Shit son
Damn. posted,
Man's skull temporarily removed to allow room for brain
to swell and heal
By Jamie Lampros
Tue, 07/27/2010 - 11:39pm
Images
LAYTON -- The neurosurgeon took out most of Kyle
Johnson's skull and froze it, hoping to preserve it if by
chance he needed it back. His damaged brain needed
room to swell.
The doctor said Johnson's head had cracked on the
road like a hard-boiled egg when he fell from his
longboard. No optimistic predictions were made.
Johnson's family was told to spend the night in the ICU
conference room, because it wasn't known whether he
would live through the night.
Three weeks later, the Layton man was walking,
talking, writing and even dating again.
He didn't even need much recovery therapy.
"Twenty-first century medicine played a part in Kyle's
recovery, but he had some guardian angels looking
after him," said Dr. Blake Welling, the McKay-Dee
Hospital neurosurgeon who took care of Johnson. "He
had such profound injuries that the chances of him
dying, based on the coma scale, were about 90
percent."
On June 2, Johnson, 25, decided to take a spin on his
longboard on the street by his home. A longboard -- a
skateboard that has the fluid motion of a surfboard -- is
designed for cruising or downhill racing and is larger
and heavier than a skateboard used for tricks. Johnson,
a certified professional snowboard instructor at
Snowbasin, said he wears a helmet 99 percent of the
time whether he's skiing, skating or riding his bike. This
particular evening, though, he neglected to wear it.
"I was going about 25 to 30 miles an hour and lost
control of the board," Johnson said. "I had wrecked
before and it had never been a big deal, but this was a
bad one. When I wrecked, I flipped over and landed
square on the back of my head."
Johnson's friend, who was following in his car, jumped
out and called 911.
"I was breathing irregularly and there was a puddle of
blood about four feet long and a foot wide going down
the hill," Johnson said. "When I got to McKay-Dee
Hospital they said I might not make it to 12 hours. I had
hit my head so hard that it broke the skull in more than
10 places, which is extremely rare."
Welling said he graded Johnson's injury using the
Glasgow Coma Scale.
"Someone completely intact has a score of 15. A three
means dead on arrival. Kyle's was a six, which is very,
very critical," Welling said.
"His initial CAT scans were very worrisome and showed
that his brain was swelling. We measured the pressure
inside his head. A 10 is normal. Kyle's was 50. After
someone reaches 50, they typically die from lack of
blood flow."
Welling had no choice but to remove both sides of
Johnson's skull and place his skin back over his brain
so it could expand as much as it needed to.
His skull was placed in a deep-freeze to preserve.
Johnson's mother, Becky, said hospital staff told the
family to spend the night, just in case he didn't pull
through.
"They told us to stay the night in the conference room,"
she said. "I think they thought they would be telling us
they lost Kyle."
Johnson remained in a coma for three weeks.
"We stayed there the entire time," Becky said. "You just
run on adrenaline and faith. I had my iPad, so I got it
out and got onto Facebook and started asking people
to pray for Kyle."
The prayers started rolling in by the thousands. First
from people in Utah; then missionaries from The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia,
Argentina and Europe began praying for Johnson.
People from all over the world posted on the Facebook
page that they also were praying for Johnson.
"We would get a post from someone saying, 'Praying
for you in Idaho,' or 'Praying for you in New York,'ΓΆΓΆ"
Johnson said. "My dad is a mathematician, and he
calculated there were about 57,000 prayers being said
in my behalf. I could actually feel those prayers. My
family took a map and started filling in where the
prayers were coming from. The whole world map was
fairly full."
Two weeks after the accident, Johnson's brain swelling
went down and Welling replaced his skull.
"Three weeks after the accident, lo and behold, Kyle
woke up and was doing great," Welling said. "I saw him
in my office just this last week and was amazed at his
recovery. I told him that he has a purpose on this earth,
and it's his job to find out what it is."
Johnson couldn't agree more.
"I think I'm definitely a miracle. I don't know why I
survived, but I know there's a reason. When I woke up,
I was doing so well that even the rehab people didn't
know what to do with me," Johnson said. "I've talked to
people with injuries less severe than mine who have
been in the hospital longer than me. I just have had a
pioneering type of recovery."
Johnson said through this experience he realized even
more how important family and friends are in this life.
"Life isn't about the things you accumulate. It's about
the people you surround yourself with," he said. "We're
here to serve each other. To love and care for each
other. I'm actually grateful that I had this experience.
It's been a blessing."
While her son lay in a coma, Becky went to the hospital
gift shop and bought him a stuffed dog.
"He's always wanted a dog, so I went to the gift shop
and bought him one. I put it in his bed with him and told
him that if he pulled through I would get him a dog,"
she said.
When Johnson got home, he and his two cats
welcomed Alaskan malamute puppy Hector into the
fold.
Since he's returned home, Johnson has had time to
reflect more on the use of helmets, and he strongly
encourages people to wear them.
Welling agrees.
"You can be the best skater or skier in the world and
still have something happen," Welling said. "Take
precautionary measures and wear the helmet -- even if
you think you look like a dork. In reality, wearing a
helmet is cool."
2011 October 11 3:25 AM
replied,
It still boggles my mind why some people think helmets look dorky. The crashes I've gotten up and kept skating away from would have put me in the back of an ambulance without a proper helmet. I mean a REAL HELMET too. One that's rated with CPSC and ASTM certification. Charlys and Icaros will look cool, but offer no real protection. Mischo and Skatie wear 'em for some reason, but they're fortunate enough not to crash.