Hi I’m Timothy. It was some time ago in the year 2009 when I went over the handlebars of my bicycle after accidentally going over a jump at a local bike park and broke my spine.[1] Initially it rendered me paralyzed from about the chest line down. I couldn’t feel or move anything below my arms. My family and I are each Christians so the first thing we did after my accident was to bring the situation to the Lord. He provided all the money we needed to pay for my hospitalization and rehab as well sending us encouragement in the form of friends, family, and food (we didn’t have much time to devote to cooking at that time). It’s been 5½ years or so since then and I’ve regained considerable feeling and some movement in my legs. Even though I’m still in a wheelchair, I’m doing very well and I’ve learned all the skills I need to care for myself. My immediate as well as my church family have all been an enormous support to me during these past years and they all have my undying gratitude. I could not be where I am today if it weren’t for them.
Timothy the Son
Greetings, I’m Tim the Dad – gets confusing, doesn’t it?!
I was with Timothy when he was paralyzed on a Scout camping trip, in fact I had to help get him up onto the stretcher because I was one of the few big enough to lift him. We’ve come a long way since then, and had what are certainly some of the most encouraging times in my life. We’re writing this blog together to talk about physical health and well-being from the viewpoint of a paraplegic (who really doesn’t consider himself disabled), the viewpoint of a dad, and together from the viewpoint of two men who have seen the hand of God in their lives and aren’t uncomfortable talking about all this.
Here’s the first installment of an update we sent out about weekly for the first 3 or 4 months following his injuries
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[1] T6, T7, and T8 for those of you who know something of medicine.
Timothy the Son
Greetings, I’m Tim the Dad – gets confusing, doesn’t it?!
I was with Timothy when he was paralyzed on a Scout camping trip, in fact I had to help get him up onto the stretcher because I was one of the few big enough to lift him. We’ve come a long way since then, and had what are certainly some of the most encouraging times in my life. We’re writing this blog together to talk about physical health and well-being from the viewpoint of a paraplegic (who really doesn’t consider himself disabled), the viewpoint of a dad, and together from the viewpoint of two men who have seen the hand of God in their lives and aren’t uncomfortable talking about all this.
Here’s the first installment of an update we sent out about weekly for the first 3 or 4 months following his injuries
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[1] T6, T7, and T8 for those of you who know something of medicine.
February 4, 2009
We as a family thank you for your continued intercession with God, both on Timmy’s behalf and for us, as his recovery from his injuries continues. There’s been so much outpouring of prayer and personal help, it’s difficult for us take it all in. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude, and know that the Lord God is faithful in hearing and supporting us through this tough situation. Several things you ought to hear, including how encouraged Tim has been knowing so many are praying for him. It’s made a tremendous difference hearing of these prayers, and he sees his own responsibility as maintaining a friendly attitude toward the medical people around him working hard at the therapy (which is tough), and being ready for whatever opportunity God brings him because of his injuries.
We as a family thank you for your continued intercession with God, both on Timmy’s behalf and for us, as his recovery from his injuries continues. There’s been so much outpouring of prayer and personal help, it’s difficult for us take it all in. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude, and know that the Lord God is faithful in hearing and supporting us through this tough situation. Several things you ought to hear, including how encouraged Tim has been knowing so many are praying for him. It’s made a tremendous difference hearing of these prayers, and he sees his own responsibility as maintaining a friendly attitude toward the medical people around him working hard at the therapy (which is tough), and being ready for whatever opportunity God brings him because of his injuries.
The two pictures here were taken in the two days immediately following the surgery to stabilize the three broken vertebrae, and he was still in Pediatric ICU at the time we took ‘em. You can see that he still looked pretty rough around the left side of his face – in fact, I told him that he looked like he’d lost a contest fighting with four pound hammers.
He was in quite a bit of pain during this time, and not talking much nor eating because of the jaw fracture. The collar is in place because of bony part he broke off his skull just above the cervical spine. While he’ll need to wear that for six weeks so his skull will heal, the device also immobilizes his jaw enough that they’ve decided to do no other fixation to that fracture. He’s still got enough titanium in his back to make an airport a lively place should he walk within 100 feet of any of their metal detectors! I showed you the two pictures above so you could better appreciate how quickly God’s been healing him – this last shot was taken on Monday, February 2nd, about five days after the others - pretty good, huh?
Of course, now he’ll HAVE to grow a handlebar mustache to cover the scarring on his upper lip, but we all have our sacrifices to make…
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That’s enough for now. If you have questions or comments for either of us, we welcome them!
Timothy and Tim the Dad
August 14, 2014
Of course, now he’ll HAVE to grow a handlebar mustache to cover the scarring on his upper lip, but we all have our sacrifices to make…
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That’s enough for now. If you have questions or comments for either of us, we welcome them!
Timothy and Tim the Dad
August 14, 2014