competitive side, and the adrenaline kick she thrived on
Her longest friendships/sisterhoods exist thanks to soccer
Unfortunately, she sustained many concussions playing soccer
From her mom, Kathy:
Since day one, Tracy was so observant and tuned in, strong, determined/stubborn, tenacious, and funny. This was balanced with a softer, compassionate side.
She is a clear observer of both good and bad in the world and sees the humanity in us all. She has wanted from a young age to take part in changing the world for the better.
This, combined with a fascination with the world, learning about others, and a love of travel led her, while still in high school, to join a conflict-resolution/peace-building group. She traveled with this group to Northern Ireland and South Africa--and through connections gained--further inspiring her passion for travel.
She has always been a caregiver, some of her best friends call her their Granny
She is inspired by the interconnectedness of us all - she loves nature, gardening, and animals (of which she has many in home)
Undergrad, Moving to New Mexico, Getting Her Master's
Tracy graduated from East High School and then CU Boulder for her undergraduate, majoring in Integrative Physiology and Ethnic Studies.
While she was initially interested in working in patient care, she decided to go with a more public health approach.
In 2013, she moved to Albuquerque, NM to work at the health equity-focused Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico.
She moved up quickly and was a very integral part of the team: intern, research tech, program specialist, program planning manager, senior program manager.
She traveled extensively around the U.S. and India, as well as to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In 2015, she met and fell in love with Patrick Nechvatal, her fiance.
In September 2017, she moved to Taos in support of Patrick starting the amazing business, Hotel Luna Mystica.
Moves take time, but she integrated into an amazing Taos community. During this initial time in Taos she embraced many new activities and friendships.
She loved seeing live music, supporting events at Pat's hotel, bartending/serving, re-learning to ski, taking aerial fabrics classes, holistic health and healing arts courses, as well as yoga teacher training.
In 2019, she was accepted to Emory’s Master of Public Health (MPH) Program, and started phasing out at UNM Project ECHO.
In August 2019, she left UNM when she started at Emory, with a plan to graduate with her MPH in 2 years.
During graduate school, she began freelance consulting work for a variety of public health and/or social justice-oriented organizations.
Unfortunate Injury History+
She has ~10 concussions from soccer growing up and other unfortunate accidents, as well as underlying Sjögren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that affects her joints and tissues.
In March 2016, she had a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that changed her life significantly.
She had a long and hard healing journey, including time off from work and surgery.
She was lucky to have employment through the university, with built in legal supports that helped her recover, like the FMLA.
In Nov 2019, she was in a car accident resulting in another TBI, when she was rear-ended at a stoplight.
This set her back big time - she was again unable to work, and the accident forced her to slow down school.
When COVID hit in early 2020, because she was already unable to work, she received no unemployment benefits.
To top it all off, in July of 2021, her father, one of her closest people in the world, passed away quickly and unexpectedly.
Recent Successes
In mid-2020, she slowly but surely began work from home doing freelance gigs in public health.
Her consultancy had grown and remained successful until the car accident in Oct 2022; it is unclear at this time what Tracy will do when she can work again, though she was very invested and passionate about the work she was doing as a:
program planner, manager, strategist
grant writer
health equity curriculum development and trainer
community facilitator and coach
data visualization and transparency specialist
Despite going through all of that, and supporting her family through the death of her dad, she finished her MPH with high honors and a 3.967 GPA.
Tracy and Patrick
Met at Stereo Bar in Albuquerque in October 2015. They were two of few dancing to a DJ set and hit it off with their shared love of music. Have been "official" since April 2016 and engaged as of August 2023.
Parents to two boxers (Mac and Otis), a kitty (Umi), three chickens (Mr. Bean, Scary Spice, and Gonzo), and five ducks (Sneaky Pete, Salt, Pepper, Cleo, Betty)
Home owners as of April 2021 in beautiful Taos, NM
Love building their life together: love going to concerts, travel, cooking, hosting friends and family, exploring the outdoors with the pups, camping, river activities, playing volleyball, hitting the slopes
Often daydream about starting businesses together, such as various food services (Taos Farmer's Market 2023? Food Trucks?)
Patrick is part-owner of Hotel Luna Mystica, and a home coffee roaster with his own brand, Istic Coffee
