Tuesday, November 21, 2006

He is a Christian, and I'm thankful

I boast being a Christian. I praise my God. I pray to my God.

I sin and admit it. I pray I'll do better.

My friend has been a Christian since the day he was born. He's more fortunate than most in that regard.

You see, Christian is his name, given to him by his parents.

Middle name? D (Note the no period)

It's a family thing, I promise. But when combined with his last name, people wonder. You see, my friend is Christian D Orr, a reassigned sports writer who just happens to share a similar name with designer Christian Dior.

Chris and I became friends a decade and a half ago, and the relationship has simply grown. I pray it continues to grow.

Chris was one of two men injured Nov. 18 in Lawrence, Kan., when the Kansas State University "Cat Tracker" bus -- on its way to the intrastate rivalry football game between the Wildcats and the University of Kansas -- went under an overpass about three hours prior to kickoff. Both men hit the overpass.

Chris and John Green were standing on top of the party bus and struck the overpass. Green died at the scene. Chris was lifeflighted from the scene to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., with a serious head injury.

Suffice it to say, it's critical. It's scary. It's deadly.

Chris is fighting for his life, and I'm scared. I can't help it, folks. He's my friend. I don't want to bury my friend. I don't want my friend to spend the rest of his life bedridden and cared for by a nurse. But those are possibilities.

Anything is possible with a brain injury.

I spent three days in the hospital with Chris and his family. I cried. I told stories. I prayed. I prayed a lot. I even prayed when I didn't know it. There were times when I caught myself in thought, and I was in prayer.

Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's faith in God. Whatever it is, I don't rightly care. I just hope it works.

This is the first step in months of rehabilitation. If Chris survives, he is in for a very long road. I plan to be there for it.

Chris was on his way to the game with the Cat Tracker crew. I planned to meet him there, with our friend, Tim, and others. At 11:30 a.m., I received a text message from Chris, telling me he was on the bus having the time of his life. According to the police report, the accident happened at 11:35.

In the past few days, I've wondered what happened in that five minutes. I've wondered how much fun he was having.

Tim called numerous times upon our arrival to Lawrence on Saturday. He never got through. We now know why. I called a friend I knew was on the bus about an hour after the accident, and that's when I heard the news. Tim and I handed the tickets over to the other two cohorts who were with us, walking toward the stadium in hopes of finding the Cat Tracker bus and partying with our friend when I made that fateful call.

It stopped me in my tracks in the middle of the street.

Within 45 minutes, Tim and I had arrived at the hospital. We were there until Monday evening, when we went back to our respective jobs. But we'll be back. We'll be back soon.

No matter the work to do and the other things that are going on this holiday week, my heart and my mind are in Kansas City with Chris, as they should be. My wife understands, just as she did when she arrived at the hospital Sunday afternoon.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I realize I have much for which to be thankful, most notably Christian's life. I'm thankful for the beautiful bride, who shared the love she has for me with my friends.

I ask for a lot, I know, but I want my friend to beat the odds. I want him to improve and love his wife and hug his kids. I want him to call me names and make fun of my fat butt. I want him to cheer at Chiefs games and hug my neck when the team wins its next Super Bowl.

But I have faith, in Christ and Christian.

8 Comments:

Blogger Erudite Redneck said...

Oh, man. Feebles prayers aloft. For you, too, friend.

Wed Nov 22, 05:17:00 AM  
Blogger Trixie said...

Prayers from here, too, Ted. Nothing more I can say than I'm so sorry for your friend's accident.

Wed Nov 22, 07:59:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing, Ted. I think this experience has made stronger Christians out of all of us.

Fri Nov 24, 06:45:00 PM  
Blogger Teditor said...

UPDATE:

Chris had a very rough Thanksgiving, but the doctors at KUMED did wonders. By late Thursday, he was more stable. By Friday, even more.

I went to visit on Saturday, and he was doing even better. He was responding the stimuli. How thankful I am.

I've dreamed about Chris every night since the incident. Being able to see him today, touch him, see his arm move as I touched it, I was enthused. I continue to pray he improves, but I have to be realistic that there will be setbacks.

I've gone through so many emotions over the last week, from fear to joy to anger. I should trust my faith in God, but I worry. I can't help it. But Saturday's experience has made me rest a little easier, I'm sure.

Sat Nov 25, 09:45:00 PM  
Blogger Trixie said...

Any new updates Ted?

Thu Dec 07, 06:15:00 PM  
Blogger Teditor said...

He's continuing to improve and open his eyes and be more responsive. I'm not sure if he's still considered in a coma. His wife's been traveling between K.C. and their home because the boys had Christmas programs this week, and I haven't wanted to overwhelm her. I'll call her tomorrow. I believe she's taking the boys back to K.C. tomorrow.

We're heading to K.C. Saturday. I'll know more after that.

Thu Dec 07, 08:52:00 PM  
Blogger Teditor said...

UPDATE!

Chris is now off a ventilator, and the doctors don't consider him comatose any longer. That's great news. My bride and I spent all day Saturday in K.C., and I went in to see him a few times that day. He was awake and seemed to me to be aware of what was going on around him. Since he can't talk yet, we don't right know for sure.

But he's definitely responding as if he's aware. He opens just one eye, but he was looking intently at us as we visited. He may be able to leave ICU for a private room in the coming days.

Thanks to all those that are interested

Sun Dec 10, 10:46:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How is Chris doing now?

Sat Dec 15, 07:54:00 PM  

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