Meet Terrence Mcbride
Born in Nova Scotia and raised by adoptive parents in the US, Terrence Mcbride has spent much of his life on the greens and fairways of North America’s golf courses. The competitive swing of his youth became a professional tool in his adult life and he became a golf instructor. But after a car accident left him with a serious back and hip injury, his life as he knew it came to a sudden stop.
The Accident
On June 19th, 2015 Terrence was in a car accident in Florida.
“It was late in the afternoon and I had just given somebody a golf lesson, literally,” says Mcbride. “I was sitting at a red light and I got rear ended...it was about 15 seconds that I was disoriented...the first thing I remember was the girl in the window saying ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’”
In a daze, Terrence stepped out of the car. “The minute I stood up, my lower back hurt immediately. It started burning and so I sat back down until the police came.”
Two days later, Terrence awoke to severe neck and back pain that kept him to his bed. With legs aching and numb hands, he made his way to an orthopedic surgeon later that week where he would receive the news; golf, and most of his other regular activities that made up his day to day, would have to wait.
A Helping Hand
Calling the wake-up call that follows a catastrophic injury “shocking” is an understatement. The physical challenge of recovery is highly taxing on the individual as well as their families, butthere’s also all the litigation, paperwork, appointments and everything else that falls in the laps of victims of tragedy. The emotional and financial stress can be overwhelming.
For Terrence, it was his complicated insurance coverage that was causing him more pain than he was already in.
“I have insurance and I have insurance for a reason,” says Terrence. “And when you need the insurance company to do their job, it’s funny how they sort of back away from their responsibilities.”
But when a friend introduced him to Ed Hand, things changed. With decades of insurance litigation experience, the team at Daniel J. Balena and Helping Hand Inc. were able to help Terrence navigate the murky waters he had recently been thrown into.
“Since meeting Ed Hand, things have looked up,” he says. “With Ed and the family, that connection, for me it’s important. It makes me feel like someone’s got my back.”
The Way Forward
In recovery, every day poses its own challenges, but despite several surgeries and complications Terrence is an eternal optimist and focuses on the light at the end of the tunnel.
While Terrence’s case is still in litigation, his network of experts and friends has grown as a result of working with Helping Hand and he continues to arm himself with the knowledge and professional aid needed to help him with his recovery.