We Love Gary Ottens

On Monday, January 15th at about 6pm, Gary was in a very serious motorcycle accident. Both of his lungs collapsed, almost all his ribs were broken, his left tibia was broken, his spleen was removed because it was completely crushed, one of his kidneys was damaged, he had a moderate concussion and a small brain hemorrhage. He was operated on immediately to remove the spleen, and a few days later his leg was operated on. Because of the damage to his ribs and lungs, when he arrived in the ICU he was immediately put on a breathing machine that was doing 100% of his breathing. Because of all this, Gary was in an induced coma for about 6 days. It is now day 8 and Gary has been slowly making improvement. He is slowly being woken from the coma and breathing more on his own, and getting stronger. We are hoping that by the end of week two he will be able to fully breathe on his own to avoid further complications. Though there is no known brain damage, we are waiting for him to be awake so that the neurosurgeon can asses his brain further.



At this time, we first and foremost ask for your prayers for Gary’s complete recovery, both in body and in spirit. This is our main hope, Jesus, because so much of this life is out of our control and we can only put our hope in Him to bring good out of bad, and healing where there is brokenness. We would also ask for prayer for family members and close friends, as this is a very trying time for us, and could use as much strength and wisdom as possible. 


We are also taking donations to support Gary’s medical bills and to help get him back on his feet when he has recovered. This will be no small task, and his recovery will be long and hard during which time he will not be able to work. Any donations are appreciated! 


I want to thank everyone who has reached out to us in support of Gary, it feels like friends have been coming out of the woodwork to show they care for him, and that really means so much. If you’ve been lucky enough to be friends with my brother Gary and his fiery red hair, you’ll know how special he is. 


Thank you, 

Emily