"THAT" phone call

"THAT" PHONE CALL !

What changes one phone call can make. It's that one that all of us parents have heard about, but silently dread getting.

Our 20 yr. old son Dan was in Mexico with a Cedarville University missions trip. They were helping out with a week long camp for missionary kids. On Friday, March 9th, he sustained a neck injury when he attempted to do a back flip. 3 people in Puebla, Mexico saved his life: Elaine, a nurse who immediately administered mouth-to-mouth, John, a missionary who is also a paramedic [who was supposed to be out of town] who knew instantly to get his bag valve mask, and Jeremy the MIS team leader who is an EMT.

added 3/25
This weekend also gave us a visit with Cedarville U MIS team leader and friend Jeremy Hudson who was on the scene just after Dan's accident. We asked him for the whole story of ALL that went on those first critical minutes. There were a few more people involved in savinghis life. [ "THAT" phone call post has been also noted.]

• Julie H., a mom, [Jeremy's wife], who saw Dan crumple to the ground, yelled for Jeremy to go over to him.
• Jeremy H. [CU EMT trained] who had to determine that it was a blocked airway and impaired breathing, not a seizure. Helped bag Dan for over 1.5 hours.
  
• Elaine S., OCS and camp nurse, who started mouth to mouth, [see her worshiping God comments at the bottom of 2nd Saturday Update post].
• John S., camp missionary [MBI grad, paramedic too] who had a box of medical items on location including a mask ventilating bag and bite block to open Dan's clenched teeth. Helped bag Dan.
• Dr. Joel S., [John's brother] who gave support.
• Erica S., an R.N., [Dr. Joel's wife], helped monitor his vital signs and filled in as needed.
• Joe B., missionary, who used his USA cell phone to keep us in contact with Jeremy in those first few critical hours.
• Ed O., missionary, who called 911 and negotiate [pay before you get to go] for the ambulance to take Dan to the hospital.

We are glad that we did not know any of this story until now. We can only lift our hands to heaven in total praise and thanks to our God.

We got the phone call at 5:00 pm on Friday, March 9th, 2007, from Brian, Director of Missions Involvement Services (MIS) at CU who informed us of Dan's accident. He put us in touch with Jeremy via cell phone for constant updates. Brian got Deb and I on the next flight to Mexico City. Missionary Ed picked us up and drove the 1.5 hours to Betania Hospital in Puebla.

Dan arrived at the hospital still unconscious, but was stabilized and put on a ventilator because he was unable to breath on his own. He regained consciousness over night and was able to mouth words and thus communicate via missionary Rick who translated to doctors and nurses around him. Rick NEVER left the hospital, or us, until we were on the flight back to the states. Supported BY missionaries ... "for such a time as this".

We get choked up when thinking of God's gracious protection on Dan's life. An overwhelming blessing this morning was thinking that we still have our Dan. His injuries seem minor compared to not having him. I can not tell you how at peace we are with everything, so keep praying!

THE 'MALO' AND GOOD !
We were at Dan's side around 9 am on Saturday, and he was so glad to see us. He seemed in good spirits, and kept mouthing the words "I love you" and smiling with a grin. We just cried.

Various tests and scans performed at Betania hospital revealed that Dan fractured his C1 & C2 vertebrae and bruised his spinal cord. This bruise of the spinal cord is what is causing the inhibition of any sensory and motor function below the ear lobes. Thankfully there was no visible swelling in his brain, his vertebrae were still lined up, and his spinal cord was NOT broken. But when we heard the words " malo" from the ICU doctor and neurosurgeons, our limited Spanish told us this was not good.

On Sunday Rick mentioned various missionaries who are air evacuated to the states for medical reasons, and that started a big wheel rolling. We called Nicole, a doctor friend from our small group, who suggested we get him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The rest of the day was a flurry of activity for his safe transportation back to the USA.

• acceptance from a NMH neurology doctor [received within 30 minutes of the 1st call]
  
• approval to travel by the Mexico doctors
  
• recommendation for travel by air ambulance doctors
• securing a flight company, the crew and medics for spinal injury transport.
  
• Mexican government and customs clearance
• three way cell phone calls in, out and around a foreign country
• could both Deb and I ride back, or one of us have to go back separately
  

World Wide Assistance, the CU insurance providers did most of the logistics, but there were also language issues that required medical translation from Rick and Jeremy. Everything got finalized about 4 pm on Sunday for all three of us at 8 am Monday. Many tears of joy were expressed by all.

IT'S A GO!

RN Rose and EMT Tony arrived via Medway Air Ambulance at 10 am ["the marines have landed"], secured Dan for flight, and after a few medical delays, got him loaded in the ambulance [another story] for the half hour ride to the airport. We met Steve and Jordy, the pilots, who guaranteed that this jet could fly as fast at the big boys, were cleared by customs, loaded Dan, and off we flew. More tears of joy. Although Chicago has international airports, post 9/11 requires private jets to clear customs at the first point of entry to the USA, so we touched down in New Orleans, LA, refueled the plane, received boxed deli lunches for all, and continued on to Chicago's Midway Airport. So great to look out and see Sears Tower, and then land in front of a waiting string of commercial jets. A waiting ambulance whisked us to NMH, where the neurological team was waiting to assess Dan. He has had 7-8 medical specialists attending to his every need. God is Good.