Help Éder's Ride to Recovery

Hey guys! I'm setting this gofundme up for Brandi, as her husband Éder was injured Friday night. As we all know this family is not one to ask for help, but instead give help to those who need. There's a lot of unknown right now, how long he will be in the hospital, how long it will take to recover, and so much more. Right now prayers are being asked, and if able to donate to help would be more appreciated than you would know. One thing we do know is he has the best wife, and nurse advocating for all his needs! Funds will be used for medical expenses, travel expenses, and much more! A few updates listed below taken from Brandi's facebook.

During a PBR Challenger Event at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus Ohio on Friday night; Éder was thrown from a bull. He unfortunately landed underneath the bulls back feet resulting in a career ending & life threatening injury. The weight of the animal crushed & displaced Éder’s Sternum & partially severed the main aortic artery in his heart. He was promptly transported to the closest Level 1 Trauma center where he underwent emergency surgery to repair the tear in his heart. Surgery was long yet successful. He was moved during the early hours of this morning into the Trauma ICU for critical care monitoring. Once stable; the trauma surgeon team will reassess his fractures & chest trauma.

He is awake, Alert & talking. He is uncomfortable & in a lot of pain with the fractures & surgical site. We are requesting no visitors at this time outside of his family. We will welcome you all to the farm once he returns home to Pa.

He has a very long road of healing ahead of him. Not only physically but mentally. If anyone knows Eder; we know how unbelievably strong & driven he is. We appreciate any good thoughts, healing vibes & prayers sent to Eder & his entire family. They have all traveled into Columbus to be with him at his bedside.

Thank you to all of those who have text, called, or offered their help with our farm, kids, food, or in any other way! Éder is very much loved & it shows in your outpouring of love & support you are sending our way. We love our rodeo family & thank you all for your prayers! They have definitely been heard & felt by all of us.

Eder is out of heart surgery & is resting uncomfortably in the ICU. This was only 1 of possibly multiple surgeries. He may need bilateral chest tubes for his collapsed lungs. He also has many chest fractures including a completely displaced sternum. His aorta is also causing his blood to flow backwards into the back of his brain & he could potentially have nerve damage or complete loss of his left arm. The doctor told me it he rides another bull he will die bc of all of the mesh etc they put into is heart.

Sunday Update #2

I got his pain meds/schedule/route & dose all changed. He said he’s already feeling better!

Repeat chest X-ray showing stable pneumothorax but his bases are now filled w atelectisis. So a worse X-ray than post op. He also spiked another fever this afternoon. So nowwww they just told me they are sending him for a repeat CT chest scan.

They showed me the films. Y’all. How this man is alive!???? His sternum is in 3 separate pieces. The middle section is completely crushed. I kinda ginger snapped a little bit ago like OK WHATS THE PLAN NEXT!? Finally! They send a NP from their service down to to talk to me. Of course the doc isn’t here on the weekends. He will come & meet w us tomorrow.

Basically they are telling me that they are too afraid to do the sternum surgery. He has a large hematoma on his heart; & a lot of lung damage so obviously directly behind where they would operate. Being that the sternum is soooo unstable that’s a GIANT & non emergent risk to take. I feel better now knowing that there was a good reason that no one has done the surgery. They actually are hoping that the body will start healing itself & calcium calus will develop on the bone & it start to stabilize itself.

So to sum it up; does he need surgery!? Yes. Are they doing it right now; no. The risk is way to high. He can have it done in a few weeks after a out patient repeat chest CT to see if his body is doing a good enough job on its own or they have to go into stabilize his chest. I am now working with all 3 teams (Cardiac/Vascular/Trauma) to transfer everything over to UPMC Presby.

While I am grateful & very happy with the care he has received here; making a 4 hour trip once per week isnt in our best interest.

They are again holding off on the chest tube for right now. They keep going back & forth. One team wants it. The trauma team says no.

They actually want to get him to sit upright. Now that we have a better game plan w pain management; I know he will be anxious to get out of bed once his pain is under control.

Unfortunately he is going to be off of work for a while. He can not lift more then 10lbs w his incision until healed. They told me he’s so muscular that he not only stitched him but had to put 15 staples in to close him back up bc he had nothing to pull or grab onto close. This is going to be very hard for us with him completely out of commission; but I believe through love & Gods guidance we will get through it. He can’t bull ride. He can’t break horses & he works to build houses & cant climb anything or lift more than 10lbs & has an unstable fracture.

He’s not a man to sit around & be still. I’m worried about him mentally also. I can’t imagine how hard this is on him.

Right now the game plan is: simply just pain control. Then see if we can get him up & hopefully the oxygen demand will decrease w increased lung expansion. Trying to update everyone the best I can. We had a lot going on this morning. Our phones have been non stop. It’s just easier to post here than to individually message. But don’t think we don’t appreciate the love & prayers you are sending us. We will still be here at least today & tomorrow as the best case scenario. Then transfer to Pittsburgh hopefully.

Hopefully he can get out of bed & his body will start to heal his lungs. That’s most likely it for today. His family is on their way into visit him so hopefully that helps & then he definitely needs his rest. #keeppraying

As you can see, he has a long road to recovery and any donations, shares, and prayers are well recieved and so much appreciated! ❤️