Broken Neck and 5 year old Twins!

On Thursday, June 8th, my dear husband Brad M Eplee was enjoying the first day we were finally able to allow our children to play in the pool (due to the obtuse weather this year), when in the blink of an eye, the paths of both our lives where drastically veered off course. Brad has suffered an accident resulting in a severe and incomprehensibly dangerous broken neck.

Specifically, he has what is known as a closed C5 fracture (in 3 places), C5-C6 cervical disk displacement, paravertebral hematoma (bruised spinal cord) and a number of staples in his head. This is an injury strikingly similar to the injury suffered by persons such as Christopher Reeves, noted in order to put the danger in perspective. As of now, Brad has no deficits, meaning this did not result in paralysis for him and this is, in and of itself, a miracle. Seriously… they were calling him the “miracle man” on the Neurology wing. The fact that he had severe arthritis in his neck (unbeknownst to us) and that there was so much buildup of material, blatantly saved his limb, if not life. Nonetheless, he was approved as safe in his support collars and able to come home yesterday. BUT…We have to be very careful for the next 3-6 months while he navigates this brutal recovery.
We are in urgent need of funds to cover living expenses, monthly bills, uncovered medical expenses, resources child / in-home care) and loss of income, which will help keep Brad strong while he goes through this brutual recovery ahead of him.

Every effort must be made to assure that this all goes smoothly. One slightest wrong move, one false slip and they said it is like a light switch. He will be in a chair on a ventilator and feeding tube for the rest of his life…. it is absolutely and literally that close. The neuro-ICU trauma doc even used the phrase “I can’t stress this enough.”

I have been running like a mad man to try to find any services I can, but there really isn’t anything available for us other than what I have already set up since the accident (standard non cash relief). I’m running out of money, running out of energy and running out of time. Any help any of you could offer to us would be so very much appreciated!!

Thank you for listening to our story. God Bless!

The Incident.. How did this happen?
I sat in our gazebo and watched my family frolic in the water, unable to join them due to a long battle with my health and not wanting to allow the heat to agitate my condition, from which I was finally recovering. It was a beautiful day. Brad went to the side of the pool as he talked and laughed with our 5 year old twins, and then he dove in.

(the below is just a pic of the pool, not the accident, I have had a lot of questions about the pool itself)
As he surface from the water groaning an awful sound and crying out in sheer pain.. I knew immediately something was wrong. He swam awkwardly, half floating, over to the side of the pool, where I now was. I saw the blood now starting to pour down his forehead. At first, I assumed naively that he was sobbing in agony and half-conscious due to a split head. However he was able to tell me it was his neck. When EMTs arrived, they could assess right away he was in trouble.

I was able to get the kids to go into the house (for our twins, this is amazing), He sat with his head down on the side of the shallow end of the pool sobbing and still very much so struggling with lucidity, even after about 2-3 minutes. I sincerely don’t know how I got him out of the pool. Apparently I ate my Wheaties that morning or something… He sat on his knees by the side of the pool for another few seconds still unable to really lift his head. We got him standing and walked carefully to a deck chair where we sat him leaning back in it.

I ran to the freezer to grab ice or something cold to put on his neck and head. I have no idea why, but something told me to grab frozen corn. I was told later this was a pivotal split second decision apparently. Please remember this if you ever see anyone hurt their neck. Corn or peas do not press against the spine yet provide cold to stave off swelling. If I had used Ice, as I was after originally.. I could have paralyzed him. I put pressure on top of his head to try to stop the bleeding. By this time, Brad’s father arrived and EMT’s shortly thereafter.

Everything happened in such a way that completely saved his life. If any moment of it had gone differently, given the nature of his injury, this could be a completely different story. God is good! Now we just have about 6 months of egg shells to go. One day at a time. But he’s alive, and he can walk! God is Good!