From being born at Mount Sinai to receiving life-saving care, Sabrina Cohen’s journey is marked by resilience, gratitude, and a commitment to helping others.
Sabrina Cohen, 46, lives a philanthropic life through her work, which aims to improve the well-being and happiness of people with disabilities. This vocation stems from a life-changing injury she suffered after a severe car accident at the age of 14, which damaged her spinal cord. While Sabrina has lived a fulfilling life as a person with quadriplegia, dependent on an electric wheelchair for the past 32 years, her condition has set her down a path of other health challenges she would have to face.
Over the years, Sabrina has dealt with various complications, from UTIs to pneumonia. Over the last 15 years, she has built a close patient-doctor relationship with Dr. Seth Gottlieb, the Chief of the Division of Pulmonary Diseases at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Born at this medical center, Sabrina frequently returns whenever she faces a lung problem, knowing she can rely on the hospital’s expertise and exceptional care. Before her pneumonia in February, she had caught a cold and a stomach flu, which weakened her body. Dr. Gottlieb recommended she go to the ER, but she waited four days before coming to Mount Sinai, believing it was just a cold—unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“By Sunday, I had a room on the fourth floor of intensive care,” she says. “I don’t remember anything at all. I was really out of it at that point. But the care in the ICU was all hands-on.”
By Tuesday, Sabrina was gasping for air. She texted Dr. Gottlieb at 6 a.m. saying she had reached her limit, and he showed up within 10 minutes with his team in her ICU room. At that point, Dr. Gottlieb decided she needed to be intubated.
“Forty-eight hours later, I woke up completely out of my mind,” she recalls. “Everything was dark. My truth was that I was going to die. And then, within the next 24 hours, I remember Dr. Gottlieb at the end of my bed. I looked at him and said, ‘Doc, am I doing good?’ He looked at me and said, ‘No Sabrina, you’re not doing good; you’re doing great!’”
Overall, Sabrina was in the hospital for 12 days recovering. After her initial discharge, she required three additional return visits to address lingering congestion, which was difficult to resolve due to her neuromuscular disease and underlying asthma. Eventually, Dr. Gottlieb decided to order the CoughAssist T70—a device designed to noninvasively clear lung secretions by simulating a natural cough.
“The CoughAssist device has been around for quite some time. However, we have not previously used this at Mount Sinai,” Dr. Gottlieb explains. “It is useful to help clear the secretions of patients [with] neuromuscular diseases that can lead to respiratory muscle weakness and difficulty or inability to cough up their secretions. The CoughAssist mechanically fully inflates the lungs, then empties the lungs, which helps to clear the retained secretions.”
Similar to a normal deep breath, CoughAssist gradually applies positive air pressure (insufflation or inflating the lungs) to obtain a large volume of air within the lungs. The device then quickly reverses the flow of air by shifting to negative air pressure (exsufflation). The resulting high expiratory flow helps mobilize secretions out of the airway as a deep, natural cough would do. With the use of the CoughAssist, an example of Mount Sinai’s personalized care, Sabrina’s symptoms were alleviated and was able to return home. Reflecting on Sabrina’s journey, Dr. Gottlieb describes her as the epitome of strength and courage, highlighting her advocacy for herself and others.
“Her ‘handicap’ has led to her strength,” he explains. “She is truly leading a life of purpose which many of us could only strive to have. It is an honor for me to care for her.”
Since the accident, Sabrina has remained dedicated to her own health, wellness, and fitness regimen, including her commitment to a vegan lifestyle. Her dedication extends to helping others achieve similar goals. She founded the Sabrina Cohen Foundation, an organization aimed at improving the health and wellness of individuals with disabilities through exercise programs and advocating for more inclusive recreational opportunities.
To learn more about the Sabrina Cohen Foundation, please visit sabrinacohenfoundation.org.