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Dennis Chinn life after motorcycle accident help

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Our Family was brought to our knees when my husband of 53 yrs. was hit head on in a motorcycle accident on May 11,2019. He was given a 1% chance to live, his brain trauma was severe, his surgeon informed us that even if he lived the next few days, that statistics showed his type of injuries and his brain trauma alone he would not make it through to 6 months. And furthermore if he couldn’t pass two simple tests to indicate his brain was interacting to his limbs : By doing a thumb up  and wiggling his toes on command, he was removing his like support.  This was on day 4 and at this point he had more tubes coming out of him than I could count and hadn’t moved anything. I had been praying and requesting prayers of everyone but I and our 16 yr. old granddaughter, Tori , worked and prayed for hours. I talked into Dennis’s ear telling him how important it was to respond to the Dr’s request in the morning. I knew he couldn’t see me or anything, his eyes were swollen shut, so I just kept talking and lifting his thumb up , over and over for hours! Tori set at his feet and tickled them over and over and said “ Grandpa, Grandpa, wiggled you’re toes!!”  She giggled and  laughed and talked to him, tickling and wiggling his toes! We went home well after midnight. The next morning I called the ICU Nurses Station and nervously ask how Dennis did when the doctor ask him to do a thumbs up and wiggle his toes.  She said “you’ll never guess?!” He did a shakey thumbs up and wiggled his toes!! After that I knew he was in there somewhere and I’d try, no matter what, to help him survive!! 
Many family , friends and people in many states
continued to pray and still do. And I firmly and
truly believe every prayer was heard! I had quite
an argument with that surgeon about who had the final say as to Dennis surviving and it wasn’t going to be him. I pointed up to heaven and said “You are forgetting someone!” He didn’t have much to say
after that! 
We went from Wesley Hospital in Wichita, after
17 days in ICU to the MaDonna rehab Facility for Brain Trauma. It is considered one of the top six
such facilities in the nation. I soon found out why! 
Dennis started several therapies the next morning including individually for his arms hands and legs
then on to Physical Therapy, Occupational
Therapy, Speech Therapy and Respiratory Therapy
His struggles were to keep from drowning in the
amount of fluids that his lungs produced, the
mucus was astounding. I soon learned how to pull my chair up to his bedside and perform the suctionprocedure that saved his life may times! A
tracheotomy proved to be a savior by allowing us
to take the cap off the gaping hole  in his throat
and suction him or pull with a tissue and your
fingers the long -8” strands of thick mucus  out of
the blocked traec , letting him breathe. This went
on all day long, then picked up by triple the amount of mucus at night! He coughed and choked so hard his feet would fly up off the bed and his head up offthe pillow! Especially when they routinely took thecap off to expose the open tube to his bronchial
tube where they would take a flexible tube and
poke and shove all the way down to where the Y in the bronchial tube split to the left lungs and right
lungs. This shook him from head to toe he would 
squeeze his own fist with white knuckles as his
head and feet flew up 10-12”. This occurred at
least every 4 hours usually more often! This went on from May 28th to almost the final days we were
at MaDonna, approximately July 28th.  I sat by him
in the corner 24/7, I even ate in his room!Sleep
was impossible ! on July 28 we transferred to our
home town, Pratt , Ks to a skilled nursing rehab
facility. He was there until 9/20/19  when he came home. He continues going to PT, OT and Speech
Therapy. We have been told it will take up to a year
to two years to heal. He has a tough time with
speech due to injured vocal cords that may never 
heal to normal. He cannot swallow water without
choking. The coughing to clear food that goes
down the “wind pipe” goes on all day long, this
makes him appear weak and trimmers are slightly
noticed when walking. His balance is improving 
thanks to the therapy department at Pratt
Regional Medical  Center.
He may never return to his Peterbilt truck that he 
loved to drive. It was really the people he worked with for years and caring for the livestock he
carried that he loved being around. His beautiful
Harley Davidson motorcycle that he was going to
enjoy when he finally retired is but a memory! 
We’ve had no paychecks since May, the bank
moved to foreclose on both of his loans , I begged
them to let him try to heal  according to the
doctors diagnosis.   They extended the notes till
December 31, 8 more days. We found a wonderful man to drive our truck for us but December is an
extremely slow time and Mid March he will need
to tend to his own farm.  This will be too soon for
Dennis to try to handle driving and loading and
unloading! 
Our bills are mountainous. We can hardly buy
diesel fuel to run the truck and pay the driver! 
What most people don’t know is Dennis supported three families with his trucking business! We have two daughters who both have illnesses that affect their daily living. We’ve had to completely stop
helping them and now they are plummeting to a 
place where they can’t make a recovery ! One has been ill since she was a year old  she is now 40 and has had several  complex surgeries that caused
diabetes and thyroid deficiencies plus stomach surgeries. The other daughter had severe inflammation and has had five surgeries, three to her knees, a complete knee replacement, and two
to her cervical area nearly causing paralysis from the neck down  she is scheduled for a revision to the neck surgery and a fusion to her lumbar section in January. Dennis is so depressed  at
loosing his business and not being able to help our daughters that I truly worry about him,
actually I worry so much about all of us, how these losses  have effected all of us. It will take
away our home, our business and our ability to help our children.  We beg for Gods mercy and
the kindness of friends and strangers alike to help us survive the next 8 to 12 months.  I have
been handicapped myself going on 11 yrs. my neurosurgeon cut into my spinal cord sack
causing a paralysis to my legs and severe poly neuropathy to my hands and feet. I have been
under  a doctors care for the pain management for 11 yrs . Dennis managed a business, helping his ailing mother for 7 yrs., financially supporting our daughters and taking total care of me andour yard work that involves many acres of mowing, caring for our three horses, and he always
came through.  Now I want to make this pledge to help him. If you’re a truck driver that loves
his truck and a Harley rider and a good family man, please look into your heart and help us. But mainly Dennis. Thank you! Sincerely from the bottom of our hearts. 

His children: Julie and Rachel, grandchildren, Austin, Tori and Sebastian
and me, wife of now 54 yrs., Vicki (Harding) Chinn, his beloved pets: Mister Mister, Prince,
Pedro, Moonie and Joey. We all Thank You and hope you can see a way , no matter how small tohelp us. Please say a prayer for Dennis to heal. Thank you especially for that. ❤️

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Donations 

  • Pamela Dietz
    • $100
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer

Vicki Chinn
Organizer
Pratt, KS

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