Please read, and pray for my friend...

[TDM]

Okay, I know that there should be no religion in these forums, but if there are any religious people here, pray for my friend's predicament. If you are not religious, then just hope that he gets better from this. From what, you ask? I will tell you:

My friend broke his first vertebrae, broke the second one even worse, and shattered his 7th vertebrae. There is a good chance that he may be paralyzed from there down forever. He is 15 and will be a sophomore in high school this coming year. He was a star football player and wrestled wonderfully at the 275 pound weight class. All of this happened at a religious retreat that we had both gone to along with about 20 of our other friends. He went down the water slide there, but he was going so fast, that he collided into the wall or the floor (I've heard both ways, as I was inside at the time) and broke his neck. He was taken to the nearest hospital 6 miles away from the retreat center, and then was lifeflighted about 120 miles into a very good hospital. They sedated him, and he's slept most of the time. When he awoke after they took X-rays and MRIs and such, he couldn't talk because of the swelling in his neck. However, he could use a pen, and he wrote a message to everyone back at the camp, telling us not to worry. But how could we not? He is one of my dearest friends, and those are so hard to come by. He acts like Jesus himself would have acted at the age of 15. His faith is so deep, and I hope it will be enough to bring him through it, but they are now wondering if he will even have full use of both his arms. One can only hope and pray.

The shattered remants of the 7th vertebrae were lodged into his spinal cord, contributing to the paralysis.

Right now as I type this, tears are welling up in my eyes that one of my best friends, who loved sports and athletics, who always gave of himself so fully to others, who was always there for me...he may never walk again...ever... It is with this that I wish you to pray for him. You do not need to know his name, because I feel you do not need to know a person's name to pray for them. Or just hoping that he gets better, if you're not religious. But all the same, prayers have never hurt anything...they can only help. So, please, I want him to pull through this so much...


TheDragonMaster

[choki]

Judging from what you told us about him trying to act Jesus...I believe he is trying to get you all calm...so trust him...if he can said that kind of word...he is going to recover with his will.

Do support him...
I belong to no religion so...there is nothing I could pray to but I hope he will get well and live his life to the fullest regardless of the outcomes

[Groo]

i am really sorry to hear this TDM. i am not a religious person as well, but i can always hope, and hope is what i'll do for your friend that everything will work out fine.

i agree with choki that if he has the will to recover, then he has a very good chance of being allright once more as sheer will has accomplished miracles before.

[pallas artemis]

I will pray for you both. My family has seen its share of miraculous healings so don't give up on your faith. It can pull you through

[harrylover]

I really really hope that he is going to be better and that he will go through all this.

Be strong for him. *hugs*

[TDM]

Thank you all for your support. He is going to have a 10 hour surgery on Monday, so pray (or hope) for him, that there are no complications.

[D.A. Member]

I'm really sorry to hear about your friend. I will definately pray for his recovery and overall health! It sounds like your friend is a very strong person, that's a good thing for recovery. I've heard about people that are told they will never walk again and then they do, so don't you give up hope and especially don't let him give up(not that it sounds like he would).

[Broccoli]

That's a terrible thing! I hope the operation goes well and he will get better!

[pinky p]

that really is awful. my prayers are with you and your friend. hopefully his determination and the will of god will lead him to a full recovery

[Jinxed Angie]

That's soo sad

I hope he he recovers soon, I'm not religious, but I belive in God and Jesus, and I will pray for your friends recovery. It will be horrible if your friend loses the power to walk at such an early age.
Keep us informed about your friends conditon.

Hope he gets well with all my heart.

[TDM]

Thank you for all your prayers and such. Update:

His surgery was a huge success. They now think that the damage was not nearly as extensive as they thought to begin with. The odds are still stacked against him, but now the stack against him isn't so high. He can now sit up 30 degrees, compared to the flatness he was forced into before. They aren't allowing visitors, because some flu has been going around the area, so no one can come in, which kinda sucks, but as long as he doesn't get sick, I'll go along with it. Well, that's really all I know as of now.

[TDM]

Sorry for the double post, a mod can merge the posts if they feel like it's needed.

Okay, has anyone here heard of Brad Vering? Most likely not, but I'll explain. He was a wrestler from a town near me and Tim, so we had heard of him a lot and he was an excellent wrestler. So good, in fact, that Vering is at this moment in Athens, Greece, preparing himself for the Olympics (wrestling hasn't started yet, so he's still preparing). Anyway, Vering heard about what happened to Tim, so he signed up a poster, and sent him a T-shirt with the promise of coming to see him after the Olympics were over. And that, my friends, to a high school wrestler, is a HUGE honor and reward, meeting an Olympic wrestler who has also placed 5th in the world at some meets. So, Tim has that coming for him when the Olympics are over. Anyway, that's my only update as of now, but Tim's got to be happy because he's recovering from his first surgery well, and Brad Vering is coming to see him!

[Reverie Revenge]

TDM, I'm very, very sorry for your friend's accident - he gotta be a strong person to act this way . Couldn't believe he still could smile and act cool His attitude will help for sure (he's a warrior, he won't give up, right?)

I wish him to get back his freedom to move!!!

[TDM]

Well, now he's in rehab, and emotionally he's doing great. However, he can only still have feeling halfway down his chest. And, it doesn't look like he's going to get any more, from the way it sounds.

However, he is not giving up, neither is his family, and neither will I. I will keep praying for him. I've been checking his website daily, and looking for any updates. I'll try to keep this thread up to speed, but it's kind of hard to.