Justin

While in Stanwood, I received a call from my sister in Kelowna. She started the conversation by saying, "Are you alone and sitting down?" followed by "Before I tell you this, I want you to know that everything is OK." Neither helped. I was in tears before she even finished the statement "Justin was in a motorcycle accident."

Justin was in a motorcycle accident in Langley on August 5. I don't really know what happened, because he doesn't remember anything, but he couldn't have been going too fast because

1. he was in a basketball jersey with a backpack on and he has hardly any road rash.
2. he's not dead

He was combative at the scene so the paramedics suspected a brain injury. Because of this he was airlifted to the #1 trauma unit at Royal Columbian in New Westminster. My parents were at the Royal Columbian being prepared for the worst. When Justin's CT Scan came back it showed only a minor bleed in his brain. My family visited Justin in ICU and he was kept there overnight. They extubated him in the wee hours of the morning as he was breathing fine on his own - it is my understanding that the intubation was mainly to keep his airway open.

He had surgery on the 6th for a broken left arm. He broke both his radius and his ulna clean in half, but aside from that he just hurt his foot. His whole body is obviously sore, but he is doing very well. Justin was transfered to a surgical floor post-operatively. He stayed in the hospital until Saturday and then Erik, Mom and I took him home.

(sorry for the massive amount of photos)

This was an article in some paper.

What my parents saw when they entered ICU. I have seen many people in this position, but they have always been strangers. It is much different when it is your family. This was almost deja vu of Jonathan's accident five years ago.

This broke my heart. Gentle Ben was very worried about Justin.

The x-ray of his left arm. Ouch. He doesn't even have a cast. It is just wrapped in a very thin gauze. Amazing.

Justin's transportation to the hospital. He likes to brag about his $5000 ride. What a turd.

Pumped to have peed.

Just hanging out. I had to try hard to keep it together when I walked into his room. I didn't see him until two days after the accident when his surgery was done and he was fine (he has nothing but a broken arm!), but it was still very emotional for me. As much as I hate that this happened, as a nursing student I think it is a valuable experience for me. It is good to be on the other side of things - the uncertain side that has no control. The side that has a history, a relationship and an immense amount of love. I hope I can be a more compassionate nurse because of it.