‘Tough as Toby’

Editor’s Note: 2020 Nodaway Valley graduate Naomi Daugherty wrote this story as a public relations class project at Northwest Missouri State University about 2021 graduate Toby Bower, who was in a car accident last October and submitted it to the local newspapers to be printed.

October 19, 2021, started out as a typical Tuesday morning for Nodaway Valley class of 2021 graduate, Toby Bower. He was on his way to work at PLS Builders in Winterset, listening to a podcast, driving with the cruise on, when he fell asleep. Toby drove off the road and ramped the other road at an intersection. He hit a telephone pole guy wire and a fence. He was found shortly after by two people on their way to work, halfway out of the driver’s side windowwith the car rolled on its side.

Toby’s father, Mark Bower, received a call at work from an unknown number. He ignored it a couple of times, assuming it was just another spam call. Realizing it may be important, he answered the phone call that turned out to be the county sheriff and started living every parent’s worst nightmare. The sheriff told Mark that Toby had been in an accident, and he was okay, but it wasn’t good. Toby was life-flighted to Des Moines.

Toby’s parents immediately headed towards Des Moines, not even sure what hospital they were going to yet. During that 60-mile drive, Toby’s parents weren’t sure of the condition of their son the whole time. Thoughts of whether or not Toby would survive raced through their minds.

When his parents finally arrived at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, doctors took them to a chaplain and explained the severity of the situation.

Toby and his parents were told immediately that he would never walk again or have feeling from the waist down. When Toby’s older sister Terryn heard the news, she was overwhelmed with the thought of how his life would change.

“Knowing everything we did together, playing sports together, seeing him play sports, and then all of the sudden that’s just taken away from my little brother--we were all just a big mess for a while,” Terryn said. “But I had faith in him.”

And that faith ran deep. There was hope that maybe, just maybe, Toby would walk again.

For Toby, he doesn’t remember his thoughts on receiving that life-changing news. He didn’t comprehend it at the time, but a couple of days later the realization set in.

“It was just insane that I was just hanging out with friends and family just days and hours before that, and now I can’t even walk or do anything I wanted to do,” Toby said.

Three days after the accident, doctors performed surgery to fuse Toby’s shattered L1 vertebraeleaving him with two rods and 13 screws in his spine.

Toby started posting updates on Facebook thanking the community for their thoughts, prayers and support. A family member created a GoFundMe account to help Toby’s family with medical expenses and structural changes they would need to make at home.

While in the hospital, Toby couldn’t do much and was in a lot of pain. He spent his time watching “Friends” and “The Office.” He got to go outside 12 days after arriving at the hospital. Toby’s focus at Methodist was on being able to sit up so he could start inpatient therapy at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.To do that, he needed to be able to tolerate sitting up in the Geri Chair--a recliner chair designed to allow someone with mobility issues to be able to sit up comfortably--for two hours.

“That kind of pushed him to want to improve himself at Methodist so he could move on to the next step, and he wasn’t sitting up,” Mark said. “Sitting up was a big deal for him to do, but he knew he had to do that for him to be able to go there, so he pushed himself to be able to do that.”

About two weeks after the accident, Toby’s success with the Geri Chair allowed him to be transferred to Madonna. And maybe, just maybe, that Geri Chair was the next steppingstone in Toby’s ability to walk again.

The first thing they worked on at Madonna was using the wheelchair and getting in the shower. Then, they discussed Toby’s goals, what the process would look likeand tested his degree of feeling.

During inpatient therapy at Madonna, Toby’s focus was on occupational therapy because he wanted to become more independent. They worked on getting around in the wheelchair, hygiene, getting dressed and other everyday tasks.

Proving his doctors wrong, Toby began taking steps with the Rifton TRAM--a transfer and mobility device used to assist with walking--which was a huge confidence boost and a crucial point of growth for him.

After progress at inpatient therapy, Toby transitioned to outpatient therapy wherehe focused more on physical therapy with a goal of getting stronger. He still worked on balance and upper body strength, but the main focus was on getting his legs stronger. Because maybe, just maybe, if he could strengthen his legs more, he would be able to walk again.

Despite this tragic accident, anyone could attest to his positive spirit that he never let fade.

“There’s just never been a doubt in his mind. He’s going to do this,” Tara said. “I just don’t know how he can be so positive, but he’s always been.”

It’s obvious that Toby is a very loved and respected man in the community. He received financial support, support from former teammates and classmates during their sporting events.The high school girls’ basketball team sent him a gift and some encouraging messages.The Cornerstone Fellowship Church in Greenfield andKarl Chevrolet in Stuart assisted him in getting a brand-new vehicle. Toby’s boss and family helped install a walk-in shower in his home.Community members bought “Tough as Toby – Hope for Healing” bracelets and T-shirts with all proceeds going to the Bower family. The National Honor Society held a pie auction and collected donations for Toby during a home basketball game.

Even people outside of the community wanted to help. AC/GC school district organized a soup supper fundraiser for Toby during the NV vs. AC/GC girls’ basketball game.Toby said the amount of support he’s received has made it easy to stay motivated and keep his positive attitude.

“I just thought in my head, if they can take the time to think about me and pray about me and give money and food and everything, then it’s my job to work as hard as I can,” Toby said. “That was my perspective on it. Why can’t I work as hard as I possibly can if they’re giving me everything that I need right now?”

Toby completed rehab at Madonna on March 3, 2022. Since then, he has started physical therapy and occupational therapy at Cass Health Rehabilitation Services in Atlantic. He’s been working in the pool and on land to get his ankles and calves functioning properlyto achieve that goal of being able to walk unassisted.

Toby’s walking milestones have progressed from the Rifton TRAM at the beginning of his journey, to a walker, to forearm crutches, and then canes. Currently, Toby is still walking with two canes, while trying to get down to one.

Toby plans on attending DMACC in the fall and take business and construction management classes. To many, Toby is a walking representation of “nothing is impossible.” To them he has proved that with a positive attitude, support and a little faith, you can overcome the odds.

And maybe, just maybe, Toby won’t just walk unassisted, but will also achieve his goal of beating his older brother TJ in a raceagain.