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Prayers for our sweet BB's brother
- Thread starter DD
- Start date
ItzKatzTime
Beach Fanatic
BB my thoughts, love, and prayers go out to you and family. I will light a candle for you all.
Beachbummette
SoWal Insider
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, emails, phone calls and text messages. It makes it easier knowing friends and family are praying.
When I got the phone call at work around 10:30 a.m. I was stunned all I was told was "Your brother was in an explosion at work and they are life flighting him to UAB hospital. Life Flighting?!! This can't be good. I called UAB emergency and all they could tell me was "Yes, we know about it and he is in route." My family lives at least an hour and a half from Birmingham so I knew it would be a while before they could get here. I jumped in the car and headed downtown to the hospital.
All I could think of was my brother loves black pepper. So much so that we tease him at family meals because if he has forgotten his fancy little pepper grinder he will go get one out of his truck. When I arrived they told me to have a seat and a "patient advocate" would be with me shortly. The last time I heard "patient advocate" I was alone at the hospital with my beloved Grandmother and a "patient advocate" came to get me, took me in a room and told me she had died, so needless to say my knees about buckled. Then the "patient advocate" came out and told me he was there and they were working on him. That is when all I wanted was for everyone in my circle of friends to be praying for him and sent DD the text, I knew she would handle that business for me and y'all would handle the praying.
A little bit later two of his co-workers came in. It is a humbling site to see two big grown men with such looks of concern and sadness on their faces. One of the big men was with Steve when it happened. From my understanding it would not have happened if it had not been so unusually cold here, remember, we never have these temperatures here, my brother was cutting a piece of pipe with a chain saw outside of the plant, they cut it down so far and a lift picks it up to snap it in two, Steve was walking away from the cut with a running chain saw in his left hand when they lifted it and it snapped "explosively" and hit Steve when he was walking away. They do this all the time, but because of the extremely cold temperatures it was extremely brittle. The pipe was a foot in diameter, but the walls were about 5 inches thick. It is used to run water to where they get the coal byproducts that they now use to make heat/coal pellets to heat homes.
My brother is fifth generation of my family in the coal business, my great-great-great grandfather came to Alabama for the coal belt and started a coal mine waaay back then. Times have changed and our business changes with the times, my father came out of retirement a few years ago to help build a pellet plant to use the waste of all the coal mines that have been around our part of the world and now my brother works there. I have always been around this business and I guess I forget how very dangerous it can be. My father was in an underground mine collapse when I was in Texas in college and I did not know about it for two days. I could not help but cry like a baby when those big men at the hospital started telling me about one of them holding Steve's head up while they covered him with blankets and all those big tough men took their coats off and held them around my brother to block the wind for about 45 minutes until the ambulance came. Keep in mind it was around 19 degrees here and windy.
Steve endured five hours of surgery yesterday and it is not a green stick fractures as we first thought. He had to have screws and plates put in his leg and arm and will have to have bone grafts surgeries done. We have not told him yet that they said it would be 5 to 6 months before he could walk on it. My brother is like me, he does not sit still very much. He has a farm (he does not live on it, his wife does not enjoy the country like he does) and has around thirty some odd cows to feed every day and take care of the farm, he hunts a lot and basically does not sit still. Some of his friends are going over to his house this weekend and build ramps for him.
Please keep him in your prayers that he will heal faster and better than they have ever seen. He is only 38, very healthy, eats right, non-smoker and very fit so I think he is going to amaze them with his recovery time. He can't stand pain meds so night before last he had a morphine pump and it was making him sick, when they came in at 2:00 to give him loratab he told them to just bring him tylenol! TYLENOL!!! Geez. They did! He was taking tylenol until they wheeled him up to surgery.
When I got the phone call at work around 10:30 a.m. I was stunned all I was told was "Your brother was in an explosion at work and they are life flighting him to UAB hospital. Life Flighting?!! This can't be good. I called UAB emergency and all they could tell me was "Yes, we know about it and he is in route." My family lives at least an hour and a half from Birmingham so I knew it would be a while before they could get here. I jumped in the car and headed downtown to the hospital.
All I could think of was my brother loves black pepper. So much so that we tease him at family meals because if he has forgotten his fancy little pepper grinder he will go get one out of his truck. When I arrived they told me to have a seat and a "patient advocate" would be with me shortly. The last time I heard "patient advocate" I was alone at the hospital with my beloved Grandmother and a "patient advocate" came to get me, took me in a room and told me she had died, so needless to say my knees about buckled. Then the "patient advocate" came out and told me he was there and they were working on him. That is when all I wanted was for everyone in my circle of friends to be praying for him and sent DD the text, I knew she would handle that business for me and y'all would handle the praying.
A little bit later two of his co-workers came in. It is a humbling site to see two big grown men with such looks of concern and sadness on their faces. One of the big men was with Steve when it happened. From my understanding it would not have happened if it had not been so unusually cold here, remember, we never have these temperatures here, my brother was cutting a piece of pipe with a chain saw outside of the plant, they cut it down so far and a lift picks it up to snap it in two, Steve was walking away from the cut with a running chain saw in his left hand when they lifted it and it snapped "explosively" and hit Steve when he was walking away. They do this all the time, but because of the extremely cold temperatures it was extremely brittle. The pipe was a foot in diameter, but the walls were about 5 inches thick. It is used to run water to where they get the coal byproducts that they now use to make heat/coal pellets to heat homes.
My brother is fifth generation of my family in the coal business, my great-great-great grandfather came to Alabama for the coal belt and started a coal mine waaay back then. Times have changed and our business changes with the times, my father came out of retirement a few years ago to help build a pellet plant to use the waste of all the coal mines that have been around our part of the world and now my brother works there. I have always been around this business and I guess I forget how very dangerous it can be. My father was in an underground mine collapse when I was in Texas in college and I did not know about it for two days. I could not help but cry like a baby when those big men at the hospital started telling me about one of them holding Steve's head up while they covered him with blankets and all those big tough men took their coats off and held them around my brother to block the wind for about 45 minutes until the ambulance came. Keep in mind it was around 19 degrees here and windy.
Steve endured five hours of surgery yesterday and it is not a green stick fractures as we first thought. He had to have screws and plates put in his leg and arm and will have to have bone grafts surgeries done. We have not told him yet that they said it would be 5 to 6 months before he could walk on it. My brother is like me, he does not sit still very much. He has a farm (he does not live on it, his wife does not enjoy the country like he does) and has around thirty some odd cows to feed every day and take care of the farm, he hunts a lot and basically does not sit still. Some of his friends are going over to his house this weekend and build ramps for him.
Please keep him in your prayers that he will heal faster and better than they have ever seen. He is only 38, very healthy, eats right, non-smoker and very fit so I think he is going to amaze them with his recovery time. He can't stand pain meds so night before last he had a morphine pump and it was making him sick, when they came in at 2:00 to give him loratab he told them to just bring him tylenol! TYLENOL!!! Geez. They did! He was taking tylenol until they wheeled him up to surgery.
sunspotbaby
SoWal Insider
Wow BB, thanks for the update. I was wondering about him this morning. I'm sure he'll recover much faster than they think. Will and determination hold much more merit than Doctors give credit for.
My Steve was told he'd never walk again without surgery. He was not only walking, but riding his motorcycle within 40 days!
Your brother will be up & around in no time!
Keep us posted!
My Steve was told he'd never walk again without surgery. He was not only walking, but riding his motorcycle within 40 days!
Your brother will be up & around in no time!
Keep us posted!
TooFarTampa
SoWal Insider
BB thank you for the report. Our continued heartelt prayers are with Steve and you and your family. Please let us know if there is anything we SoWallers can do for him.
drunkkenartist
Beach Fanatic
I'll be praying until further notice...I'll check back often for updates. I'm sure a little of his sister's blood will pink him right up.
If he suddenly has a passion for pink and jewels, we'll know why! quote]
I'm so glad I finally decided to log in to Sowal this morning to catch up. Dang Grapefruit- hope you are holding up OK. You know you've got the greatest family, extended family and pillar of strength (Peter) a girl could ask for.
I'm not going to call, as I'm sure you are inundated, but my phone is on when you need me.
As for this blood donating thing: I know Steven isn't into the pain med thing, but Tylenol is not a good thing to mix with Martinis.:roll:
You know y'all are in my thoughts.
He will bounce back in no time, he is a very strong young man. And with your blood in him- he will be king of the world- though I don't see him in a pink tiara. However he may develop a craving for olives.;-)
