A few weeks ago on March 13th, 2009, my 14 yr. old brother (Zack) was seriously hurt in a ski accident. He was with my church on a youth activity. This was his second time skiing. He just learned how to ski in January of this year, so he wasn't an expert or anything. Some how he ended up on a Black Diamond (which is an *expert level* ski trail). We have no idea how he ended up there but...
He ended up hitting the back of his head on the top of a post on a chain-link fence. Which damaged his skull severly. He was found by Ski Patrol just minutes afterwards in a pool of blood (praise the Lord he wasn't lying there for a long time). When they found him he was unresponsive (which means they couldn't find a pulse *hopefully you know what that means*). He was taken in a helicopter to a hospital.
During all of this my family and I were out to eat for dinner. When we came home there was a message on our answering machine from the ski resort telling my parents that their son was injured in a ski accident and to call them. My mom called right away. She was told only to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. They wouldn't tell us anything, not even if he was conscience or unconscience. We live in New Jersey and the hospital is in Pennsylvania about an hour away. My parents jumped in the truck and drove to the hospital. My dad said he flew all the way there, praying he wouldn't get stopped by a police officer. I'm 16, so stayed home with my 2 other younger siblings (Dylan & Morgan). My mom told me to call my youth pastor or his wife and see if us 3 kids could stay @ their house. They live 2 blocks away from us. My youth pastor was finishing up a wedding rehersal for the next day @ church when I called him. I explained the situation and he called his wife to tell her to come and pick us up. She did, and we spent the night @ their house.
Meanwhile, my parents get to the hospital and are told Zack needs to go into surgery immediately! So Zack had the brain surgery. The doctors removed the piece of damaged skull.
After the surgery, Zack stayed in ICU (intensive care unit) for about a week, until moved to a rehab in Marlton, New Jersey.
During that week, we had our whole church (which is really big) praying for Zack. We got so many cards and notes they are uncountable. My parents said they could feel the prayers of everyone. And it was a great blessing! I honestly couldn't imagine going through something like this without Him and not being able to pray and trust in Him.
Today is Wednesday and Zack gets to come home on Friday for good. Orginally the doctors said that Zack was going to need another surgery to replace that piece on bone they removed with a piece of steel or frozen bone, but now they are saying that he won't have to. The bone will sort of grow back and fix itself & there is so much tissue and stuff that will protect his brain that he will be okay. *Another answer to prayer!!!*
The doctors also said it would take about 6 weeks for Zack to get to the point where he is now. But he did it in half the time! Praise the Lord!!!
So you may be thinking well then, what do you need prayer for?
Well, I'll tell you:
- Zack has lost a lot of memory academically. He doesn't remember how to do the work for most of his schoolwork for this year. He is in Algebra 2, but he can't do most of the work. We are homeschooled so that will help him, but still...
- He has to learn how to walk, run, ride a bike, ect; all over again. He is a little off-balance too. He used to be the fastest kid on the soccer field & could always beat me when we raced on our bikes, but now...
- His speech is a little slurd too. He always used to mumble but now it's worse.
I think that's it for now. I'll keep you posted.
Just one more thing, I feel like Connie when she said: "I wish I could go to sleep until God makes the world right again."
Oh ya, one more thing, my name is Alyssa.
A Youth Ski Trip
my brother Zack
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GlennAdams
- Expecting a battle
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Over the Rainbow
- Blissfully Oblivious
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