Marvin Shank

Marvin was in a motorcycle accident on Saturday, October 29th. He was riding down the mountain when his bike hit the gaurdrail and he landed on the other side. He landed on his back on top of some newly pruned saplings, one of which penetrated the skin.
Within minutes people were stopping to assist, three of which had medical knowledge. He was taken to RMH and because he had lost a significant amount of blood from the puncture wound they quickly closed him up and flew him to UVA in Charlottesville. It was determined that he had a broken L5 vertabre and significant muscle, tissue damage from the puncture wound. Due to the way the branch entered the back, it sheered apart the layers of muscle, tissue, fat, and skin, which allowed air to get in, and  air pockets developed around the lower spine. Because of this infection wil be an issue.  The branch also hit the pelvis bone and that is fractured as well. 
We're thankful there are no head injuries and that no organs were damaged by the branch. We are also thankful that three of the Good Samaritans that first stopped were medical personnel. We are thankful that he didn't continue to roll down the side of the mountain but was able to hold on to the saplings. We know our Heavenly Father is the reason he is still here today.