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Support for Dusty and Erin Gillette

On Thursday August 8th 2019, Erin and Dusty Gillette where driving in Circleville on 188 when what can only be described as a freak accident. Lighting struck a tree and it fell on their car. Dusty was pinned in the SUV and firefighters on the scene needed chainsaws to access him.  Due to the way the tree fell, his side of the car collapsed in but there was a little pocket around Erin. The firefighter that came to the car first climbed in with Dusty to continue pushing his seat down to improve his breathing. They were able to reach Dusty after about an hour of work, he was Life flighted to Grant hospital in Columbus Ohio. Erin only received minor injuries, but the emotional toll this has taken on her is heavy.

Dusty had surgery to locate and stop his internal bleeding. Due to being pressed under the roof of the car and tree part of his intestines were damaged and causing the bleeding. They removed the damaged section. They have his surgical opening still open. There is a bandage/device that is pumping out any blood that is still in his abdomen. We are waiting for an OR to open up for surgery to reattach his intestines that are still healthy.
update:
After additional blood transfusions late last night Dusty’s blood pressure is stable. The surgical team is delaying any invasive procedures until tomorrow to give his body a chance to rest. With having his blood pressure stable they have also been able to get his pain management onto a schedule. He still has a long  way to go today to get to the point they can move onto any procedures but he’s in better shape than yesterday.
If you’re praying these are the more specific requests:
1) continued improvement to kidney function so the fluid moves out
2) improvement to lung function so he’s breathing independently after surgery (they’re not removing breathing assistance at this time due to the type of pain meds he is receiving)
3) pain management remains effective

Update:
Dusty is out of surgery. They were able to reconnect his intestines and make the closure. He has a couple drains in his abdomen. They are going to start moving towards removing the breathing tube. He needs to be more coherent so that they can do so. So that’s the goal for the rest of today is to get the vent out. When they were in there they found some very minor damage to his pancreas that wasn’t immediately evident. It’s not bleeding but it’s leaking a small amount of enzymes into his abdomen (hence the drains). They’re going to closely monitor the drains and his blood sugar to make sure that’s healing up properly.
Thank you for your continued prayer and support. Still a long way to go but he’s moving in a good direction.


Erin and Dusty are going to have a very long road to recovery, and the financial burden is already rearing its ugly face. 
They will need assistance with medical bills, car replacement , loss of wages, childcare, meals, gas expenses for Erin while commuting to and from the hospital. 

once they make their way home we will update with a meal train to provide dinners
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  • Anonymous
    • $114 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer

Samantha Brown
Organizer
Reynoldsburg, OH

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