Update on Paul Monday 14, 2005

Newest Update-Paul is still in critical condition, and some new information has been brought to our attention. There is bleeding, enough to merit several transfusions, thus a full CAT scan is necessary to determine the origin of the bleeding. His right eye is responsive, (this is a good sign considering both eyes were completely unresponsive when Paul was first brought in) but his left eye is still unresponsive and completely dilated. Please continue to pray!
We had a scare Saturday evening when the doctors had to rush Paul in for an emergency CAT scan to determine whether he had a blood clot in his lung. If they had found a blood clot, this would have been life-threatening because blood thinners might have caused hemorrhaging, but leaving it could have caused heart failure. The doctors were concerned about the level of oxygen in Paul’s blood, which was low, and they were having trouble oxygenizing him. This of course would have been the worst case scenario, so the doctors checked for a clot first. By the grace of God the test came back negative. The doctors believe that the oxygen problem is a result of Paul’s damaged lung.


Paul was driving the speed limit down a narrow road with two lanes of traffic, one northbound, the other southbound. The speed limit on that road is 45mph, and that was the speed at which Paul was traveling. He and my brother Mike were going to the store, and Paul decided to make a phone call to his friend. He looked down for a brief second to dial the number, and his front passenger side tire gripped the edge of the road. The shoulder of the road is downward sloping and it is at a sharp angle. This pulled the car from the road at a little bit faster than normal rate. Paul became startled and pulled the car back onto the road, but with more force than what was necessary. His car swerved into the oncoming lane of traffic, and Paul over-corrected which put his car into a side-ways slide. He left the road and the driver-side door hit an oak tree at circa 40mph. The impact was a direct hit with the driver-side door, and almost perfectly aligned with Paul's body. The car hit the tree and rolled up it a little bit causing the roof of the car to cave in significantly. The damage done to the passenger side was minimal, but on Paul's side, the damage was immense. Paul's head hit the window, and roof simultaneously as the widow was shattering, and the roof was caving in. He sustained 5 fractures to the face, A depression in the skull, fractures to the spine, near the neck, a punctured, and collapse lung, broken ribs, and severe bruising all up and down his body.
Mike, who was very distraught, looked over at Paul, only to see his brother bleeding very profusely from the ears and nose, essentially, he saw Paul hemorrhaging. He called 911 immediately, but only to find that the call was not answered, so again he tried, and the same results were met. He had the presence of mind to call my mother, and asked for her to start praying. He then called me, and told me to do the same, and he called everyone who he could ask for prayers. Someone else came to the scene and was able to reach the paramedics, who were immediately sent to his aide. This entire time, Mike never once stopped calling people to pray. Paul was rushed to the hospital, and has been unconscious and "unresponsive" ever since, in a coma. He is heavily sedated so that his body cannot function on its own, so he is on a breathing machine. The doctor's have placed Paul in intensive care in the neuroscience wing of the hospital, where he will be for the duration of the week. He is in critical condition and has not changed much since.