How It Began
(written by Cari Chandler, Josh's sister)
Friday night (June 2nd) around 10pm, my brother and a friend of his (Seth Bacon) were traveling to Washington DC to a DC United soccer game (Josh has a friend who plays on the team). They were stopping at a friend's house in Rocky Mount, NC to spend the night and finish traveling Saturday morning. There had been a lot of storms in the area that night and due to the rain Josh hydroplaned off the road, spun around and hit a tree. The impact was on the driver's side of the car. Josh took the impact and currently remains unconscious in ICU in Chapel Hill, NC. Thankfully, Josh was the only one injured in the accident - Seth was able to walk away with just a few scratches (praise the Lord). I know that some may not understand why this has happened, as I do, but I do know that God is in control and that He has a perfect plan already set in motion. I believe God still has great things planned for Josh.
From the beginning God has been working, let me tell you how. The first responder to the scene was a trauma surgeon who just happened to be passing by, he stayed with Josh until the ambulance came. The second responder on the scene was a nurse, who also stayed to help in any way possible. I believe the trauma doctor realized how serious Josh's injuries were and he somehow notified either the EMT's or local hospital that Josh would need to be airlifted to a Level 1 trauma center. Second, Seth was able to remain calm and call both my parents and his parents, and help be our eyes and ears since were were so far away. Josh and Seth were traveling to Brandon Godwin's house that night. Brandon and his father were an incredible help that evening and the days to follow. Brandon's dad realized something might be wrong when Josh and Seth did not arrive on time and he had Brandon call Josh's phone. Seth answered in the ambulance and told him about the accident, and Brandon and his dad quickly made their way to the hospital. Upon arrival to the local hospital, doctors were already preparing to transfer Josh to Chapel Hill via helicopter. They immediately took care of Josh's collapsed lung by placing a chest tube and intubated him prior to getting on the helicopter. He was still breathing on his own a little bit, but they intubated him as a precaution - he would have needed it later anyway. By helicopter I am told it is about 15-20 minutes to Chapel Hill, probably a little more because the weather was so bad. Josh got to Chapel Hill and immediately was being worked on. They placed a ventricular drain in to monitor the pressure in his head, continued to keep him on the ventilator and monitor his collapsed lung. He also suffered several broken ribs and a lacerated spleen which they have been keeping a close eye on to watch for any further bleeding. In the meantime, Brandon and his dad took Seth home with them while Seth's dad traveled down to meet everyone. Mom, dad, and I immediately took off in the car and headed to Chapel Hill. We arrived safely around 4am and we were able to go right in and see Josh. I will have to admit that it was very difficult
\nto see him just lying there knowing that the next 48 hours would be critical in the fight for his life. Josh is my only brother (or sibling for that matter). But Josh is hanging in there. \n \nToday is Monday, June 5th and Josh has passed the critical 48 hours, but there is still a long road ahead. Currently he is still on the ventilator, but he is breathing on his own now. He just needs the ventilator for pressure to take good effective breaths. He is being continuously monitored for his blood pressure which is remaining stable on his own and they are continuously monitoring the pressure in his head. For a trauma patient his intracranial pressures are elevated, but not as high as some are and the good news is that it has not elevated any further over the past two days. He still has the chest tube in to drain his left lung, but even that is beginning to slow down a little bit. His spleen is doing okay. They do not feel right now that they need to take it out. His major injury is his head. They do not know how much of his brain is injured right now, because they have to keep him sedated or else he becomes too agitated. Twice a day they turn off the sedation to assess his neurological activity and yesterday he did respond a little to pain, so that was encouraging. \n \nWe are just taking it day by day. I can tell you that the love we have felt from all over the country and even different parts of the world is overwhelmingly incredible. I know Josh and our family is constantly in your thoughts and prayers and we greatly appreciate that. Words cannot describe how thankful we are to all of you. God is still in control and we are trusting him to bring Josh through it. \n \nAll of the doctors and nurses here have been incredible. They see this type of thing all the time (unfortunately), but they are taking Excellent care of Josh and my family. We are kidding them that Josh is going to be mad that they took him here instead of Duke (which is just 15 minutes down the road), seeing that he is a huge Duke fan!!! Don\'t worry, we are going to take pictures of him in those baby blues!!!",1]
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to see him just lying there knowing that the next 48 hours would be critical in the fight for his life. Josh is my only brother (or sibling for that matter). But Josh is hanging in there.
Today is Monday, June 5th and Josh has passed the critical 48 hours, but there is still a long road ahead. Currently he is still on the ventilator, but he is breathing on his own now. He just needs the ventilator for pressure to take good effective breaths. He is being continuously monitored for his blood pressure which is remaining stable on his own and they are continuously monitoring the pressure in his head. For a trauma patient his intracranial pressures are elevated, but not as high as some are and the good news is that it has not elevated any further over the past two days. He still has the chest tube in to drain his left lung, but even that is beginning to slow down a little bit. His spleen is doing okay. They do not feel right now that they need to take it out. His major injury is his head. They do not know how much of his brain is injured right now, because they have to keep him sedated or else he becomes too agitated. Twice a day they turn off the sedation to assess his neurological activity and yesterday he did respond a little to pain, so that was encouraging.
We are just taking it day by day. I can tell you that the love we have felt from all over the country and even different parts of the world is overwhelmingly incredible. I know Josh and our family is constantly in your thoughts and prayers and we greatly appreciate that. Words cannot describe how thankful we are to all of you. God is still in control and we are trusting him to bring Josh through it.
All of the doctors and nurses here have been incredible. They see this type of thing all the time (unfortunately), but they are taking Excellent care of Josh and my family. We are kidding them that Josh is going to be mad that they took him here instead of Duke (which is just 15 minutes down the road), since he is a huge Duke fan!!! Don't worry, we are going to take pictures of him in those baby blues!!!
Friday night (June 2nd) around 10pm, my brother and a friend of his (Seth Bacon) were traveling to Washington DC to a DC United soccer game (Josh has a friend who plays on the team). They were stopping at a friend's house in Rocky Mount, NC to spend the night and finish traveling Saturday morning. There had been a lot of storms in the area that night and due to the rain Josh hydroplaned off the road, spun around and hit a tree. The impact was on the driver's side of the car. Josh took the impact and currently remains unconscious in ICU in Chapel Hill, NC. Thankfully, Josh was the only one injured in the accident - Seth was able to walk away with just a few scratches (praise the Lord). I know that some may not understand why this has happened, as I do, but I do know that God is in control and that He has a perfect plan already set in motion. I believe God still has great things planned for Josh.
From the beginning God has been working, let me tell you how. The first responder to the scene was a trauma surgeon who just happened to be passing by, he stayed with Josh until the ambulance came. The second responder on the scene was a nurse, who also stayed to help in any way possible. I believe the trauma doctor realized how serious Josh's injuries were and he somehow notified either the EMT's or local hospital that Josh would need to be airlifted to a Level 1 trauma center. Second, Seth was able to remain calm and call both my parents and his parents, and help be our eyes and ears since were were so far away. Josh and Seth were traveling to Brandon Godwin's house that night. Brandon and his father were an incredible help that evening and the days to follow. Brandon's dad realized something might be wrong when Josh and Seth did not arrive on time and he had Brandon call Josh's phone. Seth answered in the ambulance and told him about the accident, and Brandon and his dad quickly made their way to the hospital. Upon arrival to the local hospital, doctors were already preparing to transfer Josh to Chapel Hill via helicopter. They immediately took care of Josh's collapsed lung by placing a chest tube and intubated him prior to getting on the helicopter. He was still breathing on his own a little bit, but they intubated him as a precaution - he would have needed it later anyway. By helicopter I am told it is about 15-20 minutes to Chapel Hill, probably a little more because the weather was so bad. Josh got to Chapel Hill and immediately was being worked on. They placed a ventricular drain in to monitor the pressure in his head, continued to keep him on the ventilator and monitor his collapsed lung. He also suffered several broken ribs and a lacerated spleen which they have been keeping a close eye on to watch for any further bleeding. In the meantime, Brandon and his dad took Seth home with them while Seth's dad traveled down to meet everyone. Mom, dad, and I immediately took off in the car and headed to Chapel Hill. We arrived safely around 4am and we were able to go right in and see Josh. I will have to admit that it was very difficult
\nto see him just lying there knowing that the next 48 hours would be critical in the fight for his life. Josh is my only brother (or sibling for that matter). But Josh is hanging in there. \n \nToday is Monday, June 5th and Josh has passed the critical 48 hours, but there is still a long road ahead. Currently he is still on the ventilator, but he is breathing on his own now. He just needs the ventilator for pressure to take good effective breaths. He is being continuously monitored for his blood pressure which is remaining stable on his own and they are continuously monitoring the pressure in his head. For a trauma patient his intracranial pressures are elevated, but not as high as some are and the good news is that it has not elevated any further over the past two days. He still has the chest tube in to drain his left lung, but even that is beginning to slow down a little bit. His spleen is doing okay. They do not feel right now that they need to take it out. His major injury is his head. They do not know how much of his brain is injured right now, because they have to keep him sedated or else he becomes too agitated. Twice a day they turn off the sedation to assess his neurological activity and yesterday he did respond a little to pain, so that was encouraging. \n \nWe are just taking it day by day. I can tell you that the love we have felt from all over the country and even different parts of the world is overwhelmingly incredible. I know Josh and our family is constantly in your thoughts and prayers and we greatly appreciate that. Words cannot describe how thankful we are to all of you. God is still in control and we are trusting him to bring Josh through it. \n \nAll of the doctors and nurses here have been incredible. They see this type of thing all the time (unfortunately), but they are taking Excellent care of Josh and my family. We are kidding them that Josh is going to be mad that they took him here instead of Duke (which is just 15 minutes down the road), seeing that he is a huge Duke fan!!! Don\'t worry, we are going to take pictures of him in those baby blues!!!",1]
);
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to see him just lying there knowing that the next 48 hours would be critical in the fight for his life. Josh is my only brother (or sibling for that matter). But Josh is hanging in there.
Today is Monday, June 5th and Josh has passed the critical 48 hours, but there is still a long road ahead. Currently he is still on the ventilator, but he is breathing on his own now. He just needs the ventilator for pressure to take good effective breaths. He is being continuously monitored for his blood pressure which is remaining stable on his own and they are continuously monitoring the pressure in his head. For a trauma patient his intracranial pressures are elevated, but not as high as some are and the good news is that it has not elevated any further over the past two days. He still has the chest tube in to drain his left lung, but even that is beginning to slow down a little bit. His spleen is doing okay. They do not feel right now that they need to take it out. His major injury is his head. They do not know how much of his brain is injured right now, because they have to keep him sedated or else he becomes too agitated. Twice a day they turn off the sedation to assess his neurological activity and yesterday he did respond a little to pain, so that was encouraging.
We are just taking it day by day. I can tell you that the love we have felt from all over the country and even different parts of the world is overwhelmingly incredible. I know Josh and our family is constantly in your thoughts and prayers and we greatly appreciate that. Words cannot describe how thankful we are to all of you. God is still in control and we are trusting him to bring Josh through it.
All of the doctors and nurses here have been incredible. They see this type of thing all the time (unfortunately), but they are taking Excellent care of Josh and my family. We are kidding them that Josh is going to be mad that they took him here instead of Duke (which is just 15 minutes down the road), since he is a huge Duke fan!!! Don't worry, we are going to take pictures of him in those baby blues!!!
posted by Brandon at
6:29 AM
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