Update on Rebekah

To all our wonderful friends and family,



The last few days have been some of the worst in our families life, if not the worst. On Thursday morning Rebekah, Abigail, cousin Sarah and 27 other ladies were involved in a bus accident that eventually had the bus over on its side. 28 of the 30 passengers were injured. Abigail sustained a cracked wrist and cracked collarbone. The wrist is in a cast and her collarbone is splinted.



Now for Rebekah, apparently as the bus went over onto its side her left hand went out the window. As the bus slid farther down the road her hand also slid down the road. She has what is called gloving, like pulling off your glove her hand has been peeled. Literally she has no skin on the back of her hand, her middle and far joint on her index finger are totally crushed, she has sheered ligaments and multiple laceration on the palm of her hand. The bones in the back of her hand are totally exposed. Her thumb nail was completely ripped out. You can guess that she has been experiencing severe pain. She is a tough cookie though. Thursday night she has exploratory surgery with a cleaning of the wound and also cleaning of a DEEP wound on her left knee. We were thrilled to hear that she didn't break any bones in her hand and that some ligaments they were able to sew back together. Medical care is poor to say the least and we were informed that there was only one surgeon in the entire country who did hands and he was in Lima. Knowing that getting attention would be difficult on the weekend, we decided (with the advice of the deacons in our church in Peru and our church in Lafayette) that it was best to fly home. Friday night Rebekah and I began our 15 hour trip home. She did great and we had a wheelchair at each gate. My parents met us in the Indy airport and took us straight to St. Vincents where they were waiting for us. Our dear friend Dr. Tom Summer had made lots of calls to get us a doctor and they knew we were coming. They examined her hand, which is excrutiating. It took 4 mg of Morphine to get through that. We had a good nights sleep last night (I had had 4 hours in over 48 hours). This morning they did exploratory surgery and found lots more dirt and gunk to remove. They also discovered all of her ligaments are present!! Just shredded! He said her wounds are very severe and the recovery process is going to be very long. He doubts if she will ever get full motion in her middle index finger joint. I am praising the Lord that she still has fingers! We will be praying for miracles to make her hand perfect again. Last night we were told about 2 months before we can begin thinking about returning. Today we were told 2 months would probably be too short of a time frame. That is a long time to be seperated as a family! Please pray specifically about that one too. At the scene of the accident she also lost consciousness for 15 minutes. She has lots of scrapes on the right side temple area and soft tissue damage in the jaw area on that side. The CAT scan was normal for her facial bones and brain, another praise! The doctors have told her that she is fortunate she is alive and that there is no other damage. Yesterday while she was in severe pain she looked at me and told me through her tears, "God isn't going to give me more than I can handle." It is so important to bury God's word in our hearts because we are going to need it someday. When she is deeply distressed she sings, As the Deer Panteth for the Water to calm herself down. She has asked why God has allowed this to happen to her and we have talked about that as well. While we can't see the purpose right now, someday we will and we know that God intends this for our good. We both has our moments of tears as we deal with her pain and frustration, think about family members in Peru, and about the accident itself. God IS good and He loves them all more than I do. He belongs to them and He has a plan for them and for her. We still have about 4 more surgeries ahead of us in the coming weeks. I will keep you posted. Right now I have decided not to tell Rebekah about being in the USA more than 2 months, she is really struggling with the seperation from Abigail. Abigail was the one who took control of the situtaion at the accident and keep Rebekah calmed while getting to the hospital. It has caused them to have a special bond.

People have been very generous financially and with their time. We love you all.

You can currently reach me at: 765-490-1451

Tomorrow we will hear when the next surgery will be.