Maria Luz Escobar Nuñes’ 67th birthday didn’t end how she planned. On June 19, 2023, as she was getting ready for work, she slipped and fell in the bathroom.
She tried to break her fall by holding onto the shower curtain, but it didn’t help.
“When I fell, I knew something broke,” she says. “My leg twisted and turned–the pain was unbearable.”
Escobar was by herself, and unfortunately her phone was in the bedroom. Her screams for help went unanswered and because of the pain she fell in and out of consciousness.
“I prayed to God that I wasn’t going to die,” she says.
Two and half hours later—she doesn’t know how—she woke up in the middle of her room. It took her an additional 20 minutes to crawl to the bed, reach her phone and call her daughter, who called 911.
The paramedics took her to Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital where the team confirmed she broke her right hip and leg.
She was taken into surgery where surgeons installed rods and screws to repair her break.
“The operation went well and the care was excellent,” she says. “And here I am—walking.”
Her determination has helped her get to where she is today—walking without aide. Even when the nurses and physical therapists offered her a walker—she wouldn’t take it.
“I wanted to get back to how I was before the fall,” she says.
She credits her family, seven children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, for getting her through her recovery.
“They gave me the encouragement I needed to get where I am today,” she adds. “I’m thankful to the staff. I can’t thank them enough.”