Duncan Norris
A case manager at HCA HealthONE found answers for healing and hope for her patient when she located a distant relative.
“HCA HealthONE Swedish treated Duncan like royalty. They were supportive, they did everything they could. They really did it all for him.”
In April 2024, Duncan Norris fell from an electric scooter and had a traumatic brain injury. When he arrived at HCA HealthONE Swedish’s Trauma Intensive Care Unit (ICU), his injury presented extraordinary challenges but also revealed the exceptional dedication of his care team, especially Michele Pryor, an ICU social worker and case manager who was determined to ensure Duncan received the very best care in the hospital and later in his recovery.
“As a social worker, I help people cope through some of the most traumatic times in their lives — basically their worst days,” Michele said. “The saying, ‘If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything’ is true for a lot of people. When something happens, it can be very traumatizing and confusing to patients and family members, so we are there to support them.”
Duncan’s injuries were severe. He was in a coma and placed on a ventilator. The team had just basic information about him. His locked phone never got a call or message from someone wondering where he was. Michele and the nurses kept it plugged in, hoping to connect with a loved one, but as days turned into weeks, it became clear that Duncan’s recovery would require much more than medical treatment — he needed a network of compassionate advocates.
Michele launched an exhaustive search for anyone connected to Duncan. “I used everything from basic Google searches to people-finder sites and even combed through obituaries,” she said. Her weeks of persistence paid off when she discovered a name that appeared consistently in family records. She emailed Stephen Pain through a family memorial website, hoping for a response.
It almost didn’t work. Stephen, a retired Army chaplain and Duncan’s second cousin living in Georgia, initially deleted the email thinking it was spam. He has contributed to thousands of memorials on FindAGrave.com. “I had never been to Colorado. I was close with [Duncan’s dad] but I’d never spoken with Duncan, I didn’t even know what he looked like,” Stephen said. He connected the dots when Duncan’s late father’s wife mentioned she had also gotten a message from Michele, searching for relatives.
Stephen called Michele back and learned Duncan was out of the coma, but still struggling to speak. Initially unsure how to help, especially so far away, he asked family friends in Colorado to visit and offer an intercessory prayer over him. “At first, my friend said, ‘I don't have the gift of healing.’ And I said, ‘Well, you're not the one that heals anyway. God is the one that heals. Just go and lay hands on him and pray for him in the name of Jesus Christ, and ask God to do the healing.’ And he did. From that moment on, Duncan started getting better… it was like a fog lifted off him,” Stephen said.
Duncan’s recovery was far from straightforward. His traumatic brain injury left him unable to walk, eat or communicate effectively. Weeks of intensive therapy with his neurologists and therapists followed. Slowly but surely, Duncan began to regain basic abilities, with constant support and encouragement from the nursing and therapy teams in the ICU and Multi Trauma Unit (MTU). “Duncan loved all the nurses, and the nurses loved him. Their optimism was really inspiring,” Stephen said.
When Duncan moved to MTU, the expanded case management team helped him and Stephen navigate complex legal and financial hurdles. Lydia Velo Reyes, a patient benefits advocate for Parallon, HCA Healthcare’s administrative support platform, helped to secure MAGI Medicaid coverage which took care of Duncan’s medical bills. Andrew Schaeffer, manager of HCA HealthONE Swedish’s case management team, helped explain and organize what Stephen needed to do to support Duncan in the short and long term, “We were never expecting Stephen to take Duncan on as his guardian. We were just hoping for someone to make some medical decisions and help him get insurance, those kinds of things. Stephen went well beyond that with the guardianship, which was even better,” Michele said.
Intensive physical, occupational and speech therapies helped Duncan rebuild his strength and independence. He learned to walk again, to eat on his own and, most importantly, to reconnect with the world around him. Unfortunately, doctors determined Duncan would be too vulnerable living on his own.
As Duncan’s condition progressed, so did Stephen’s effort to become his conservator and legal guardian. Stephen and his wife got approval from the hospital’s administrative team to align Duncan’s discharge plan with the final court hearing that granted Stephen full guardianship. “We cannot say thank you enough. We were 100% supported by the staff, the nurses, the caseworkers and even the CEO of the hospital. Everyone pulled together in Duncan's case,” Stephen said. “From Georgia, it was kind of like my hands were tied, so I had to rely upon the hospital to help in any and every way. And they did. Everything was perfectly orchestrated.”
Duncan walked out of the hospital by himself after an emotional farewell with his care team. He now lives in Georgia at an independent living facility, never far from Stephen, his second cousin and retired Army chaplain who is a daily witness to Duncan’s health journey, a testament to the teamwork, commitment and compassionate care he received at HCA HealthONE Swedish, “When we treat people holistically, body, soul and spirit, it all works together. Thank you all very much, from the depths of my heart, for your service to the community and humanity in general.”
Learn more about our neurological care, rehabilitation and therapy care and patient resources available at HCA HealthONE.