I sat down at the computer last night, thought I'd check facebook, blogger, whatever. One of the first things I saw was a friends' status on FB asking people to pray for her brother as he was in the hospital with serious burns. My mind was a little slow, going through the whole 'who's her other brother? Wait, there's only the two of them. No, is it? Well, shit' scenario. It's actually Ashley's ex boyfriend. We knew him pretty well; she was still living with us when they started dating. Besides, as close as she and I are, when you get to know one sibling you get to know the other. He was a great guy, maybe not right for her for the long haul, but a wonderful man. He moved out of the area a couple of years ago, but he swings by to see us when he's in town.
L was working last night, he and three other guys, in some remote area when either the wood chipper or the welder they were working with exploded. They were apparently tough to get to, but 4 helicopters landed and airlifted them to the hospital. The news blurb I saw said they all had 3rd degree burns over 90% of their bodies. I don't know if that's the case with all of them, but L's sister has posted regular status updates telling us of his condition. Ashley has also been in regular contact with her, getting what information she can.
Right now he's in stable condition and doing as well as a body could, considering. The first 48-72 hours are the most critical as they watch for organs shutting down. His are apparently doing really well. He has 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 94% of his body. The only thing not burned are his feet so they are taking skin from them for grafts. I know absolutely nothing about skin grafts, but they say they won't be ready for 2-3 weeks. He's going to be wrapped until then. Honestly I know nothing about burns in general so I don't know what is good news and what is not. I do know that the thought of these four men going through this makes me sick, and the thought that one of them is L makes me cry.
I keep praying and sending out healing thoughts and thoughts of courage. I know if he pulls through he's going to need courage and strength. Actually, he'll need both of those to even have a fighting chance. It makes me think about the vagaries of life and the fragility of time. To me, time always seems so solid, yet it's really just a concept, a matter of perspective. It makes me think about why? Why that day, that situation? Is it fate? Is this part of their souls purpose? What is in store for them now? As usual, though, it always gets back to me...What if something like this happened to my husband? Or, for that matter, to me. I pray that it doesn't, that we both die of old age a million years from now. Still, this situation makes one pay a bit more attention to mortality.
3 comments:
Amen, Whitney. There but for the grace of God... And nobody knows what is in store for us. We humans sure are hardy souls, and I pray L will pull through this. You are a very compassionate person and I feel your pain for him.
My heart and prayers to that poor man. Burns are so awful. Just send him you love and energy, Whitney, sometimes that's all we can do.
yes, burns are terrible. My heart goes out to anyone suffering them right now, especially your friend, L. Please God he makes a good recovery, but it will be a slow one. Burns take a long time and they are painful. I burnt my hand while I was in Tennessee and it took weeks to heal. Now I have a scar, which will last for ages. Compared to what those men are going through, that is nothing, but it does bring you up short when you hurt yourself and you realise how much we take our health for granted.
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