Family and friends hope for a strong recovery for my friend Brian. He was injured not too long ago while out boating with some college buddies. We were all at a public beach after staying in a cabin owned by Brian's parents.
We were all in a boat except for Brian who was riding a jet ski. I'm not sure what exactly happened but our boat and the jet ski collided in the water. Brian was thrown forward and off the jet ski, his face and head slamming into the boat. He hit the water and began to sink under. Our friend Steve who is a trained life guard dove in to find Brian.
The rest of us were shaking and waiting for any signs of them. After what seemed to be an eternity Steve broke the surface with Brian limp in his arms. Apparently after Brian sunk under water he floated under the boat and it took Steve time to remove him due to pressure of the water.
All of us helped to hoist him inside and Steve started to do mouth to mouth as we headed back to shore. I dove off the boat and ran to the lifeguard on duty and he signaled the police and rescuers who were on scene in moments.
At the hospital I called everyone I knew. His parents of course who thought we were kidding. A big joke. I can understand their response. My body was numb from the incident. I didn't believe it and still can't. It's tremendously hard to face this stuff.
The doctors would not tell any of us his condition, not until his parents arrived. Brian's right wrist and left eye socket are fractured, some of his ribs are cracked and he has a severe brain injury that led to a coma.
All of us wondered what it is we can do to help Brian. Our friends won't do the phone stuff and they immediately came and all of them cried when seeing Brian laying in that bed. Just so much goes thru your head. We're all in shock. Brian is the kind of guy people gravitate toward. Very outgoing, nice, he's pure. Honest.
It's good to know that over time his coma is not as deep as it once was. Day by day he's improving. We just have to stay positive and pray and we're all confident that he'll pull out of this. He's stronger than this and won't give up the fight.
Since the night of the accident, Brian's family has been by his side watching and caring for him while members of his fraternity visit him as often as they can. We're planning an event in Minnesota for Brian to help bring in money to help with his care. It also will serve as a retrospective of his life to give his family a deeper look into their son and to give us all something to remember about him that's all positive so we can give that right back.
He's going to get better and we're all positive about that!
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed