Operation Argo (translation from a local newspaper)

He was just supposed to help a friend, but ended up in a wheelchair after a fall from 6 meters. The only think he wishes now, is to walk again.

Original text by: TORE ISAKSEN SEEBERG Translation: ARGO LEETMAA Photos: RUNE NILSEN

It is 16. december 2015.

Father of 4, Argo Leetmaa from Estonia finds himself in an old barn in Saltstraumen. He is there to help a friend to move some furniture which was stored there. It’s dark and the flashlight from his mobile, doesn’t work. 

Suddenly, he is weightless.

During the 6 meters free fall, he instinctively turns himself in the air. He lands on his back. The following minutes, he sees his own body from outside, while its lying helplessly on the floor, heavily beaten, bleeding from the head.

– I felt at once, that I had lost the contact with my legs, but was most worried about the head injury, says Argo today.

– I knew there was this hole in the floor out there, but it was dark and I was tired after a long day at work.

AMBULANCE AND PLOW TRUCK

While he is laying there and the snowstorm is raging outside, the years of training in the Estonian military forces are kicking in.

– The guys with me at that night where quite much younger than me and in obvious shock. I had to handle the situation by myself and ordered them to call the ambulance. Before the ambulance arrives, the plow truck had to clear the way.

The minutes on the cold barn floor give him time to reflect over his closest ones.

– I was thinking about my kids that would be growing up without a father. Just because I accidently walked into a hole in some old barn!

PARALIZED 

The doctors at the Nordland hospital decide at once to send him to Tromsø. In the University hospital he will be operated the next day.

Conclusion:

Broken backbone and spinal cord injury.(Th 11/12)

Argo is transported to Trondheim on the day before Christmas eve 2015. 

He gets a neurological study.

First he is getting the news, that he probably will be walking again.

Then comes the contradicting-news. 

– You are going to be a wheelchair user..

34-years old, paralyzed from the waist down. And the medical chances to walk again, look devastating.

From that moment Argo makes a decision: He is going to walk again, no matter what. 

HARSH REHAB.

 – If only I had kept myself still in the fall, it could have gone much better, he says today.. 

– I had probably broken my legs and hit myself hard, but avoided becoming paralyzed.

We meet him on Bodø market, 1,5 years after the accident that changed everything. 

The following time after the surgery has been challenging. The weeks after the accident have been psychologically heavy. 

The long days in the hospital bed, giving free space to dark thoughts about the future. 

– About two weeks later I relived the episodes with flashbacks again and again. It is difficult to be prepared for feelings like this, but I think that my military background helped me a lot back then. I remembered my crises management and post-traumatic stress disorder training. I have not been taking any professional help, but maybe I should have, says Argo.

After half years training at the rehabilitation centre in Bodø, he moves to an apartment in Tverlandet, to his new everyday life.

Meanwhile the worried family is filled with questions back in Estonia.

– They took it hard. I had it far from easy myself, but I had to try to smile when I sent the videos home to my wife and kids. I had no idea how things are going to be, but I told them that sooner or later I was going to walk again, says Argo with open heart.

COINCIDENTS. It was not supposed to be like this

A whole line of coincidents led the man from the little town of Pärnu to the little town of Bodø. 

After ending the military carrier, Argo is looking for a job in Estonia. 

This is when he first time gets to know about the tiny town Bodø. A friend of his is managing a company that manufactures modular houses, and needs someone to manage the customer relations here.

Argo was the perfect candidate: parts of his military training took place in Sweden, so the language was not a problem.

The working periods in Bodø became longer and he becomes the projects manager and the idea to start his own business is born.

– I started a company working mainly with maintenance and renovation. It went really good in the beginning before it all turned bad ending with the bankrupt. The financial skills where probably not my strongest side back then, he reflects.

BAD TIMING. 

However it is not in Argos nature to give up that easy and one months later he starts up with a tiny one-man company Argos maintenance services. The start looks promising. 

– I hired to men and we had work in our hands. I was optimistic – I was up and running again. 

But then it hit. The same day as the new company was officially registered, Argo is lying in the hospital – paralyzed from the waist down.

– Its was a very bad timing to become injured. I had been unemployed for a month after the bankrupt of my first company and had just about to get things moving upwards again.

BACK ON THE FEET AGAIN 

Gradually he wins back some of the functionality in his body and is able to train walking again in a controlled environment, with the help of orthosis and crutches.

– I am missing the ability to lock my knees when I am standing up, that’s why I have to use the orthosis for support.

Even small movements are a result of huge physical effort, similar to heavy weight lifting workout for a fully functional person. Patience and determination are the keywords in rehabilitation and the absolute necessity. The goal is set high.

–I want to be able to walk outside again, covering more and more distance. The climate in Bodø has not been kind to train outside, but in summertime I will be walking outside.

Still the kids can’t cope with the fact that Argo is not able to play and be with them the way he used to.

–They have probably not accepted the situation the way I have yet. They keep asking me when I am going to walk again. What they are missing most is the playing around in nature and the trips to the beach and water.  

WANTS TO HELP OTHERS

For Argo the contact with others in similar situation has been of a great significance.

– I have found many new friends in wheelchair after the accident. We can talk about the injuries and know that we can completly understand each other. This creates a certain reload. We can allow ourselves to laugh about the most intimate and embarrassing details of our everyday lives. It’s important to have that kind of possibility.

Now he wishes to support others in similar situations with his own experience.

– I hope I can support others one way or another. Maybe I can become a discussion partner to others newly anchored to wheelchairs- not as a psychologist, but just a man in a wheelchair that one could talk to and relate to.

CONSIDERS OPERATION  

Despite the progress in regaining the muscle strength, the goal seems far to reach.

It is tempting with the oversees hospitals offering quick-fix solutions. Argo has been looking into a private hospital in Russia offering the stem-cell treatment. (decided for Thailand actually)

The price starts with 500.000 kroner (50K euros).

– This looks unrealistic in short terms because of the cost. Maybe there will be a solution in Norway or somewhere else oversees, when I finally have raised the money.

– Have you considered the risks with that kind of treatment?

– The experiences are various, but I don’t think this will cause any more damage. Hopefully I will become better, maybe it won’t make any differences at all. Several people I have talked to have had impressing results out of the treatment, he claims.

GRATEFUL

Even though the mobility is not regained just yet, the action-loving Estonian is not resting in peace.

On his blogg he is documenting his training and his own emotional life through videos and text.

– I have started to enjoy writing, it has a therapeutic effect on me. Things feel easier when I have written it down.

The blogg has also had an economical effect. Through crowdfunding Argo recently got financed the payment for a hand-driven car, which will be delivered soon.

–It was not easy for me to ask for money, but the response was absolutely incredible. From Thursday to Monday, the money needed was gathered. I have realised that people will gladly help if they are given the possibility for that.

The next goal is to study economics and leadership at the University of Nord starting this autumn as he is not letting anything to come on the way to try something new.

The former military man is convinced that the road to quality of life goes through activities and social engagement.

–I do some «skiing» in a wheelchair and for a month ago, I was in Beitostolen, there I was skiing Ridderennet and tried sit ski on slalom slopes. It was really fantastic! Otherwise I have been sitting on a horseback, played para ice hockey, archery and much more.

Despite the fact that his life has been turned upside down, Argo is not bitter.

–When I think about the accident and if it was fare, I am still grateful that it didn’t end up much worse.

–I live on hope and the little steps forward as the days pass.

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