Monday, December 10, 2007

The first two days

On the afternoon of December 8th Brent Adams and his roommate Jay Weaver went to ride dirt bikes at the Hwy 89 Speed way in Mayflower, AR. Brent made a few passes around the track and looked very comfortable. Having ridden a dirtbike for a good part of his life he was very familiar with riding however when he went over a jump he lost control and crashed. He was unconscious for 5-7 minutes. I arrived after the crash to find him just after he woke up. He knew his name and was lying on his back and wanted his helmet off and to straighten his leg out for him. Over half a dozen other riders had come to his aid immediately after he crashed. To keep him from moving the other riders on the track held him down until the paramedics could get there. We waited there for another 10-15 minutes on the ambulance to arrive on site, they finally got there and removed his helmet, took his boots off, and got a hard board under him. They rushed him to Conway Regional Center for treatment. I called Amanda Adams Kuepker to leave Searcy AR, about 45 minutes away to come sign for her brother. After she arrived the doctor would talk to us, telling us that he was beat up really bad, very seriously hurt, many broken ribs, bleeding on the brain, a broken back and a punctured lung. They stabilized him and had to insert a tube to drain two liters of blood out of his right lung. Once stabilized, they transported him to UAMS where he is receiving treatment, and many CT Scans. Many prayers have already been answered. Brent's parents and brother knew someone who was able to fly them on their jet. They were able to arrive less than seven hours after the accident. His two aunts and uncle also arrived from Alabama this morning. He has been surrounded by family and friends who love him and care for him.

The facts:

Thus far, they have preformed 3 full body scans.
He has broken his right shoulder, and shattered his left shoulder.
He has a closed brain injury with slight bleeding on his brain.
The orbit of the eye socket is fractured.
Several of his ribs and sternum were broken.
He will be sedated for the next 72 hrs. to 5 days.
This is to allow the punctured lung to heal and they will wake him up when his lungs are strong enough to support him. He is on a ventilator right now only because his lung collapsed. At the moment, they believe he is strong enough to breathe on his own, however they want his lungs to recover more before they take him off the ventilator.
There are 2 vertebra broken, T11 and T12.
There is also some displacement in his spine, they do not know the extent of the spinal injury at the present moment. At the track he could not move his legs, however he could feel the paramedic touch his legs and back which is a very good sign. We will not know anything further in his ability to feel until they take him out of sedation.


Update: 10:30pm
Brent is already looking better. His color has returned and some swelling has reduced. He responds to his mom and dad talking to him. He response involves movement in his hands and a change in his breathing. As quickly as he is showing improvement, we know that God will continue to quickly heal Brent.

Thank you again for all of your prayers.

Update: 11:00pm
The doctor was finally able to give us more information on Brent's condition. It looks as though the spine is 50% compromised, meaning that the spinal cord below the T11 and T12 vertabra is displaced approxiomately 50%. There is still a lot of edema (swelling surrounding the spinal cord) which could be causing part of this displacement. The doctors are continually monitoring his fluid levels to keep the swelling at a minimum. The doctor made it clear that nothing can be determined whehter or not Brent will have full funtion of his lower body until he wakes up and the doctors can evaluate him further.

The family is very concerned about this update and desperately asks for prayers specifically concerning this most recent development.

8 comments:

Jonathan Storment said...

Brent's family, I am so sorry to hear about Brent. My wife and I will be praying for you all.

kristy said...

Brent,
We are praying that God will completely heal you and that He will give you and your family peace during this time. We love you!
Payton and Kristy Patterson

P.S. Thank you to Brent's family for keeping us updated on his condition. We really appreciate it.

Lindsey Eason said...

My husband and I are Harding Alumni and just learned of Brent's accident through Kristy's blogsite. We are so sorry that he was hurt and are praying for continued healing and comfort for Brent as well as his entire family. Thank you for the updates.

kellieja said...

My prayers are with you guys!
-Kellie(JACOBS)Anderson

Amanda S said...

Brent and Brent's family,
I am praying for complete healing for Brent. I am praying for you as a family for strength and peace during this time. The doctors and nurses taking care of Brent are also in my prayers so that they may do their very best while taking care of Brent.

Jim Pitts said...

We received the blog about your son and your family from our mutual friend, Lisa Carter. We want you to know that our family is praying for your and our church family will be praying for your son and your family. We trust that God will bless you with his comfort and healing.
In Christian Love,
Jim (Rooster)Pitts

Joy said...

Brent,
I just wanted you to know that I'm really sorry to hear about your accident and I am praying for you. I believe that God will use your testimony to touch many lives. I am also praying for your family that the peace of Christ will guard their hearts.
Love in Christ,
Christen Sherwood
(CH&BS Class of 2000)

Anonymous said...

Brent and family,
We are praying for Brent during
this time, for safe healing.
We are so sorry for hearing of
this accident. We hated to hear
of this news, happening to such
a fine, christian young man.
We are keeping you all in our
prayers, God Bless!
Elizabeth Angel/Carolyn Garner