The Fall

Tuesday morning about 8 am Dad was helping his 90+ neighbor with her swamp cooler. With the job done he started to descend the ladder. The ladder began to slip and Dad thinks he fell about 11 or 12 feet. Fortunately, an ambulance was called and he was taken to the Utah Valley hospital. The ambulance staff called me (Laurie) enroute to let me know the situation. Fred and the kids came with me to the emergency room. When we arrived we were told of his situation:

three broken ribs
2-3 fractures in the pelvis
punctured lung (pneumothorax)

Shortly after his arrival Dad's chest cavity began to fill with the air escaping from the punctured lung. This was very painful. Fortunately Jason Blackburn and Fred were in the room with Dad as his pain was increasing. They found someone and the hospital staff quickly inserted a hose on his left side that would help the air escape. Fred and Jason were also able to give Dad a priesthood blessing. We (Andrew, Vanessa, and Laurie) are now in room 261 where Dad is resting peacefully. He keeps saying how he feels so much better. He was in a lot of pain after the fall. He needs to keep breathing deeply so that fluid doesn't fill his lungs and cause pneumonia. They have also asked that he not eat or drink anything until the orthopedic surgeon can look at the x-rays. The surgeon will determine if surgery is necessary. One of the fractures in the pelvis is near the hip and they may need to do surgery for that to heal properly. Dad has leg massagers on his legs to prevent clots. He is on pain medication as the tube to drain the air is inserted between two ribs and it isn't a small tube. But, he feels no pain. He is able to talk, but is very sleepy. So far it looks good. According to the information that we have been given it looks like he will be here (the hospital) for about 5-7 days, and will be in recovery for 3-4 months. We will update with more information as we hear it.