Keith West Recovery Support
My father, Keith West, is the strongest man I know. He’s lived a life full of adventure and these adventures have taken him around the world numerous times. After living in Australia for nearly two decades, my dad returned to the US where he met my mother and within a few years they had me and my younger brother Luke.
Growing up the son of a teacher was a lesson in itself and every moment with my Dad has always been a “teaching moment.” He taught me to seek answers and knowledge and to find my passions and seek thrill. He taught me to ski at the age of 3, had me slalom waterskiing by 10, drove me around to countless tournaments for various sports over the years and inspired me to see the world in a different way. There aren’t too many people in small rural towns that have so many experiences and stories from around the world and growing up hearing these stories opened my eyes and mind to a world beyond our small town. He was the first person to teach me and pass down books about yoga, meditation and spirituality - something that has had a profound impact on my life. He taught me to respect and be one with nature, inspired my love for the mountains and being on the water. His artistry and craft with his woodworking inspired me to find my creative outlet and to find my voice through music. It’s truly incredible how many things this man has inspired in my life and I owe him all the love and gratitude within me. For these reasons and for so many more, I want my Dad to stick around and to be able to be a grandfather to my children in the future and to have a long life ahead with us.
This past Friday everything almost changed. My Dad was in a terrible head on collision while driving his truck just outside Burlington, VT. He was rushed to UVM Medical where he underwent an initial emergency surgery to try to stop his internal bleeding and was intubated and put on a ventilator to keep him alive. He suffered multiple internal injuries including a severed tract from his left kidney, a puncture to his bladder, hernia, both lungs collapsed, fractured ribs on both sides, fractured sacrum and coccyx, calcaneal fracture and large open wound on his right foot and lots of bruising. By some miracle the incredible team at UVM was able to stabilize him enough the first night to keep him alive. He continued losing a lot of blood for the first 24hrs after the accident and had to receive a lot of units of blood. Sunday he was brought in for another emergency surgery, this time to try to save his kidney and bladder, which they surgical team was thankfully able to do! He had part of his intestine and colon removed to stop the bleeding and received a temporary colostomy to allow for his system to heal and if all goes according to plan this will be able to be reversed so he can get back to enjoying his daily bike rides and winters of skiing once again down the road in good time. After a day of recovering from this surgery my Dad was able to maintain stable vitals and they were able to wake him up from his coma and take him off the ventilator. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it was to see him wake up and hear him speak again - something I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to do just a day or two before. It’s been the most incredible thing talking with my Dad again.
Here’s where we’re at now. As I write this, my Dad is undergoing his third surgery in 5 days - this one to repair his sacrum and coccyx which were fractured on impact. This will put screws into his back to help support him so his bones can heal with time. The biggest concerns right now are the risks of infection, pneumonia and of course hoping that all these injuries are able to heal properly. We’re so thankful that his head and brain are injury free, as well as his heart. The miraculous strides he’s made thus far are a testament to the amazing shape he keeps his body in and an inspiration to us all to eat healthy, get tons of exercise and keep your body in as good of shape as possible. The doctors and nurses are stunned by his strength, resolve and progress. We’ve been getting a lot of good news but we must also remember not to get ahead of ourselves. Keith still has a long road ahead - one that will take months of hard work, resolve and patience.
The Road Ahead -
This is still so very fresh and new and we still have so many question marks on what this whole thing will look like moving forward for my Dad and our family. We don’t know how long he will remain in the hospital and right now things are still moment to moment and we are just taking things one at a time, right now hoping for a good surgery result today. We know this will take months if not longer - months of rehab, PT, overcoming mental health obstacles, months of Keith not being able to work or create income for himself as he is self employed, months of in-house care - and this is all assuming things keep going as well as they currently are. Unfortunately with all these things comes cost. On top of all the current and upcoming medical costs there will be a lot of added living expenses, financial difficulty without his ability to work, replacing his truck and many other expenses that we probably haven’t even thought about yet. We’ve received a tremendous outpouring of love and support both on social media and other avenues and we are so incredibly grateful for it. My dad couldn’t believe it when I read him messages and showed him the support he was receiving and he’s so grateful to be loved by so many people. In these messages we’ve been asked by numerous people how to send financial support to help him out during this time and that prompted us to decide to start this fund on his behalf. For those of you who know Keith you know he’s the first to answer the call when help is needed, to volunteer his time and knowledge to help others whenever he can and to listen and offer support to those in need. He’s a helper, a healer and a lover. Now is our time to help him when he most needs it. If you’re interested and able to donate, anything at all will help and be so incredibly appreciated.
Thank you in advance and I know he will personally thank each and every one of you as soon as he’s able.
With all our love and gratitude,
Joshua West, Luke West, Julie West and of course, Keith West
