Man bounces back after near-fatal crash
Published 10:14 pm Thursday, August 3, 2017
By Shelly Zeller, Alden Advance
Alden’s Trent Nelson didn’t allow a near-fatal car accident to stop his ambitions. He is now running a business from home.
The Gary Nelson family has been through it all. After three of their four children were involved in a car accident Feb. 16, 2004, they knew their family would never be the same.
Trent Nelson was seriously injured in a car accident in 2004 with Trevor and Krystal Nelson, and spent months in Rochester. The near-fatal car accident happened when the vehicle struck black ice on County Road 46.
“Trent was in intensive care for seven weeks, with another five months in Rochester,” said his mother, Lori Nelson. “We lived in the Ronald McDonald House during the recovery.”
Trent Nelson, who was unable to remember anything for three months following the accident, said he had to learn basically everything all over again.
“I didn’t know how to breath, swallow, talk, read, spell, walk and I was left one-handed,” he said. “The good news is I am left-handed and that was the one that was OK after the accident.”
Trent Nelson, owner of 407 Designz in Alden, runs his vinyl printing business from his home. – Shelly Zeller/Alden Advance
After surviving the catastrophe, Trent Nelson said the community and family support has allowed him to live on his own and continue on with his life. After an abundance of training, he is now a business owner.
Trent Nelson, who has worked at Wedgewood Cove in Albert Lea for four years, has not let his disability slow him down.
Trent and Lori Nelson began talking to Vocational Rehabilitation and decided to further Trent’s interest, and develop a business plan.
The business, titled 407 Designz, is a vinyl printing business located in southern Minnesota.
“We offer services to create cut vinyl graphics that can be applied to a range of products and surfaces such as fabric, glass, metal, wood and much more.”
“My interest in design began in high school when I carved an abstract of Einstein’s face to print,” Trent Nelson said. “I developed my designing skills and learned the vinyl printing process with the help of friends. My business officially opened in January 2017 with my studio in my basement. I am willing to work with my customers to develop any idea they may have using vinyl on a variety of surfaces. I love my job.”
