Day 20 - July 5 - The Moment

I know many of you are interested in knowing how this whole chain of events began. I've had the opportunity to speak with Connor's friends, one of the paramedics who responded to the initial call, the MD at the camp who stabilized Connor for travel, and the trauma surgeon who admitted him to the hospital, and I think I can paint a reasonably clear picture of most of what occurred. There are many things we won't know this side of heaven, but I'll share what I've pieced together. All names have been removed.

I also know that when you combine the words "teen-aged boy" and "diving accident" in the same sentence, you instantly get images of high rocks and shallow water. All of this would be easier to understand if that were the case...

It began with the trip to the swimming hole, or "the cove" as it's known at Hume Lake. I asked his friend to tell me who was there. The story began in typical young man fashion - "It was me, Connor, and eight girls". Yep, sounds like Connor!

Anyway, they were at the cove, and the two young men ran into the lake and dove in. The water was increasing in depth, about thigh-deep where they shallow-dove into the lake. Connor's friend came back up, looked around, and saw Connor floating face down in the water. Since the girls had been afraid to go in the cold water, everybody thought he was play-acting, but the longer he remained still, the closer the friend looked. Finally, he saw Connor's shoulders moving oddly and realized that his friend wasn't faking at all. He dove back in, swept Connor out of the water, and turned him over. Connor was pale and his lips were blue. They got him back to shore and about half out of the water, while everybody hollered for help. Connor managed to get the water out of his lungs and began breathing, while two emergency room nurses who "just happened" to be on the beach at the time began assessing and trying to stabilize him.

Connor says that he remembers being in the water, unable to move, and praying "Lord help me, let him see me, Lord help me, let him see me". He says the last thing he remembers is seeing his friend's arm sweep in front of his face, then he awoke on the beach.

As near as we can tell, Connor never struck anything with his head. He has no contusions on his face, no cuts or bruises on his face or head anywhere. His friend says there are no rocks in the water there, because it is the usual swimming area. The photo at the top of this post is the exact spot where Connor entered the water (the underwater log in the lower left of the photo drifted there four or five days after Connor's accident). It appears from the nature of his injuries that perhaps he struck the bottom (or something) with both his hands, at which point both of his shoulders dislocated. The doctors say his injury is consistent with a really, really extreme whiplash, so it's possible that as his dislocated shoulders moved backward under the force of his forward motion, the shoulder blades swept forward and forced the vertebrae out of place. That's all speculation, BTW.

Back to the story. Connor's friend ran about a mile, barefoot across gravel and sand, to the complex to get help. There "just happened" to be a squad meeting of the paramedics beginning, and they all jumped up and ran, arriving on scene in about a minute or so. The physician who was working as the camp's doctor that week "just happened" to be a trauma and ER surgeon at St. Agnes hospital in Fresno. Connor was airlifted to the hospital, two hours away by road, in seventeen minutes. I'm told he was talking with the paramedics when he was rolled into the emergency room.

It is clear in retrospect that God was planning for all this to happen in His time and according to His plan. Apart from all the "just happened"'s I've already mentioned, I "just happened" to be leaving the next morning for a week-long motorcycle trip with friends, so I had time off from work for ten days. Because of my motorcycle plans, I "just happened" to have purchased a membership with CalStar (LifeFlight) - it gave any of my family members covered helicopter transport in the event it was necessary. I "just happened" to buy that membership two weeks before the accident. Back in March, Joélle's boyfriend Alan had "just happened" to arrange to live with us over the summer to earn money for college, so he was here to help support the family during the crisis. Cherié's bands "just happened" to have no gigs scheduled for the next few weeks, so she had no obligations to undo. God had provided for us all ahead of time, laying out His plan.

I'm not too keen with the plan at this particular moment, but I am convinced that He is in control. He asks me to trust Him; He didn't ask me to like it. And yet in some odd way, I find myself at peace while I grieve; I ache and yet worship; I hope in the midst of despair.

May the peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.