How easily life can change..

[Hail The Brain Slug]

It's amazing how easily life can change so much for someone... A friend and I went over to his house to see if he wanted to go to lunch to find his sister, who told us he was in the hospital. So, we go over to the hospital to find out he wrecked on his ATV in the sand dunes not even an hour ago.... Turns out his spinal cord was pinched, so they airlifted him to OHSU in Portland, and now I found out they diagnosed him as paraplegic.

It's almost surreal, but then again, they wouldn't let us see him in the hospital. If I saw the shape he was in it would probably seem more real.

 

[Captante]

Wow that really sucks ... hope your friend is ok!

 

[tasmanian]

That sucks. Do you know more on the actual accident?

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Captante
Wow that really sucks ... hope your friend is ok!

The paraplegic part didn't tip you off?

 

[Canai]

Ouch.

 

[marvdmartian]

Sorry to hear about your friend. I (and, evidently, others here) hold out hope that eventually they will find a way to fix that sort of injury. I'm no expert, but when you say his spinal cord was pinched, that sure sounds more positive than if it were cut, so who knows what the final outcome could be?
The good news is that they've made some very positive steps in recent years, although it doesn't take away from the initial devastation of an injury like this. My suggestion is to do some online research, so you can better understand the injury and the research being done. Stay positive for your friend, and do your best to keep him in close to your friendship circles once he starts receiving visitors. He'll need as many as he can get in the coming times, and hopefully will find it in himself to keep fighting, and keep living. And always remember that he's still the same person on the inside, it's just the outside that's going to change for him.

Keep us appraised of what's going on, and keep your own spirits up too!

 

[0roo0roo]

yea those things are surprisingly dangerous. high center of gravity and lousy turning= crunch

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: marvdmartian
And always remember that he's still the same person on the inside

Actually that's the other way around, it's on the inside that he's messed up

But I suspect you're right, this day and age it's hard to mark off even such a severe injury as permanent. It may be long lasting perhaps, but not permanent.

 

[maxster]

ouch sorry

 

[wwswimming]

very sorry to hear about your friend.

this brings to mind the story of Marc Welman. when i was in
college, he was a teenage kid who lived about a block away.

he's the rock climber whose legs were paralyzed in a fall. he
went back to climb Yosemite, Half-Dome or one of the big peaks,
using arm strength only.

 

[shortylickens]

Scary stuff.

Makes me think of all those times I changed my mind in a split second and probably avoided an accident or outright catastrophe.

 

[skyking]

I hope your friend makes a good recovery. Stay close to him. I wish I had when I was faced with similar circumstances.

 

[TehMac]

Was it a four wheeler ATV?

Anyway, I'm so sorry to hear that, it really is amazing how shit like this can happen to anybody. But what I'm wondering is if it was a quad-ATV?

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: TehMac
Was it a four wheeler ATV?

Anyway, I'm so sorry to hear that, it really is amazing how shit like this can happen to anybody. But what I'm wondering is if it was a quad-ATV?

I'd guess so. Do they even sell three-wheelers? Those things flip if you just look at 'em.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Quad bikes FTL.

 

[theeedude]

I went ATVing at the dunes at Pismo Beach. It was lots of fun, but you definitely have to exercise discretion when jumping over a dune, and the instructor spent quite some time driving that point home.

 

[SSSnail]

Yes, so live and let's live.

 

[Specksnyder]

Oh, that's rought, sorry m8.

Speck

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Captante
Wow that really sucks ... hope your friend is ok!

The paraplegic part didn't tip you off?

He could be a paraplegic and still be "OK" ya'know. Besides all he did was give him his condolences, no reason to pry.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

I'm really not sure what it was. It was either a quad or a dirtbike. I haven't had a chance to actually talk to him, as they wouldn't let us see him in the ER, and they flew him to Portland. Apparantly his 5th vertebra was shattered, not sure what the implications of that are, but it doesn't sound good. The only second hand info I have about the accident is that he went down a hill too fast and toppled over, with the quad or dirtbike landing on top of him.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Captante
Wow that really sucks ... hope your friend is ok!

The paraplegic part didn't tip you off?

He could be a paraplegic and still be "OK" ya'know. Besides all he did was give him his condolences, no reason to pry.

Exactly ... ok is a relative term ... I've known 3 people who were paralyzed to varying degrees & two of the three were able to recover at least some ability to move around & take care of themselves.

In the most extreme case a HS friend of mine fell off an 85ft cliff landing feet first in jagged rocks ... he shattered both his legs & crushed 3 vertabrae in his lower back. According to all his doctors he was never supposed to be able to get out of bed again & would be lucky to ever move his arms. He can walk & run now. Aside from a slight limp you would never know it happened & I firmly believe it was because of unfailing positive support from family/friends along with his own determination that got him there.

OP stick by your buddy ... it won't be easy but the thing he'll need more then anything is to have people around he can count on.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: senseamp
I went ATVing at the dunes at Pismo Beach. It was lots of fun, but you definitely have to exercise discretion when jumping over a dune, and the instructor spent quite some time driving that point home.

I went ATVing at pismo for the first time a few months ago. It was going really well until I ate it off a dune. I fell pretty hard and the atv rolled over my leg but I managed to walk away after a while in the sand.

OP, I hopefully your friend will one day regain some of his ability.

 

[olds]

Hope everything turns out well.

I don't care to ride in the sand myself. I prefer the trails/hills/mud.
Fordyce is one of my favorites.
http://www.narrcc.net/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=442
http://www.narrcc.net/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=176
http://www.narrcc.net/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=149

 

[jpeyton]

Sad to hear, especially from a fellow Oregonian.

It's important that you put his focus back on rehabilitation instead of the diagnosis.

Hope, even misplaced hope, is essential for physical and (more importantly) mental recovery.