Dale Silvia fell 50 feet to the ground while climbing a palm tree in search of material for his art.
The fall shattered his kneecaps, arms, hands, face and jaw. He spent weeks at Jackson's Ryder Trauma Center and then the last seven months at Jackson's Perdue Medical Center in Cutler Bay.
Social worker Sami Rudnick-Hoover was by his side during his recovery. The two had a serendipitous moment when they realized they had met before.
Ten years ago, Sami was a singer in a band at Bayside Marketplace where Dale was selling his artwork.
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"She was like, I don't have any money for that, and I said to her, you know it's okay, you'll take care of me later," Dale said.
He never imagined that a coincidence would actually make that come true.
"How do you figure that one out, you know, 10 years later, 'you'll take care of me,' and she's standing at the foot of my bed looking at me thinking to herself, 'now I'm going to take care of him,'" Dale said.
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"It was like a full circle moment, you know, getting to actually make good on a debt," Sami said.
Now, Dale is moving into an assisted living facility as he continues his recovery and hopes to be able to ride a bike by next year.
