| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 07 2009 : 09:05:26 AM
Well, it seems to be the morning for bad news.
I arrived at work this morning, and was greeted with the news that one of our co-workers was in a very serious car accident yesterday. He was in a head-on collision with a truck of some sort, and has multiple broken bones, severe chest trauma, and severe head trauma with his skull fractured in multiple places. He is in critical condition, and we have been told that he may not wake up, even if he makes it.
Eric is an Orientation & Mobility instructor, who teaches blind people how to navigate with a white cane. He was on the road, as he is nearly every day, to go to an appointment with a client.
Eric was air-lifted to the Syracuse hospital, where he underwent surgery to put his skull back together, as well as other bone repair. If he does eventually awaken, he will have a long, long road ahead of him. This does not look good.
Please offer your prayers for Eric, and for Laura, his girlfriend (who is visually impaired). |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Jo |
Posted - June 04 2009 : 03:25:14 AM
Joyce,
My prayers and most sincerest sympathies/thoughts go to Eric's family, and to you, and his co-workers. What a horrible loss to deal with.
Again, my prayers and good wishes for peaceful thoughts.
And a good heads up for the living will, and the directive hospitals want you to have.
Be well,
Jo |
| caitlin |
Posted - June 02 2009 : 1:21:02 PM
I am so sorry to hear of this, WW.
So sad when it may have been a better outcome with just a seatbelt. I learned my lesson years ago when someone pulled out in front of me and I ended up in ICU for two days. Ever since then, I have been adamant about buckling in. My thoughts and prayers to you and his family. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 31 2009 : 5:30:05 PM
Thanks, Rich.
I just happened to remember that I have had a photo of Eric doing his job on the home page of my agency's website for several years now. It's not a very clear picture of his face, but this is what Eric loved to do. He's in the center. www.avreus.org |
| richfed |
Posted - May 31 2009 : 1:45:40 PM
Dearest Joyce ...
My heart goes out to you, my friend, on the loss of one of yours.
R |
| Obediah |
Posted - May 29 2009 : 2:43:26 PM
My Mother-In-Law had a Living Will in place ... when the time came, it made it much easier on her daughters. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 29 2009 : 12:31:28 PM
Thank you to you all for your kind words of comfort. Yesterday was a pretty awful day around this agency. We are still struggling to deal with it all, but the mood is somewhat better today. We will be having a grief counselor come here on Monday for those who feel the need.
I do have one more word of advice, as a result of this mess. And that is that every single one of us, regardless of our age or marital status, should have a signed Living Will and/or a Health Care Proxy.
Eric's fiancee, Laura, had no say in either his treatments or the decision to pull his plugs, even though she had been living with him for quite a few years and knew him better than anyone else. How sad that the one person who had shared Eric's life on the most intimate basis had to be excluded because of the lack of legal papers of one sort or another.
I will be filling mine out immediately, so that my young adult children will not be put in the position of having to make those decisions for me. |
| SgtMunro |
Posted - May 29 2009 : 10:17:38 AM
Joyce, I am truly sorry to hear of your loss, and please pass on my condolences to his friends and family.
YMH&OS,
The Sarge |
| blackfootblood |
Posted - May 28 2009 : 12:19:32 PM
Sorry to hear this unfortunate outcome. My thoughts are with Eric's family and also you. Take care of yourself. |
| Obediah |
Posted - May 28 2009 : 11:47:59 AM
Oh Joyce, I'm so sorry...
It is impossible that anything so natural, so necessary, and so universal as death, should ever have been designed by Providence as an evil to mankind.~~Jonathan Swift |
| Seamus |
Posted - May 28 2009 : 10:00:45 AM
Very sorry to hear this, Joyce......my condolences and prayers to his family and all his co-workers. |
| Kay |
Posted - May 28 2009 : 10:00:17 AM
I offer you my deepest sympathies WW. Eric,Laura,and his family will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.
Kay |
| Monadnock Guide |
Posted - May 28 2009 : 09:23:05 AM
Certainly bad news indeed Joyce, - sorry to hear it. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 28 2009 : 08:35:27 AM
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I sign on this morning to tell you all that my co-worker and friend, Eric Bohn, passed away this morning at 6:55 AM. He was 40 years old.
Several days ago, his neurological team told his family that the left side of his brain had no activity whatsoever, and they felt that Eric would never come out of the coma. Eric's sister and only living blood relative signed a DNR form and life support was removed.
So now, it is over.
Eric was heavily on my thoughts last night and this morning as I prepared to come to work. Upon my arrival, I was greeted with the news.
In thinking about Eric, I have realized that Eric always had a rather "Devil-May-Care" attitude about life. Many times, he would dismiss issues with a careless shrug of his shoulders. I fear that this attitude he had, which extended as far as never wearing his seatbelt, has caused him to pay the ultimate and final price. And that makes me very sad. If he had been wearing it, he would be alive right now. Smashed up a bit... but alive and with his brain in tact.
We will all miss Eric, and eventually the pain will heal and fade. It is my hope that this lesson will strengthen the resolve of all our employees who are on the road visiting clients every day to always buckle their seatbelts. It could save their lives. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 7:01:01 PM
Thanks to all of you, again, for your prayers and well-wishes.
Yes, Obi and Sarge, miracles can and do happen. I fully believe that.
Years ago, when I was a hairdresser, I had a customer whose daughter was in a serious automobile accident. This was before the days when seat belts were required, if I recall correctly. It was back in the mid 70s. The young woman was thrown from the car and suffered a severe head injury. It was very touch and go, and she was in a coma for something like 3 months. Finally, she did wake up and began her miraculous recovery. She learned to walk and talk again. She was left with a mild limp and a mild speech slur, but she became a functioning adult once again. Truly a miracle.
I hope and pray that this will happen for Eric. |
| blackfootblood |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 1:22:08 PM
Continued thoughts and prayers coming his way!  |
| Obediah |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 12:11:12 PM
All is not lost.
We know of a young man named Jarred, who, almost exactly one year ago, was involved in a head-on collision in the early dark hours of the morning, coming home from his sober grad celebration; he was totally exhausted ONLY. He had major major injuries: head trauma, etc. He was supposed to die; he didn't. He was not supposed to wake up; he did. He was supposed to be a vegetable the rest of his life; he isn't!
He's able to walk over 1000 steps now, with his walker; he improves every day. He sometimes gets angry and frustrated because he realizes what he has lost. It's a long and hard road but he's getting there, one step at a time. His mom, Tracie, is a single mom, who fortunately, has a deep faith, which gets her through the really rough spots (of which there are way too many). Thankfully he also has an older and a younger brother who are big helps and many friends who do a lot.
We learned of Jarred because he was a good friend of another great young man, Danny, who passed away last year of brain cancer at age 17. The fun just never stops... |
| SgtMunro |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 11:20:30 AM
Joyce, I wish I could offer words of encouragement to help ease your soul, and Eric's condition, but unfortunately it sounds like he (and all of his family, friends and coworkers as well) has an arduous trek ahead. I have seen accidents like his too many times over the years, so your polite description was more than enough to paint the real picture in my mind's eye. I will continue to pray for his recovery, and although I know that it will not be quick or easy, I have a feeling that he does not give-up easily and therefore no one else should either.
YMH&OS,
The Sarge |
| Monadnock Guide |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 10:52:06 AM
What a tragedy, - sounds as though even IF he recovers, he'll never be the same. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 12 2009 : 09:47:45 AM
The police report is in on the cause of the accident. It is not good.
Eric was traveling on a 2-lane highway and failed to negotiate a curve. He may have been going too fast, or he may have been distracted by something. He tried to correct, but over corrected and spun out of control and into the oncoming lane.
Now, here is the important thing, and I have harped on this all of my adult life! Eric was not wearing his seatbelt, and he was ejected through the passenger side windshield. How horribly stupid and how horribly sad. If he had been wearing it, his airbag would have been able to do its job and possibly save his head from severe injury. The outcome could have been far, far different.
Eric has apparently not fully awakened yet, but is still quite responsive. He squeezes hands and becomes more agitated when someone comes into his room. He cannot open his eyes because his face is so badly injured and swollen. He cannot attempt to talk because of the tubes down his throat.
One of my co-workers went to Syracuse to visit Eric over the weekend, and was very shaken at the sight of him. He is.... unrecognizable.
For the thousandth time in my life, I will say it again: Wear Your Seatbelt!! Seatbelts Save Lives!! |
| Kaylynn44 |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 6:35:17 PM
WW,
Eric is in my prayers!!! It is good that their is some response. I am also glad that the other person wasn't hurt. Alot of times, that isn't the case. Please keep us updated!!!
Love,
Kay |
| winglo |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 5:09:59 PM
The update is sure a little hopeful. May God continue to watch over him. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 12:27:17 PM
We have an update on Eric this morning, and things are looking more positive.
Eric is responding. His pupils are doing what they should be, he is moving his head, arms and his toes. He has been in traction, due to 2 broken legs, so he can't move his legs. There is a spinal injury, but the fact that he is wiggling his toes is a good sign.
He has been taken off of sedation so that he can awaken when he is able/ready. His neurological team is still monitoring bleeding on his brain, but they say that the brain swelling seems to be miminal.
This afternoon, they are doing surgery to set his right femur. On Monday, they plan to do surgery to repair and set the broken bones in his face.
It remains to be seen, of course, if he will have any permanent brain damage. But, he will undoubtedly have a very long and painful recovery period, with lots of rehab therapy.
The news said that police have determined that Eric lost control of his car on a 2-lane road. He collided with a small pickup, driven by a 70-year old man. Fortunately, that man was treated and released. We don't know what happened to make him lose control, and may never know. I'm sure that he won't remember. I only hope it wasn't that he was texting or dialing his cell.
Thanks, all, for your prayers. Please continue, because Eric is not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. |
| Little Lady of Fire |
Posted - May 07 2009 : 8:39:32 PM
Added to my list of prayers. Keep us updated. |
| Seamus |
Posted - May 07 2009 : 6:46:17 PM
Done, WW. Good luck to him........... |
| Obediah |
Posted - May 07 2009 : 12:29:39 PM
It doesn't just happen to "the other guy"... |
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