Dr. Fuhrman nutrient rich diet helps paralyzed shark attack victim (EDIT)
Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Bruce Lurie
It all started as a fun-filled hot July day when Bruce and his13-year old son were boogie boarding. Suddenly, and tragically, a large shark chasing a sea lion for his dinner hit Bruce with such force it rendered the 60 year old man a quadriplegic near death.
“I suffered a massive and catastrophic spinal cord injury,” says Bruce. “I nearly drowned and was only saved because my son pulled me from the water and other people on the beach helped to resuscitate me. I was paralyzed below the neck. I was suffering from numerous infections. I had major surgery to repair my broken neck. I was on IVs and a respirator. I could not swallow or speak.”
Suffering catastrophic injuries, Bruce was in intensive care for 30 days and then spent over 3 months in Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado for intensive rehabilitation.
Bruce’s family was devastated. Fortunately, they knew of Dr. Fuhrman. “While at Craig Hospital, my family contacted Dr. Fuhrman and told him I was being fed canned "nutrients" through a tube that went directly into my stomach. They asked Dr. Fuhrman to help devise a way that I could eat real food. Dr. Fuhrman worked closely with the hospital dietitian. The hospital was very cooperative, and in fact was eager to see what effect eating real food would have on my recovery. Dr. Fuhrman prescribed a diet of numerous fruits and vegetables and seeds and berries.”
Luckily, a local Whole Foods Market in Denver, CO, which specializes in superior organic foods, worked with Dr. Fuhrman and the hospital’s dietitians to supply the food prescribed by Dr. Fuhrman and blend the ingredients in a VitaMix blender. A tube was used to insert the food directly into the injured man’s stomach.
“Almost immediately after I began to eat the real food prescribed by Dr. Fuhrman, my infections were completely healed. I started feeling better and was able to breathe without the ventilator. After a few weeks of having the real food injected into my stomach, I learned to swallow again and was able to begin eating whole foods by mouth.”
Today, Bruce continues to follow Dr. Fuhrman’s diet. “I am happy to say that despite my devastating injury and the long road, I have been traveling towards recovery, I have not been sick for a single day and have been able to focus on the difficult task of learning to walk again. I am very grateful to Dr. Fuhrman for taking the time to help me recover and for having such a profound impact on my path to recovery.” says a grateful Bruce.
