Lando 
Posted on 03/18/2005 3:16:04 PM PST by Dog
Back in 1978 I was a swimmer on my High School swim team at South Houston High.
Each morning I would wake up at 5am to get ready for swimming practice before school. At the time I admired Mark Spitz and wanted to be the 1980 olympics.
I did the butterfly stroke and anyone that is familiar with swimming knows that you start off the starting blocks and shallow dive in the pool. The starting blocks are on the shallow end of the pool where the water is only 3ft deep.
On 14 November 1978, I was practicing and as I dove off the starting blocks my foot slipped and I went in headfirst in 3ft of water. I felt something wrong, my head hurt, there was a lot of blood and could not move. I didn't remember much at this time but I was taken out of the pool on a backboard by my team mates.
My next memories were being at the nearby hospital and feeling cold. I was naked on a stretcher and remember wanting to be covered. I could hear people and see people but I could not speak or move.
I remember a doctor saying "Really? Is he still alive?!" and someone else saying that there was nothing they could do for me that I was supposed to be dead.
I had broken my C1, C2, C3 and a bone called my odontoid.
The pain was terrible and apparently I could not stay conscious for long. I think they used a term "in and out" later to describe my condition. Saying that my body is shutting off and I won't live.
The next memories I had was of wind and for a moment or so I thought I was going to heaven. I was in fact being transported on Houston's LifeFlight helicopter to Hermann Hospital.
It was there that I remember hearing my mother and father's voices and hearing my father cry after being told that I was alive but would not make it. I was hurt so bad and was trying to move or say something and I just couldn't.
My mother had begged to see me and asked the doctor if I could hear them. He said "no". I remember him telling them that honestly I had no chance for survival through the day. He explained that the extent of my injuries were just too severe and that it was a miracle that I was even alive at the moment.
I remember my mother asking the doctor if I was in pain. He answered her and both my father and mother broke down sobbing in tears. They didn't want my passing to be painful.
I tried everything. I tried to move and couldn't. I tried to speak and couldn't. I remember at one point noticing the heart monitor and trying to see if I could somehow control my heart rate so that someone would notice me. I wanted to fight. I wanted to live and I felt completely helpless. I felt that people were giving up on me.
Even as I type this, the memories bring back such a deep sadness and loneliness that I simply have no words to describe. I didn't want to be left alone and people were talking as if I was not there anymore as if I was already dead. I had to fight back.
The days, weeks and months afterwards are much of a blur, morphine does that to you I suppose. It took two weeks for me to communicate and when I did I was so drugged that people wondered whether I was brain damaged. I vividly remember hearing a doctor explain that no one should have much hope that I would be like a vegtable and paralyzed from the neck down at best. I lost all track of time.
It would be almost a year before I could walk around. Everyone smiled. It was all a miracle, there was no other explanation.
To this day I have two scars on my temples where I had a halo brace and I can't turn my head all the way to my shoulder, but Im alive and well and Im grateful that no one gave up on me.
Like most of you, I don't know Terri Schiavo, but there is a small part of me that can empathize with her. I know how it feels to be alone and I know all too well that dark sad place where she is now. She is alive and she is fighting. The simple fact that she is alive is all the evidence one needs to understand that Terri has not given up. Please don't give up on Terri.
What Terri needs is people who love her, care for her and those who won't give up up her. Terri may never come back from that place where she is at now, but she needs to be given the chance.
1,406 posted on 03/18/2005 4:33:45 PM EST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
Here you go..
BTTT
I sought expatguys permission to post this .....I thought it was to important to be buried on a 1700 post thread......it speaks to what Terri is going thru.
Wow...you are truly blessed.
Thanks for posting -- this brought tears to my eyes earlier -- it must be a horrible feeling to know what is going on and no one will listen.
Prayers and eagles up for Expatguy and Terri Schiavo.
I attended law school with Doug Herr who gained fame in the wheelchair olympics and was on Wheaties boxes. A few years before when he dove into the pool and hit bottom, he knew his neck was broken and he was paralyzed. His brother dove in to save him and Doug begged his brother to let him die. Doug went on to become a national hero, and I believe he is now a succesful attorney.
BTTT! I completely agree.
Lando
Bless you, expatguy.
That, I believe, is a huge understatement, one made in all sincerity and with respectful humility.
God's plan included expatguy having that experience, so that this appeal could be written.
WOW.
Thanks Dog and Expatguy.
Do not miss this post by expat.
Thanks SO MUCH for posting this!! You sound just like Kate Adamson. How sad that this is all happening.
I pray that this gets out, far and wide...
This Terri story has allowed me to relive my own mother's death almost eight years ago. She had a rapidly growing brain tumor, emphysema, and developed sepsis. We knew she was going to die, I just didn't know how quickly. But my mom and I discussed her wishes, and she was very clear that she did not want the inevitable prolonged. She did not want extraordinary measures and asked for a DNR. When her body began shutting down, and she was pretty much unconscious and slipping away, I had to make the decision to stop her IV fluids. It was SOOO hard, but I took comfort in knowing it was what she wanted. The only thing I asked was that she be kept comfortable. That decision was on a Tuesday. That Saturday night, after visiting her, I prayed the most sincere, humble and honest prayer that God take her home and relieve her pain.
She died the next day. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to experience in my life. But I take comfort knowing that I followed my mom's wishes, and that God does listen to prayers.
We are on the slippery slope. It started in Holland and Oregon, and it has slowly spread. Sad times, man.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Does this seem a little stupid to anyone else? I can't say I've ever seen such an arrangement at any pool.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.