Christian's Accident

Welcome to Christian's blog.  He'll be mad at us knowing he now "officially" has his own blog.  Many of you have heard that Christian was in a mountain biking accident last night (8/26/10) and sustained a spinal cord injury.  In order to keep all of Christian's many family, friends and co-workers updated we've created this blog.  We will do our best to update you all with information as we recieve it.  Christian, Jessi and our entire family are so grateful for all of your prayers and well wishes.  We ask that you continue to have him and Jessi in your prayers.  We have faith that this journey is part of a plan that God has in store for Christian, Jessi and our entire family.  Here are some details and what we know so far...

Christian was mountain biking with his friend Matt Hoffman at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon last night (near Guardsman's Pass).  Around 8:00pm Christian and Matt were descending the trail returning to the parking lot.  Matt did not see the accident take place as he was 30 seconds or so behind Chris on the trail.  We think that Chris somehow went over the handle bars on his bike and landed on his head.  His helmet was heavily damaged in the crash.  Matt came upon Christian in a tangled mess, one foot still clipped to the bike.  Matt is a trained EMT and immediately checked Chris's vital signs.  He was not breathing so Matt started rescue breathing, which continued for 5 - 6 minutes when Chris started to breathe on his own again.  Without a wonderful friend like Matt who kept a clear head and acted swiftly, Christian wouldn't be with us today.  Thank you Matt, we are so grateful for your unselfishness, preparedness, and calm demeanor during an incredible accident such as this.  We will love you always and can never repay your heroic acts!  Once Christian was stable and breathing again, Matt found a fellow good samaritan who descended the trail and called 911.  Paramedics arrived within 15 or 20 minutes, placed Chris on a backboard, stabilized his neck and took him to the parking area.  The IHC Life Flight helicopter took Christian from there to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT.  It was clear to Matt almost immediately that Christian had sustained a spinal cord injury as he could not move or feel his arms or legs at the accident scene.

Upon arrival at the hospital a great team of physicians took over care of Christian.  He did regain some feeling in his lower legs and could move his feet slightly.  He could not move or feel his hands and arms.  After a CT scan of his entire body it was clear that Christian had displaced his C2 vertebrae.  Christian, as is no surprise, remained in good spirits throughout.  He was alert, talking and fully aware of the situation.  I doubt many could remain so calm and positive as Christian has thus far. 

Sometime around midnight, a team of surgeons took Christian into surgery.  The first step was to install a halo/traction device which consists of placing 4 screws into the skull (2 in front and 2 in back).  This device relieves pressure on the spinal column, aligns the column and stabilizes it.  The neurosurgeon then moved the C2 vertabrae back to where it was before the accident, or at least within 1 millimeter.  The surgery went well and we were encouraged by the doctor afterward.  They did discover a small air bubble in his abdomen.  At this stage they are going to monitor that as the spinal cord is of course, the priority.  There could be a tear in his intestine which has allowed some air into the abdomen, but the doctors think that based on the impact he took on the head/neck, it would be surprising for him to have sustained another injury such as an intestinal tear.  For now they will continue to monitor this and may have to perform a surgical procedure to repair what has caused this. 

The next step after the surgery was to perform a MRI.  The results of this will tell us the extent of the damage to the tendons surrounding the injury site and the spinal cord itself.  As they took Chris to get an MRI he was having trouble swallowing and as a precaution they decided to place him on a ventilator which breathes for him and of course, required intubating him (putting a tube down his throat).  After the intubation, the MRI was performed.  We have not been given those results yet.  Once we get these results we will know more as to the next step in this long recovery process.

We're grateful Christian is with us.  Many of you may have seen the story of a mountain biker air-lifted from Big Cottonwood Canyon last night, that's our Chris.  We love him so much and know that you all feel the same.  More details to come.  Keep the faith!