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One day while working in SICU we admitted a young man of about 24 to the
unit after his surgery. He had been in a truck accident. He was driving
a cattle truck full of cows on the way to the auction house when another
vehicle crossed the yellow line and met him head on. The wreck was
horrible. The other driver was killed and all of the cattle. This young
man had several internal injuries and broken bones. The most serious of
his injuries was a broken spine. He would be paralized from the
shoulders down. He would retain the use of his arms but not his legs.
His progress was guarded for several days. His attitude was a great one.
His smile melted your heart. He had served 4 yrs in Vietnam without a
scratch and he had returned home for good about a week before this
accident. He was on what is called a circle electric bed. It sort of reminded you of a ferris wheel. You nurses of yesteryear know what I am talking about. This way we could turn him from lying on his back to lying on his stomach. He would be sandwiched between two stretcher like mattress when turned and then the top one removed at the completion of the turn. He had been in our unit for about 4 weeks and doing great. He was almost ready to move to the surgery floor for regular care, when he took a sudden and an unexpected turn for the worse. He threw a blood clot to the lungs. In spite of heroic efforts, we lost this wonderful young man. He fought for our country to help save another country. He put his life on the line everyday fighting for a cause he believed in. He came home to live his life as you and I do everyday only to have it ended in a useless tragedy caused by a drunken driver. His smile not only warmed your heart, his eyes smiled and melted your soul. |
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