Brien

Dear Family and Friends,

It pains my whole entire being to announce to you all that my brother, Brien, is currently in critical condition after overdosing. 

He was admitted to Southern NH Medical Center in Nashua, NH on Sunday, August 16th, sometime in the late evening. He was found unresponsive and in a state of cardiac arrest with no life left in his body. EMTs arived and didn't give up on him for 45 whole minutes! They intubated him and gave him CPR and brought him back!

They brought him back to me, to his two daughters, to his two remaining sisters (Linda & Leslie) and to you, his friends! Lisa died tragically in a car accident and Laura died of cancer. Our mother had emphazima and died of a heart attack. My father has had a stroke and isn't in contact with us. Brien's father has lost contact with us as well.

Brien has struggled all of his life with drugs. He's also  been incarcerated many times. His current life situation might have had him in a hopeless state of mind. I do not know where he was staying or who he was staying with. I do not know who gave him or sold him the drugs. My own words might have contributed to his sense of hopelessness. I'm distraught and so far away from him right now. I need to be with him!

Once at the hospital, he was given therapeutic hypothermia to reduce the risk of additional brain damage and has now been brought back up to normal body temperature. He has been having seizures, but that now seems to be under control. He is on life support while he's currently asleep. He is not in a coma. At the moment, it is my understanding that he's not dependant upon that machine to do his breathing for him, rather it is assisting him as his body tries to somewhat normalize. On top of that, he's on medications to stabalize his blood pressure and heartbeat and to stop the seizures as well as to ease the pain.  

Over the next few days, he'll be undergoing exams to check his brain activity as the meds do their thing. Initial EEG scan shows low activity, but that can be becuase of the seizure meds. They tried to reduce those meds, but his blood pressure spikes and his heartbeat increases. He coughs violently sometimes and has slight body movements, but the doctor is still unsure what all of this means. Time and more tests will tell us. I'm awaiting a call from the doctor.

He has a rough few days ahead of him. Will you stand with him? With me? With us as we go through this? We have hope! The future isn't guaranteed and all I have is now. I am dropping everything I am doing.

I am in Taiwan right now and desperately trying to get a flight. I called Delta Airlines, one of the few airlines left in the whole entire industry with bereavement flights, to see if they could offer a discounted fare. The price quoted was $2,155 USD when I called here in Taiwan and their cheapest price for the day was $1,694 USD. (I'm paying in TWD using a credit card). If I change the return date, I might have to pay a fare increase as well as a $100 fee for the change. They couldn't guarantee that they would waive the change of date fee and there might be a fare increase, too! Red Cross only helps active US military or retired US military, of which I am neither. A sad state of affairs the US is in at the moment. 

The amount we need is just a number I pulled out of my head. I think will help us get through the next few days. His medical bills will far exceed that ten fold or more. He doesn't have insurance and Barry Soetorro's non-caring program most likely won't even cover the cost of the gas it took the ambulance to take him to the hospital.

Brien needs you.

Semper Fidelis,
Carl

(Basil is my middle name and Hall was my mother's maiden name - thus Basil Hall on fb)