​Update from the family:

Gabriel has made it to the end of the first harrowing week. He had 5 surgeries in 6 days. It has been grueling. He handled each surgery well and he’s put back together the best he can be. Monday: Surgery 1 was almost immediately upon arrival. The only focus was to stop the bleeding, save his life, and place a temporary rod to stabilize the broken femur. He required a ton of blood and blood products!! THANK YOU to all those out there who donate blood and blood products. YOU are a critical part of his survival story! He was in surgery till late that night. His vitals were a mess, but he HAD vitals. There is never any way to prepare yourself as a parent to walk in and see your baby, regardless of age and amount of facial hair, intubated and being kept alive by machines. It breaks you. Tuesday: Surgery 2 was the next morning at 8:00 am. That one fixed his broken ankle with a plate and pins, fixed his broken Ulna with a wire, more work on his lost leg, checked the temporary rod in his broken femur, and cleaned out the most severe road rash areas. He received several more units of blood/blood products. Wednesday: “Rest day” but only from surgery. It was not restful. Thursday: Surgery 3 was the final revision on his lost leg. It included placing the permanent rod to stabilize the broken femur, removal of the remaining knee area, and removal of a portion of the lower femur. Femur injuries are excruciating! Brutal day. More units of blood/blood products. Friday: Surgery 4 was spinal fracture repair day. This one was scary because spinal cord injuries are scary. Miraculously he only had a single vertebrae fractured and the two halves stayed perfectly aligned. The skin right over his spine was free of road rash due to the muscle he had built up in his back that created protection around the spine. This drastically reduces the chance of infection at the repair site. The surgeon was able to fuse the fracture and all the bones needed to hold the screws were healthy and strong. This was the least painful of all the surgeries. He was finally able to sit up, but only a few minutes since his head being higher than the lost leg made it hurt like crazy. Saturday: Surgery 5 for closing the lost leg. It was moved up by a couple days. The internal tissues were in good shape and healthy. We hadn’t thought about the skin on that leg being covered in road rash, but it was. Luckily they were able to close up the end of the leg with the remaining skin despite the road rash. There is still an area of skin that could go either way so we’re praying it will go ahead and heal healthy.They had to do more work on the femur making all that pain roar back to life. The surgeon explained after the surgery, that the muscle tissue no longer needed to control the knee is used to cover and create a cushion at the end of the bone for a better outcome accommodating prosthetics. Our Gabriel did not skip leg day at the gym and had LOTS of good healthy usable muscle to cushion the bottom of that femur! He has been downgraded from critical condition and graduated from ICU! He will be moved to a new unit when a bed opens up. Day 7: Now he begins a different kind of hard work. Physical Therapy and the long road to recovery starts in the morning. We have no words to express the depths of our gratitude for the love, prayers, and overwhelming generosity for our Gabriel!! We are in tears regularly overwhelmed by the outpouring of your love. Thank you is so inadequate. Your love has been a soothing balm for our weary souls and broken hearts.

Thank you. ❤️