George Sr Medical/Funeral Fund

On Friday, January 22, 2016 

thick snow began to fall and accumulate quickly in the eastern United States. George B. Sr. was one of those who dedicatedly went to work that morning with hopes of enjoying the snow later that day with his family. At around 11:00 he called his wife (Sandy) and daughter (Mary) to let them know that he was on his way home early.

2 hours later he hadn’t shown up yet. His wife called friends and family around the area to see if they had heard anything about a rumored car accident she had heard mentioned from residents coming through the gas station where she was working.

To her horror she learned from a crew member who had been at the scene that it was her husband and that she needed to contact the hospital right away. George Sr. had been involved in a very serious car accident.  View news story .  Not long after she was contacted by Augusta Health letting her know that they were going to transport George Sr. to UVA because of the bleeding and swelling of his brain.

 

Sandy and Mary got a ride with Mary's boyfriend and his parents, from Crimora to UVA in the dangerous snow all the while praying for a miracle. They had left their two grandsons in the care of a family friend while they were driven over the mountain. George Sr's son, George Jr., and his wife, Rebecca traveled from their home in Stuarts Draft to UVA leaving their children at home with a family member.

George Sr. was taken into ICU and they have discovered more and more injuries as time has passed as they slowly examine him. Their main concern from the very beginning was the bleeding and pressure on his brain. They put in a bolt and a monitor to keep an eye on the pressure. They took George to several CT scans to keep an eye on the area of his brain that was bleeding. In between these, they discovered that his collar bone is broken, his wrist is broken, his lung had collapsed, there was air in his chest cavity, his back had fractures and several places on his face was fractured.
 

Prayers went up around the world on George Sr.'s behalf as family and friends and friends of friends heard about his critical condition. His wife, daughter, son and many others waited anxiously that first night in the waiting room to hear how bad it was. 

That night the family was finally allowed to go see him. He was heavily sedated and wrapped up. The RN on duty provided hopeful words that as they have been examining him, he showed good signs. The pressure on his brain hadn't gone too high and the CT scans were promising as well.  

Saturday, January 23, 2016 update:

Morning: Sandy, Mary, George Jr., and Rebecca were able to visit with George Sr. The doctor explained that they had seen improvement with the lung that had collapsed. They had taken away some of the sedation to try and get George Sr. to interact with them, he wouldn't open his eyes but his legs and hand moved so there was hope that there wasn't any spinal damage. As expected, the bruising had gotten worse. But good news arrived with the procedures showing no blood in the lungs. They were still very concerned about the possible swelling of his brain and the bleeding but they had decided to stop doing the CT scans for then.

Afternoon: Mary, George Jr., and Rebecca returned back to their homes that day to take care of their nephews and children while Sandy stayed at the hospital with her husband.

Sunday, January 24, 2016 update:

Morning: They began to slowly take him off sedatives to see how he would handle it. After a while of coaxing George Sr. opened his eyes and when they asked him to move his fingers, they hopefully interpreted a movement he gave as a thumbs up.   

Afternoon: They had found that the bleeding in his brain had completely stopped. The lung that had collapsed had fully inflated. They are keeping him heavily sedated to make sure that he does not become too anxious or upset.

Good news continues to arrive and blessings from all the prayers and the skills of the medical staff at UVA.

I hope to be able to update this page as much as possible as news comes in.

The need for donations:
The family is looking at a long road of recovery ahead of them. George Sr., is the main finacial supporter for his family. He currently supports his wife, daughter and is also raising two grandsons. It would be so special to be able to give them the blessing to be able to not worry about paying any medical bills that will be coming in and also to help with living expenses while he is in recovery. I also hope this money will give Sandy as much time off from work so that she can focus on spending time with him while he is in the hospital and also during the time he will be at home healing.