Bryce’s Story

Site created on August 9, 2018

On Bryce's way home from youth last night he had an accident on his scooter; in front of his grandparents house. They think he hit an animal.  It appears that he slid 50 foot on the pavement.  He was found by another young man about 15 minutes later.  Bryce was having difficulty breathing so the young man cut his helmet strap off.  The medics made it there quickly, as did a friend of Bryce's, who is an EMS . We feel God was in that.   Grandma Judith called Jarred to ask if the accident was any of them.  When they checked on Bryce on Zenly he was racing towards Greenville faster than his scooter goes. Amanda went to the accident to see if it was Bryce.  It was. Amanda and Summer immediately headed for the hospital. Jarred was just headed home from work an hour away, so he headed for Greenville.  Bryce was having seizures on the way to the hospital, but stopped once they reached the hospital.   At the hospital they didn't feel Bryce was coherent enough to handle his airways so they intubate him.  His initial CT scan showed less trauma than they expected,  but the one they did 7 hours later showed more bleeding so they put in draining tube from his brain.  His face is scraped up pretty badly, they stitched up his left eyebrow.  He has 2 broken bones in his face on the left side, around his eye socket. His eye is purple and bulging, looks really tough.  He has a chunk of flesh missing from his left shoulder and bad road rash on several parts of his body and both knees have circular burns from the muffler.  They have him in a medically induced coma because when he comes to he wants to pull out the breathing tube and fights off the nurses.  The coma will also help his brain to rest and heal. He's expected to stay that way for 3 days up to a week.  The neurosurgeon said it is just a waiting game to see how his brain heals.  We want to thank those who came in the night to support us. Grandpa and Grandma Esau, Leon Kanagy, Lori Boehs,  and Roger &  Anne Yost.  We know it took special effort on everyone's part and it did not go unnoticed. We are grateful for all the love and support that has been shown for Bryce. 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Amanda Esau

Hello, a lot has happened since the last update. Bryce has run away four times and attempted a fifth time. He was telling anybody and everybody that we were abusing him. He thinks if he lived in a “Mennonite” home he would have no problems and he would be healed by now (if anybody feels lead to open their home call the home staff). DSS has been involved, which was such a blessing because they got us the help we so desperately needed for Bryce. The sheriffs have been here twice as well as Mobile Crisis. He was involuntarily commented for four days and finally, we got in to see a psychologist. They put Bryce on some medication and within five days we could see a huge change but since then that has seemed to taper a little but believe me when I say nothing to the extent he was before the meds.

Since he was put on medication he has said that he knows he isn’t who he was before the accident and that he knows he has to make changes for who he is now. He is on board to work on his gut health, interesting enough there is a correlation between TBI and gut health. TBI has reactions that show up throughout the body and it is very common to change the health of your gut. It can be managed by diet and supplements and Bryce has sat down with me to pick out recipes he would eat. After our recipe session, he said “this isn’t going to be as bad as I thought”, let’s hope he still feels that way when he is going through sugar withdrawals!    

When Bryce is in a good place mentally he is funny, kind, helpful, and truly pleasant to be around. When Bryce is in a dark place mentally it is like having a three-year-old throw a tantrum in a sixteen-year-old body.

The local staff and congregation have been wonderful with prayers, words of encouragement, and generally there to help out. We thank you all for your prayers and you are welcome to reach out if at any time you have questions or advice.

 
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Bryce Stay Connected to Family and Friends

A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Bryce's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?

Comments Hide comments

Show Your Support

See the Ways to Help page to get even more involved.

SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top