NELS' ROAD TO RECOVERY

Hello family and friends. I'm starting this to help my Uncle Nels Stemmene, aka BIG BEN, my mom's younger brother, who had a terrible work accident yesterday, Sunday, April 16th. As anybody who knows him knows he works at Idaho Asphalt, managing the "secret recipe" of asphalt products which he's dedicated over 3 decades of his life. He fell off the top of one of the 20ft tall above-ground tanks while at work, with concrete to break his fall. The list of injuries is pretty extensive, with what the doctors are calling a "complex patient". He sustained 3 fractures to 3 different parts of his skull. He fractured the T2, T7, T8 and T9 vertebrae in his middle back. A total of 13 broken ribs, followed by "pulmonary contusions"(injury to the lungs) from said ribs. This also caused injury to his heart as well. It sounds like he's keeping a team of specialists in multiple medical fields very busy at this time. He remained sedated through the evening but was talking this morning, and even moving his feet. My uncle has always been one of the TOUGHEST guys I know, and one of my biggest idols from the time I was just a little guy.. I know we'll never hear the end of how tough he is after this, but the reality is, the road to recovery is kind of unknown at this point. I think I can speak for my family when I say we're lucky to have him with us at this point. He's a husband, dad, grandpa, brother, uncle, and cousin to many, and our lives wouldn't be the same without him. He and my Aunt Kris both work full-time jobs, so I can only imagine the medical bills, missed wages, and cost of living in general that are going to add up during this road to recovery for BOTH of them really. I will ad details and updates as I get them. Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts already coming his way, we're forever grateful.