November 2022 Special Needs Living Akron/Canton

This Mother’s Love For Her Son Is Unparalleled

Meet Eric and his mom, Becky

WRITTEN BY MELISSA KLATT PHOTOS BY JULIAN CURET

When people think of the term “special needs,” oftentimes, they’re thinking of needs stemming from medical issues at birth. In Eric Benjamin Coplin’s case, his needs arose from a mother’s worst nightmare that turned real in a matter of seconds.

On Halloween night in 2007, Becky received the worst call a mother could get: “This is Akron City Hospital. Your son was in an accident. You need to get to the hospital as soon as possible. He is getting prepped for brain surgery.”

IN AN INSTANT, THEIR LIVES CHANGED As Becky sat in the ICU at the hospital, her heart was crumbling before her. To see her son hooked up to so many different machines tore her to pieces. Nurses checked on Eric every 15 minutes to make sure he was still alive. They said he had a 30% chance of survival. They said he would never walk or talk again.

All because of a hit-and-run driver that struck Eric’s car as he was on his way to sing karaoke… At this point, Becky didn’t know if her son would ever get to sing again.

CHALLENGES OF HIS BRAIN INJURY Going from a college kid to an adult with a brain injury came with an insane amount of challenges. Eric didn’t speak for three months. It took him three years to smile and five years to truly laugh. He still doesn’t cry or feel pain. (Eric broke his elbow and didn’t even know it!)

However, one of the biggest challenges Becky faced was fighting every day to give Eric a better quality of life:

“I was fighting doctors that didn’t want to remove feeding tubes and subra pubic catheters because it would be easier for ME to take care of him than teaching him to eat and use the bathroom. I didn’t want it easier for me... I wanted it better for him.”

The biggest fight was having the trach removed. I spoke to respiratory, speech and the head of nursing, asking if they believed he needed it. They all said no! He hadn’t used it in three months; it was capped off. The doctor wanted to leave it in for future surgeries... My son has never had a “future” surgery.

The drugs they kept him on in the nursing home were unnecessary. I slowly weaned him off so he was no longer lethargic. Finding out they didn’t think he needed PT at the nursing home as there was no hope in him improving pushed my daughter and I to go up every day and work with him. Then having the nursing staff take credit…”

THE POWER OF A MOTHER’S WILL Becky soon realized that the real challenge was finding someone who wouldn’t give up on her child … and the only one who wouldn’t give up was her. HIS mother. So, Becky learned how to best work with her son to achieve the goal of giving him the best quality of life.

She asked the nurses to educate her so she knew exactly what to ask for when they went to the doctor’s office. She got creative, turning therapy into games to keep Eric engaged and learning. She found cooking classes where he could fit his wheelchair, theaters that would have him perform, and camps that would allow him to participate. She’s booked private dance classes to keep him from flopping in his chair.

Known by her son as the “drill sergeant,” Becky channels the power of a protective mama bear to ensure Eric won’t give up or slack on his therapy.

ERIC’S LIFE NOW: HE CAN SING AGAIN! Eric now sings karaoke whenever possible. He travels the world. He talks, sings, acts. He loves to take cruises and says it’s because he has a captive audience. He enjoys camping and clubs and meeting new people. When you first meet Eric, and you ask him how he is, he will tell you, “I am awesome like an opossum.” Eric truly considers himself a social butterfly.

A MOTHER’S ADVICE TO THE SPECIAL NEEDS COMMUNITY “I think if I would give advice, it is never to stop learning, researching and asking questions. If you don’t understand something, keep asking until you do,” says Becky. “I always told the nurses: Don’t tell me in metric, tell me in English... Give me an example I can picture. If it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t and keep asking.”

The other piece is God always has a plan. If God had not given me cancer in 2005, then I wouldn’t have been medically retired with a small pension when Eric had his accident and would not have been available for his care. I would have had to quit and not have the pension to help sustain us and all the things that Medicaid and his waivers didn’t provide. God always has a plan.”

The love a mother has for her child is unparalleled, and we see it within the love Becky has for her son, Eric. Becky shares his biggest dream with us:

“The saddest thing is when he talks about getting married someday. He already has the names of his kids picked out, but then he says if it’s just him and I for the rest of his life, he’s OK with that, too.”