Sheriff's son returns home

Less than a month after suffering a traumatic brain injury while herding cattle, Lane Allred, 18, of Thatcher was released from treatment in Tucson and has returned home. Lane is the son of Graham County Sheriff P.J. Allred.

Lane was injured in the late afternoon of Sept. 7 when he was apparently bucked from his horse while herding cattle on Paddy's River Road. The area is near the Deer Creek turnoff of Bonita/Klondyke Road at the base of the Galiuro Mountain Range.

Lane lost consciousness and was flown to the University Medical Center-University Campus in Tucson, where he remained in a coma for eight days, according to Allred.

After the swelling of his brain subsided and Lane came out of his coma, he was transferred to a HealthSouth rehabilitative hospital located behind the Tucson Medical Center on Sept. 21. HealthSouth hospitals provide a higher level of inpatient rehabilitative care to those who are recovering from serious conditions, including neurological disorders, pulmonary conditions, brain and spinal cord injuries and amputations.

Lane's condition continued to improve at a startling rate, and soon he was walking and talking on his own. His quick recovery amazed his health providers, and they decided he was well enough to be released. His family brought him home Monday night. Allred said Lane woke up Tuesday morning, got dressed and walked out to check on the horses. He will continue to return to Tucson for continued rehabilitation as needed, according to the sheriff.

Sheriff Allred said he was touched by the outpouring of support from the community and beyond and credited it with assisting in Lane's recovery.

"Everybody (who) contacted us said we were in their prayers," Allred said. "The doctors are good; the hospitals are good and all that stuff, but without those prayers and without good family you're still kind of in trouble. You have to have all the help, and we definitely got it."

The return of Lane also marks the return of Allred to the Sheriff's Office. Undersheriff Jeff McCormies filled in for Allred while he stayed in Tucson to be with his son in his time of need.

"We're back, and we're good," Allred said. "It was a community effort. Even though we were in Tucson, we still felt our community the whole way through, so it was good . . . Help from everybody is what made it happen. It's good to have family around and lots of prayers and good doctors and hospitals. It takes it all to make it happen, and we got lucky; we had it all."

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Sheriff's son returns home