First post:
Jun 28, 2020 Latest post:
Nov 23, 2020
On Wednesday June 24th, Larry (cherished husband/father/grampie/paca and friend ) suffered a c3, c4, and c5 spinal cord injury. He had driven to Emerald Isle that morning with Deborah to spend time with their grandchildren on the beach for a day. About an hour after their arrival, Larry was swimming in the ocean with his grandson Kadyn, and attempted to ride a wave in. Minutes later, we saw Kadyn yelling for help as he pulled his grampie out of the water and onto the beach. Larry’s head had hit the ocean floor.
After EMS arrived, Larry was airlifted to Vidant medical center in Greenville N.C. where he underwent surgery that night, using cervical plates and screws to try and stabilize his spinal cord and relieve pressure. Because the spinal injury is so high, it has resulted in paralysis of his torso/ limbs, and affected his ability to breath on his own. He has been kept on a ventilator until today, when a tracheotomy was successfully performed. A feeding tube is also being used.
Prognosis is difficult to assess, as these kind of injuries vary in terms of healing. We do know that once he makes enough medical progress, he will be moved to a local long-term rehab facility for continued therapy and healing.
Our world has been rocked, and we are all trying hard to understand why one of the most amazing humans on this earth must fight through this kind of pain again, after battling an aneurism just two years ago. And the fact that we cannot all surround him physically with current Covid rules and regulations makes things even harder.
But my mom is by his side, and we have faith- knowing from previous experience that my dad is strong, and a fighter...he has the most amazing heart , and he is surrounded by family and friends who I know will give him all the love and support that he will need for the battles ahead.
I will be updating his progress here when I am given news that needs to be shared.
In the meantime, I would like to ask all of Larry’s friends and family to not only leave messages here, but to also send him hand written notes, cards, drawings , recordings ...letting him know how much love surrounds him, even though we cannot be there in person. Anything written can be mailed to my home address (below), and I will give them to mom to read to and share with him when she thinks that it’s time. She will be traveling back and forth to Greenville every day.
Thank you all for being a source of love and inspiration to my incredible father. He will beat this. And I am thankful to have such an army of support surrounding him 💜.
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
