My Mom's Words

My sweet baby brother John was in a very serious car crash on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 3. He was placed in a medically-induced coma to prevent further damage to his brain. He has broken all of the bones in his face, but amazingly, he has not suffered any other serious internal damage. We are praying for his recovery while an amazing team of doctors and nurses care night and day for our "smudge" and attempt to bring him back to us.

These are my mom's words:

Dear All,

Our deepest thanks to everyone for the outpouring of love and prayers for John. We know, absolutely, that the power of these prayers are working in John...yesterday we felt despair and today we feel hope.

We met with the team of neurosurgeons today and got their impressions of this morning's MRI scans. John did receive, what they're referring to as diffused injury to his brain. Each "lesion" kind of like an abrasion may have the capacity to heal to some degree. They, of course, can't offer with any certainty how much healing or how long the healing will require. They acknowledge John's age and general good health and strength in this process and they talked to us about "when" and not "if" John regains consciousness and ability. That was true joy to hear.

Though we've not gotten to witness these things ourselves, they tell us that, when they turned the respirator down, John almost breathed entirely on his own for some period of time today. He responded to pain. He responded to light. Though we know John has a long road ahead of him, these little things begin to rebuild hope in all of us. We're going to be making the mental shift from sprint into marathon as John's re-entry into our world will take weeks and months. But we believe we get to have him back.

John also had reconstructive surgery this afternoon to have his jaw put back together - a couple of plates and a bunch of wires later, he looks much more like the John we know. He had a big day with all of this and we told him goodnight at 5:00.

Also, the Red Cross approved an emergency leave for Dan to come home and he began his journey from the most remote parts of Afghanistan yesterday in order to come home to see his brother. Though he got delayed due to closed air space, he continued on and will be home tomorrow. Veronica, Dan and John together have some amazing sibling love and energy and I know that will aid in John's healing as well.

We ask that you continue to hold John in your prayers as he begins the long road of recovery.

Thank you.

Judy and Jim