Please say a prayer ..

[Rush]

My boyfriend, Brandon, has been a pretty avid skydiver for about three years now. It finally caught up with him yesterday.

To make a long story short .. he made too sharp of a turn too low to the ground trying to avoid the wind-sock pole, and because he was too busy trying to avoid the wind sock he never hit his 'brakes' .. so he hit the ground going about 60mph.

His back is broken in four places. One big piece of one of the fractured disks is currently lodged up against his spinal cord -- by some miracle of God, it didn't sever or cut into the cord. But the cord itself though is bent at a 45 degree angle around the fracture. The femur of his left leg is shattered -- I saw the x-rays and it literally looked like the bone in his thigh exploded. He also has a bunch of bone chips out of his left foot/ankle area. And he has various other internal injuries and bleeding.

He's been through one surgery already to rebuild his femur. The surgeons did an AMAZING job. It looks fantastic and he now has a big titanium rod in his thigh. But they aren't sure how it's going to wind up healing, because they don't yet know the extent of the muscle and nerve damage thanks to all those shards of bone flying around in his leg.

He's in his second surgery now to try to rebuild his back. They're putting in a bunch of rods and screws .. and they're going to try like hell to get that stray piece of disk away from his spinal cord so that they can insert a 'cage' which will bring that area back to 'normal' .. or as close to normal as they can get him.

No idea how well he's going to be able to walk after all this. We were told 18 months minimum before the doctors even have an idea of how well he can heal 'in the end' .. whenever the hell that end may be.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and hope for a miracle with both his back and leg.

[Scapegoat]

saw your status Cindy... best of luck to him getting through this... thats nuts...

[CarbonIS]

ugh cindy that's awful i'll be thinkin of him

[TROLL]

oh my god cindy... i'm so sorry to hear this and will definitely keep him in my thoughts. i really hope things go perfectly with the second surgery. please keep us updated on things when you have time to sit down at a computer, and if you need anything at all you've got my number.

[Got Insulin?]

Cindy, so sorry to hear, and will likewise keep him in my thoughs. Let him know we're all pulling for him, and tell him that his form can only get better with the titanium femur upgrade.

In all seriousness, he's in my and my family's thoughs and prayers.

[Oakes]

He is in my thoughts and prayers Cindy, I'm terribly sorry to hear this, I hope he recovers as close to normal as possible.

[Renegade_]

Never met you, doesn't matter... This is truly some **** that I hope you pull through. Gl, but im sure he can pull through.

I don't do prayers, but that doesn't mean I lack empathy. Gl to you both.

[angdefeo]

I hope he heals quickly and can return to his normal life. If you have any say in the matter, please suggest that they at least consider using either Magee or Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospitals. They are the best in the area and work miracles with getting people back to normal after horrible accidents.

[abrok99]

wow. thats crazy im sure he will come through fully healed.

he's in my thoughts and prayers for sure.

[russiankid]

Sorry to hear, Cindy. Hope everything goes well for him and he has a speedy recovery.

[93EGY8]

sorry to hear this, ill say a prayer for ya. best of luck to him

[~Brian~]

Oh wow Cindy, I'm sorry to hear about this.

I'll be sure to say a few prayers for him.

[Buster]

Good luck, I hope he gets better. My cousin broke his back pretty bad in a car accident and made a great recovery. It can happen so tell him to keep his chin up!

[Rush]

Thanks so much for the kind words, everyone .. Any and all support means more than you probably know right now.

One of the doctors just came out to tell us that the surgery on his spine went very well. They said that he definitely beat the hell out of it, but that they pretty much got it back 'in order'. While I don't have all the exact details just yet -- the 'main' surgeons are still in the OR, putting in the last few rods and screws before sewing him back up -- but the doctor said that they were able to decompress the vertebrae and get them spaced properly again. They were able to move that fractured piece away from his spinal cord with no effect to the cord. But they did have to remove one of his vertebrae that was just too damaged to be repaired .. and they put in some sort of 'cage' in its place. I'm not sure I understand what that means, but I'm sure the 'main' surgeons will explain once they get out here.

Next comes the part where all the doctors try to figure out what his recovery is gonna entail as far as physical therapy and time and how much mobility he might have. Considering both of his surgeries seem to have gone well, I'm hoping that he'll be able to get a pretty good amount of movement back. But I'm gonna knock on wood and not jinx myself!

[Scapegoat]

he's going to have a sweet ass story to tell when he's out of there!

[teh DIRT]

wow cindy, thats a tragic story. glad to hear he even survived it.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

he's in my thoughts cindy, i'm sorry to hear.

[james_ls]

I got about three lines in and out loud could only say "what the ****"!

I hope everything turns out well.

60-0 like that could be MUCH worse.

He's still here; and for the one time I ever met him, doesn't seem like he's going to be slowing down any time soon.

Send the best.

[boostedfury]

Best wishes to you and he Cindy.. I will keep you both in my prayers tonight! I wish him a speedy recovery and that he becomes just as mobile as he once was

[OMG JDM]

oh wow...good luck and hope he has a speedy recovery.