update on Laura
I got an email from one of my former roommates this weekend. Her cousin is Laura, who was the only student to survive the accident last Wednesday. An excerpt:
She is currently in critical condition in a hospital in Indiana. Her body is pretty banged up…her left elbow and left leg are both broken and her right clavical is also broken. Her arm and leg are casted up and her right arm is in a sling. She also has a couple broken ribs. The doctors are confident that all of her broken bones should heal normally. She hit her head in the accident and was knocked unconscious and is now in a coma, but she is showing signs of responsiveness with little movements and twitches. The doctors were encouraging in that it is not uncommon for someone with a traumatized head injury to go into a coma. It’s the body’s way of protecting itself. She is able to breathe on her own, but is hooked up to a machine so that she doesn’t have to make such an effort just to breathe. All of her vital signs are also good and she has been stable so that is very good. The only major thing they are unsure of at this point is what type and amount of cognitive brain damage she may sustain. There is no telling how long it will take or if it is even possible for her to fully recover yet. Please keep that specifically in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for Laura and her family. Praise God that the other three staff members involved in the accident are now released from the hospital. Please pray especially for Vickie, the driver of the van, who no doubt feels responsibility even though there was nothing that could have been done. Pray for the loved ones of Betsy, Brad, Whitney, Laurel, and Monica, especially this week as all the funerals and memorial services are taking place. Pray also for Robert Spencer – the driver of the truck that hit the van, who at age 27 has to live with the fact that he caused the death of five people.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13