DENVER—Lydia Tillman is a living example of a person who benefited from the kindness of others.
Tillman was nearly killed by now-convicted killer Travis Forbes in July 2011. Forbes broke into her apartment, sexually assaulted her, beat her, tried to strangle her and set her apartment on fire.
After Forbes left her to die, Tillman jumped out of her second-story window. That action saved her life, but left her extremely injured.
Tillman, 31, was in the University of Colorado Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit for five weeks. Around 30 people, including doctors and nurses, helped bring her back to life.
“(Forbes) injured her brain. He shattered her jaw. He strangled her neck,” said Robert Neumann, medical director of neurological and neurosurgical intensive care unit at UCH. “He bruised her lungs and broke ribs. She also had a shattered left wrist, shattered left ankle, multiple large bruises from stomping injuries and some amount of gastro-intestinal bleeding.”
Forbes confessed to attacking Tillman and to killing Aurora teenager Kenia Monge. He’s serving life in prison.
Neumann bonded with Tillman—a rare story for a doctor who sees multiple patients every day.
“Part of the bond for me occurred in kind of a humorous way. We were beginning to wake her up out of coma at a point when she had a fair amount of drugs in her body, enough to make most people quite sleepy,” Neumann said. “She took a swing at me with her left arm. I knew we had somebody with a fair amount of spirit in our hands.”
Even after spending so much time in the ICU, Tillman doesn’t remember any of it.
Most of the time, the ICU team does not get to meet the patients who come out of their unit. So recently, Tillman went to UCH to meet them.
“Lydia!” one nurse exclaimed.
“Sorry, we’re strangers hugging you, but it’s so good to see you,” another said.
“This is what makes our job worth it, truly,” said Kathi Waite, nurse manager of the neuro ICU.
It was an emotional reunion for Tillman and the people who care for her. Tillman asked the staff what their positions were and gave them bracelets and T-shirts as gifts.
“Unquestionably, she’s inspirational to our staff,” Neumann said. “In Lydia’s case, she did disproportionately well. She did better than I think we predicted. In that way, she gives us hope, and that allows us to give hope to others.”
Tillman was not the only person who bestowed gifts that day. The nurses and Neumann gave Tillman a violin that had been damaged in the apartment fire.
Neumann had Rock Eggen of Eggen Violins and his apprentice, Sam Gathman, fix the instrument.
Tillman may not be able to play the violin immediately. She has trouble feeling the fingers on her right hand. But she was excited to get her instrument back.
“My brain is going to work hard in different ways,” Tillman said.
Eggen and Gathman did not know Tillman’s story, but they took fixing her violin to heart.
“I think it’s difficult for her to talk,” Gathman said. “So, if she can play, that’s a way for her to communicate and show how she is feeling. It’s kind of a small way for her to celebrate her story and help her with her ongoing recovery.”
Tillman says her job right now is to get better. She has therapy every day, whether it be speech, occupational or physical. She talks slowly and deliberately.
Neumann says that, at one point, doctors were concerned about her ability to speak.
“It really does make a huge difference in terms of outcome and recovery if someone can express themselves, and of course, understand what other people are telling them,” Neumann said. “We were worried she would lose motor control on her right side, and she has recovered remarkably.”
Neumann gave Tillman all the credit for how far she’s come.
“She really did the hard work,” he said. “She was the one hauling the freight. She really did it.”
“I want to enjoy this life as much as possible,” Tillman said. “And I hope others do the same.”
