From Car Accident to Comeback: University Medical Center and Touro Help Enzo Foster Get Back in the Driver’s Seat After a Yearlong Pit Stop

When he proudly walked across the stage at his Brother Martin High School graduation in New Orleans, La., in the spring of 2024, Enzo Foster was a man with a plan.

Having excelled in his schoolwork, wowing the crowds with his trumpet skills in the band, and playing rugby, Enzo was ready to check off a huge bucket list item: attending University of Notre Dame.

He was already counting the days until August 23, the day he was moving to Indiana. To say Enzo was a fan of the Fighting Irish might be an understatement. His mom, Stacy, said “Notre Dame and cars, cars and Notre Dame” – that’s all Enzo talked about for as long as she could remember.

That summer, as he prepared for his dream to come true, Enzo worked to save money and cherished his last few weeks in NOLA with family and friends. But one afternoon, while driving a friend home in his beloved Mazda Miata, fate intervened. He remembers entering a turn slowly—then his next thought was a panicked realization: he couldn’t feel his legs.

The accident that stopped time

On July 19, Enzo was driving his 2023 Mazda Miata convertible after lunch when he lost control and crashed into a pole, so decayed by termites that it splintered on impact. The driver-side airbag saved his head from harm, but Enzo would later learn that his C5 vertebra was fractured.

His friend, who was uninjured, wisely told Enzo to stay put and called 911. Meanwhile, Stacy and Enzo’s father, Frank, received “crash detected” alerts on their phones. Frank called Enzo’s phone and, when the boy’s friend answered, he heard his son in the background. Enzo had said, “I can’t feel my legs.”

Rushing toward Level 1 trauma care at University Medical Center

Frank arrived on the scene and rode in the ambulance to University Medical Center New Orleans—a Level I trauma and academic medical center equipped for serious emergencies. Stacy received a call from her husband and immediately headed to University Medical Center.

When Stacy arrived, she was told Enzo had broken his C5 vertebra. “I thought my son was paralyzed at that point. He couldn’t move anything below his neck. I was very scared,” she said.

Frank and Stacy took comfort in one thing: Enzo was talking and breathing on his own. The University Medical Center team told them that this was an encouraging sign, given that respiratory complications often follow the type of spinal injury Enzo had.

Quick action by skilled surgical heroes

On July 20, Enzo underwent emergency spinal surgery—a cervical corpectomy—at University Medical Center under the care of John C. Steck, MD, a neurosurgeon at the LCMC Health Neuroscience Institute, who has extensive expertise in spinal surgery. He was assisted by resident Taylor Girolamo, MD.

A cervical corpectomy is asurgical procedure that involves removing part of the vertebral body (in this case at C5) to relieve spinal cord compression, often followed by reconstruction using a bone graft or cage, and stabilizing hardware. The goal is to reduce pressure on the spinal cord and promote healing.

“Enzo’s doctors were absolutely fantastic. They explained everything before the surgery. They told us exactly what would be done. We didn’t have to say how scared we were,” Stacy said. “They knew and did everything to support us. Dr. Girolamo told us Enzo’s spinal cord wasn’t severed and that was good news. But she was also realistic with us. She said we had to be patient because they didn’t know if or when he would walk again.”

Starting rehabilitation sooner than expected at Touro

Just 12 days after his injury, Enzo was transferred to Touro Rehabilitation Center—a timeline Elyse C. Cleveland, MD, an LCMC Health physiatrist, described as remarkable. “Most spinal cord injury patients don’t start rehab so soon,” Stacy recalls Dr. Cleveland telling them, noting that Enzo’s fitness made him a strong candidate less than two weeks after surgery.

At Touro Rehabilitation Center, Dr. Cleveland, who specializes in restoring mobility after spinal cord and neurological injuries, worked with a multidisciplinary team of rehabilitation specialists, including board-certified physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, and support staff, to get Enzo back on his feet. Among them were his inpatient physical therapist, Abigail Wright, DPT, and occupational therapist, Kayleigh Redd, OT, who played a huge role in his recovery.

When he was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Enzo sat up in bed just two days after surgery. “That’s much sooner than they thought he would sit up,” Stacy said. “And by the time we got to Touro, he could sit in a motorized chair to get around. Following occupational therapy, he was able to feed himself. And, finally, he could use his arms, hands, and legs!

“From a mom’s perspective,” Stacy said, “we were beyond thrilled at the way he was treated in rehab. He had a daily schedule. He never complained. They made it fun as he progressed.”

And, when they visited University Medical Center three months later, staff were struck when the boy who had arrived unable to move below his neck was now standing tall.

Walking into his next chapter

On August 30, Enzo walked out of Touro—unassisted. At home, he used a walker for two weeks and then transitioned to outpatient therapy three times weekly. Stacy said he was determined to get back to himself and was already talking about heading to Notre Dame again.

Though disappointed about delaying his plans for Notre Dame, Enzo was determined to make progress as quickly as possible. By fall 2024, he was playing trumpet in his high school’s alumni band during homecoming—the same instrument he had once been told he might never play again without full use of his arms. He also attended the Senior Bowl, where he met Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard. Enzo plans to keep the shirt Riley signed that day as both a reminder of how far he’s come in his recovery and an inspiration for what still lies ahead.

Today, Enzo is a freshman at Notre Dame, majoring in mechanical engineering. He plans to join the Society of Automotive Engineers and go to as many Fighting Irish games as possible.

Enzo’s future? All systems go!

Touro Rehabilitation Center provides comprehensive inpatient care with 24/7 medical support. Patients like Enzo benefit from advanced rehabilitative technologies, including the LiteGait harness and Functional Electrical Stimulation. The Center is also recognized for its specialty programs in spinal cord injury, brain injury, and stroke. With a team-oriented approach, Touro focuses on early, individualized recovery.

And, for that, Enzo feels blessed. He said his plan was derailed for a year but thanks to the care he received at two LCMC Health hospitals, he is ready for his future to begin.

“The care I received at both University Medical Center and Touro felt like personal care,” Enzo said. “Every nurse met me with a smile, and the physical and occupational therapists pushed me every day to do my best and help me leave in the best condition possible. I don’t think if I went to any other hospital, I would have had the same results.”

For more information about Touro Rehabilitation Center, please visit: https://www.lcmchealth.org/touro/our-services/rehabilitation/