Heal Nick

So, it’s 75 in Boston today and, as it should be, Nicholas spent the afternoon outside interacting with family and friends and generally enjoying a great Spring day. Plenty of sun block, except we forgot the back of his hands. It took us awhile to figure this out. We couldn’t figure out why he turned his hands up while resting on the arms of his wheelchair. It appeared he was assuming a quasi-lotus position. It finally dawned on us he was protecting the back of his hands. Once the sun block was applied, he turned his hands over. He’s really beginning to make his feelings known.

The therapies are really beginning to kick-in. He now has pretty much full control of his head and neck, can sit unassisted for 2 or 3 minutes (This is really hard work!), shifts his weight in the wheelchair, does a lot of the work himself transitioning from a supine to sitting to standing when being transferred from bed to wheelchair. He just figured-out how to operate the wheelchair himself and Nicholas being Nicholas pays particular attention to keeping it moving in a straight line…always making minute course corrections. He can also back-up and turn. He decided to spring this bit of skill on us today. Of some concern is he now knows how to unbuckle the seatbelt and can almost pull himself out of the wheelchair. He needs to be watched and this is good! The therapists had him “walking” between parallel bars the other day with his legs bearing most of his weight. It will take some hard work to get the articulation of his joints and muscles working correctly but I don’t think it will be too much longer before he’ll be able to get around for short periods using a walker. His cognitive awareness & skills have increased accordingly. He is getting much better responding with head nodding/shaking for simple yes and no questions and took the first steps toward feeding himself the other day by using a spoon to eat five spoonfuls of organic yogurt. The therapist first tried pudding and custard, which didn’t interest Nicholas at all to no one’s surprise. There’s no doubt his personality and humor are still intact.

The biggest step in the rehab process this week was Nicholas’ weekly evaluation by the therapists who now consider him “responsive”, as he beginning to “interact with his environment”. Last week he was categorized as “minimally responsive”.

The family continues to smile. Peter

Hello from New Zealand!

It has been very good seeing Nicholas. Not too much to add to yesterday’s update by Peter and Lucy. Their updates had very helpful in preparing me to see Nicholas. I had been curious if their updates have been giving me a good picture of Nicholas’ state – and they have. I was a little surprised at how knowledgeable Peter and Lucy are. Almost right away Lucy picked up Nicholas’ chart and started explaining what various stats meant. I prentended to understand what she was talking about, but was mostly just thinking how happy I am that they have been with Nick.

As Peter said Nicholas did have a pretty relaxed day yesterday (I won’t hold it against him, I almost fell asleep myself during the bedtime story last night) The first thing he did when my mother and I walked in the room was to shut his eyes. It was very nice to hold Nick’s hand yesterday.

Today, I’ve just come from the Hospital and Nicholas seemed a lot more alert. Eyes were much more open and his arms were more active. I was holding his right hand and felt a little embarassed at one point over how strong his right arm is! I might need to get to a gym.

Well, that’s all for now, I think Peter’s previous advice to be patient is sound. But know that Nick is in excellent hands. Keep writing him those letters, I know he appreciates hearing them.

Colin.

Nicholas has hit a bit of a plateau in his recovery. Everyone reading this site will have to be patient, as from here on in recovery will be slow & steady progression back to normality. The most important thing is for him not to regress. So, if we have nothing much to report except a day of rest & recovery, it is a good sign. Peter & Lucy

Nothing much to report today, which is good. Nicholas took the day to relax & recover from yesterday’s surgery. If he could talk, he’d probably admit to feeling a little uncomfortable but not overly so. I decided to keep the music stimulus at a lower level…Vivaldi, which I’m sure he appreciated. A favorite expression in NZ is “no worries", which seems apropos for today. Peter & Lucy

We’re all smiles. Nicholas went into surgery today to have his cranial bone replaced & the operation went without a hitch. The neurosurgeon was very pleased with the outcome. Baring any unforeseen glitches, it should be smooth sailing from here on in with nothing but recovery progressing without interferences. Hopefully, by early next week he will be transferred to the rehab facility to commence the real reconnection process & eventually home. Big cheers! Peter & Lucy

It was & still is grey, cold & raining. Just rather dismal. I think the sense of the day permeated Nicholas’ room, except for around 3:00pm, added Wednesday’s surgery, caused him to really kick-back & relax. It’s to be expected. Both Lucy & I read to him more than usual, which he seemd to enjoy by the contented looks he was giving us. He’s scheduled for one more bit of surgery, cranial bone replacement, on Monday afternoon. Another big step towards recovery. These operations seem to knock the stuffing out of him for a few days, so the more rest he gets before Monday, the better. Cheers. Peter & Lucy

To continue the metaphore…

The wind did indeed back this afternoon around 1400, as expected. Sails have been trimmed accordingly. Boat speed up. Not quite a beam reach but if the shift continues for a few more degrees, it should be by tomorrow morning. Presently, any lost distance has been regained. Peter & Lucy

Indulge me a metaphor. Nicholas has been reaching along the past few days making good boat speed. However, the wind came ahead this morning requiring the sails to be trimmed. Now he’s going upwind into a little chop and the speed as dropped off a few knots. Wednesday he will have an operation to install a shunt to reduce an excess of cerebrospinal fluid, which may have been impairing both a speedier recovery & certainly the reduction in swelling. The wind should back around by Friday or Saturday so he can continue on a broad reach, regain any distance lost & make-up for lost time. Peter & Lucy

Nicholas’ hands & arms continued to be fairly active today. To borrow from my sister - like a newborn making discoveries. For all of you imploring, encouraging, praying, sending energy sparks, etc. for him to “awake", it’s worked. I think I can fairly say he is awake in the strict sense of the word. He does wake & sleep. However, awake merely means his eyes are open & seemingly focused at times on objects & they do follow voices & other sounds. He’s awake but still in his “dream” & seems to be struggling to emerge from it. So, now the effort needs to be directed at reconnecting all the bits & pieces back to the whole. So, everyone keep doing your thing. Peter & Lucy

Weekends, yes it’s Saturday in Dunedin, tend to be slow at the hospital & today was no different until about 6:00pm, when Nicholas decided to come out of his lethargy running (figuratively speaking). His eyes popped open & he began to aggressively move both arms & hands, attempting to thwart any nurse performing annoying, routine duties (mouth swabbing, shaving, suctioning, etc.). He was definitely doing this somewhat by reflex but more voluntarily. We can’t help but feel something connected today. Hopefully, we’ll see much more of this tomorrow. Peter & Lucy

Well, we had one of those days when we were just out of sinc with Nicholas. All our time with him, he was asleep & the nurses reported that 2 minutes after we wouldd leave the room he’d be awake, until 2 minutes before our return. He was awake, gazing out his window the entire 2 hours “rest” period (2-4pm). He must have sensed something was happening to him during this time…maybe around 3pm NZ time. Nicholas did very well today breathing on his own. Not that he hasn’t been doing this all along. There are just varying stages of this. Most of the time he’s hooked-up to an apparatus that keeps a minimal amount of pressure in his lungs. This is necessary when one has been lying down for extended periods of time & it takes time to wean him off the pressure. Today he was entirely on his own with no pressure assistance. This is a major step in getting him closer to initial rehab. If he can go a couple of more days like this, there is a good possibility he’ll be in rehab sooner than expected. Don’t get missled now. He can still be semi-comatose, which he is now, & still start various stages of rehab. All of this is very positive. Believe us. Peter & Lucy

Busy morning for Nicholas. Stitches removed from the inside of his mouth (upper & lower lips), plus some fibrous growth (scar tissue). Local anesthesia used but it still bothered him. The nurse said he tried to raise his right arm & hand in protest but only could get it half way to the culprit administering the uncomfort. High marks for the effort. This was followed by 10+ minutes on the tilt table in the standing position. By the looks of Nicholas, sweat on the body & a certain amount of annoyance in his eyes. I think it was tantamount to him running about 5 miles. Needless to say the afternoon was spent in the floating chair sound asleep.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the nurses & physios in the HDU who are helping Nicholas. They’re a wonderful group & we couldn’t be more pleased with the attention & care he’s receiving.

Also, thank you Maree for taking us to your house for “tea” tonight, and we wish Brian, her father & one of Nicholas’ “roommates", a speedy recovery. Kiwis are too kind.

Peter & Lucy

Another sunny, Summer day in Dunedin & Nicholas is sitting in his “floating” (therapy) chair basking in the rays & energy steaming through his window. He had a busy morning on the tilt table, standing upright for a good 10 minutes. This was a great deal of work for him, which he seemd to enjoy. However, he was also very content to kick back, chill for the afternoon. Peter & Lucy

Nothing earth shattering to report. Nicholas is the same & spending the day in the therapy ("float") chair. He’s looking very smug & comfortable. I have to confess Lucy & I took an early break to meet friends of friends who had driven down from Timaru (2 hours north of Dunedin) to meet us & treat us to lunch. Right now is “rest period” at the hosiptal. We’re beginning to understand Nicholas’ cycles & this appears to be a rest day, after yesterday’s tilt table.

The best address to send anything to Nicholas is:

Peter & Lucy Robbins
c/o Woodlands Village #311
594 Great King Street
Dunedin, New Zealand

Cheers. Peter & Lucy

Monday in Dunedin & it’s already been a good one for Nicholas. He was placed on a “tilt table” this morning & “tilted” in 5 stages to an upright standing position. At each position his blood pressure was taken to be sure there were no drastic changes. The PT advised that blood pressure often gets too low when a patient is tilted for the 1st time. Not so with Nicholas. His remained very steady throughout the exercise. He was in the upright position for 6 minutes. This will be repeated tomorrow, for a longer period. Lucy & I were assisting (minority roles) & Nicholas was looking at us rather skeptically but with a somewhat amused expression. We wonder what he’s thinking & can’t wait for the time he’s able to relate these experiences. We’re encouraged & everyone should be, as well. Peter & Lucy

It’s Sunday evening and another uneventful day. We don’t mind at all. Nick spent most of the day sitting in a therapy chair, taking in the view from his window. His eyes appear quite alert & at times he almost looks as though he’s smirking at all that’s around him. (He probably is!) We’re looking forward to an active week, starting tomorrow. Peter & Lucy

It’s evening on Saturday & Nick has been resting pretty much all day, recuperating from all of yesterday’s activity. He did, however, sit in the therapy chair for another 6 hours but seemed quite content getting back to the prone position around 6:00pm. This is not exciting news but part of the ultimate healing process is the occasional day of rest. Cheers. Peter & Lucy

It’s been a petty good day in Dunedin for Nick and the energy from Nick’s Nation at 3:00pm was felt. He started the day at a GCS score of 8 & as of 9:00pm was a 9. The big event was transferring him from his bed to a therapy chair for 5 hours. This means he was more-or-less sitting in an upright postion, allowing for better breathing & circulation. All of this is a very positive step in the prevention of infections & blood clots. We have been advised that he may spend some time on the “tilt table” on Monday. These are continued positive signs of improvement. His response to voice commands with his eyes & hands contimues to improve bit by bit & for the first time we’re seeing much more activity from his left side. Nick’s day ended with a bath & shave at 8:30pm, followed by getting a new neck brace. He was read his daily Letters to Nick & anothe chapter from Charlotte’s Web, at which time he appeared to be fast asleep. Nick did a great deal of work today & was obviously tired.

Rest well, dear son. You deserve it.

Love, Peter & Lucy

Another good day for Nick. His Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score leveled out at 8. This is a big improvement coming toward the end of the week. Basically, it means he’s becoming more responsive to certain stimuli. If you want to better understand the GCS score, suggest you Google Glasgow Coma Scale.

Each day we read the current “Letters to Nick” & I can’t begin to tell you how important they are. It is very obvious from what we perceive that there is good reason to believe he is listening intently & I don’t think it’s just to the sound of our voices. Continue to encourage him to wake-up & don’t forget to include some humor. The letters also help us. We are continually talking to him but I suspect he gets bored with our words & looks forward to yours.

Thanks & Cheers. Peter & Lucy

Once again the sun is pouring its rays onto Nick & he seems at peace. He’s improving daily, as he becomes more alert, especially in the movement of his eyes. To all who have sent CD’s, thanks. For the first time yesterday, he appeared to enjoy the music (mxes), as indicated by a minimal pulse rate increase, as opposed to a rather significant reaction to Mozart 2 days ago. We’re not sure if he really enjoyed Amadeus’ works or disliked them, but will try the classical approach again, later.

The following might be considered NZ life’s philosophy for some & appropriate for Nick’s situation. It was discovered printed on a banner in Dunedin:

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn-out, shouting “Jeez, what a ride!".

We are convinced this is just a minor skid in Nick’s life with many more ahead, as he resumes his “ride".

Peter & Lucy

For all of you in New England it’s sunny & about 70 here in Dunedin. Enjoy the blizzard. Make the best of it in many ways.

If there are any skeptis out there, be assured the energy is working & was on full display last evening. When Lucy & I returned from dinner around 8:00pm to bid good night to Nicholas (the sun is still well-up at this time in NZ), he openned his eyes for the 1st time since the operation. At the same time, a brilliant, full-arced rainbow appeared about 3 blocks from his window. 2 minutes later a 2nd rainbow formed outside the 1st. The power is definitely working. It just a little time to fully gathre and make it way to New Zealand. Thanks. Although still in a coma (level 6), he appears to be much more alert this morning. Petre & Lucy

Petre & Lucy

It’s the 23rd of January and the sun is shining brightly onto Nicholas. Although he’s till resting peacefully, biding his time, healing, for the moment he decides it’s time to startle his & our worlds, we know he feels the rays and strength. Peter & Lucy

Nick spent a successful & fairly restful night in his new location. Today’s good signs are he continues to breathe completely on his own, the line used to monitor various vitals has been removed from his wrist & the central line has been removed from his chest. This is an indication that his really doing everything necessary himself with minimal, electronic monitoring. Another baby step forward. The healing energy is working.

I think we can anticipate many, long, mind-bending conversations from Nick regarding this journey he’s on. These will happen. Continue to be patient. He’ll pick his time.

Peter & Lucy

It’s 21 Jan & very positive move occured today at 1450. Nicholas was moved from ICU Ward 5A to the ICU step-down Ward 5B. He’s in Room 14 (The number he wore playing hockey at Pingree. Perhaps yet another coincidence?) and is right next to a large window with daylight on him all day.This was a result of him being able to breathe on his own. No ventilation necessary. Another baby step but I big one as far as we’re concerned. He’s still in a rather deep sleep, which is normal after his extensive day in the surgical theatre yesterday.

As more and more of you post to this site, the continued postive energy makes its way to Dunedin. It is felt by all.

Cheers. Peter & Lucy

It’s 6:15pm on 20 January & Nick is back in the ICU after pretty much all-day surgery. Is in good shape & all vital signs are fine. The anesthesia is expected to wear off in a couple of hours. He now has a trach and looks much better with the tubes out of his mouth. Also, the facial fracures have been repaired, which took most of the day. The nuerogeon did not replace the cranial bones, as Nick’s brain was still a little too swollen. However, he did indicate that the brain was still in a state of healing. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, this delays Nick’s eventual return to the U.S. However, we’re absolutely convinced to this is OK. Slow & cautious is good! Providing all goes well, there is a good chance he’ll be out of the ICU next week. Baby steps!

Please, everyone, continue to support this web site. It’s vital to Nick’s recovery. Peter & Lucy

It’s Wednesday here. George and I just saw Nicholas early this morning. At noon he’ll have a CT scan to see whether his head swelling has decreased enough for tomorrow’s surgery to repair the bones in his jaw/cheeks and to replace the bone flaps in his forehead. They’ll do the tracheostomy anyway, as it will free his mouth and vocal cords.

He looks far better than he did a week ago! Instead of a johnny he has been wearing boxer-shorts made of johnny-material. They are quite flattering, since he is very fit–and the excellent physiotherapist is working on keeping him that way. He still wears the support stockings and goes in and out of splints and pressure-machines to keep his legs strong.

He has photos around his bed as well as a poem by Piers and a quote from Sir Edmund Hillary that Peter put up. He still wears his lucky turquoise accessories as suggested by his friend Naomi.

George, Kristin and I leave here tomorrow with mixed feelings at best. We have become dependent on being with Nicholas.

Hi Carolyn Thompson here one of Nicholas’ nurses. It’s been great looking at this website and getting a glimpse of the colourful life that Nicholas has lead so far. I find this helpful in caring for him as obviously I did not meet him until recently. Nicholas is making slow progress. I look forward to revisiting this site and updating myself.

We can’t add anything to what our daughter, Kristin, posted earlier today, except to advise that we have received more reinforcement from the medical teams that the decision and consent to operate on Thursdayis absolutely the correct one for Nicholas’ well-being and future.

We, also, want to say how much the contributions to this site have meant to us, as well as being a positive source of energy to Nicholas.

Peter & Lucy

Greetings – Nicholas’ big sister Kristin here. Nick is looking great today (Tuesday, Jan 18 in NZ). Seems that the staph infection is under control. His respiratory situation has improved slightly as well and they have knocked down his support from the respirator a bit (pressure support down to 10 from a 15 last night). He has periods of “wakefulness” during which his eyes are open and it seems that they react to voices and other stimulus and he has a lot of movement in his right arm – if you put your hand in his he will grasp it very tightly. These periods are followed by definate times of sleep – where he simply closes his eyes and rests. He has also progressed a bit on the Glasgow Coma Scale from a 5 to a 7-8 (when he was admitted he was at a 3).

Thank you all for your wonderful letters. We print them out and read every single one to him!

love to all,
Kristin

We took some time the other day to pay a quick visit to The Hillary Exhibit (Mt. Everest) at the local museum. The thought the following quote from Sir Edmund was very appropriate:

I have had the world lie beneath my clumsy boots and saw the red sun slip over the horizon after the dark Antarctic winter.

I have been given more than my share of excitement, beauty, laughter and friendship.

But for me the most rewarding moments have not always been the great moments - for what can surpass a tear on your departure, joy on your return or a trusting hand in yours?

This is posted by Nicholas’ bed. Peter

Nicholas has been moved to a quieter area of the ICU in hopes of allowing him a little more rest. We have been instructed to establish more of a visiting routine so he can get into a pattern of “wake & sleep". So, from 12:00n to 2:00pm daily will be his rest time, which he needs. This is good.

We just had a meeting with the full medical team attending to Nicholas and a decision was made to schedule a duel operation on Thursday to replace his cranial bones and repair numerous facial factures. The neursurgeon & facial surgeon will be operating in consort. It will be about a 6 to 7 hour operation but all agree it’s in his best interest for numerous reasons. The sooner these opertions are done, the sooner a determination can be made regarding his ability to be flown back to the U.S. We are feeling very positive with our decision to proceed. And, this is also good. Peter & Lucy

Hello All,

This is Honor, one of Nicholas’ sisters, writing from New Zealand. Thanks to everyone who has been writing and sending their thoughts to Nick over this last week- it has made a huge difference (and thanks to Colin for organizing this site)! I thought I would just get an overview of Nicholas’ medical status up onto the site so that everyone can share the same big picture. As is the case with all traumatic brain injuries the most important message is that the long term outcome is impossible to predict at this point. It will become clearer only as the next weeks and months unfold.

That being said, at present Nicholas is in a deep coma (for those with a medical background his glascow score is 5 and was 3 at presentation). A repeat cat scan on the 13th showed that his brain is still very swollen from the initial trauma. The neurosurgeon thinks it will be another 10 days before the swelling goes down. He has had his forehead bone removed to allow for relief of the pressure from the swelling and once the swelling goes down they will replace it. In addition to the diffuse swelling there is an area where he actually hit his head (in the right frontal lobe) where the brain tissue has died. What this means in terms of Nick’s functioning is again really difficult to say. Some people have relatively little functional change from large areas of damage while others have large deficits from seemingly small injuries. Nick’s recovery could be anywhere along the spectrum and there is the small chance that he might not wake up. Also the waking process itself is slow and gradual, rather than something that will suddenly happen in one day.

Not much is known about deep comas or about what Nick is capable of hearing or understanding. He probably will not remember any of this and is probably unaware of what is happening to him at this point. He does respond to stimulation, however- voices, music, or a painful stimulus all make his heart rate and blood pressure go up and make his eyes open a bit more. He has a sleep- wake cycle with his eyes closed or open, respectively, but “awake” is not awake in the sense that we are used to.

In terms of movement he moves his right arm quite a bit spontaneuosly, coughs, occasionally blinks, roves his eyes around, wiggles his mouths, yawns and if you pinch his left arm or toes he will withdraw them slightly.

For breathing he has a tube in and though he breathes on his own he receives minimal support from a respirator. The goal is to slowly wean him off of the respirator and switch from the tube to a tracheotomy (hopefully within the next week). Though he is breathing on his own he will need to have either the breathing tube or a tracheotomy to protect his airway until he is much more awake.

Because he isn’t moving around and he has invasive lines going into his body he is at risk for a number of infections. He is recovering well from a bout of pneumonia, but as of this morning he has a new blood infection (coag neg staph) . Today they will change his arterial line in case that is the source of the infection and will start new antibiotics (Vanco, gent and flucoxacillin (?)). (Currently only has a subclavian central line, and a foley in. He had two chest tubes and a ventricular catheter which were all removed 5 days ago. Sinuses looked fine on CT 1/13).

Other injuries include fractures of the cervical spine, the thoracic spine (T2), and a few fractures of his cheekbones. There is no spinal cord damage which is apparent at this point and the cervical and thoracic spine fractures will heal on their own in 6 weeks or so. Until then he needs to wear a neck brace and be turned carefully in bed so as not to tweak his thoracic fracture. The facial fractures will need to be repaired at some point and since they will require 5 hours of surgery this step will happen much later.

That’s about all I can think of for now. Nicholas looks better every morning and is in great hands here. Keep the thoughts and support coming until he’s able to come home.

Honor

Hey all, not too much to report. I’ll quote from Honor:

“I just saw Nicholas and he’s looking pretty good this morning. His eyes were open more than usual and he was blinking, with lots of movement of his right arm. His pneumonia is improving but he’s still spiking temps so perhaps there’s another infection somewhere or it’s just second to the brain injury itself. the goal over the next two days is to wean him off of the respirator, though they’ll keep the breathing tube in place just in case. next week they hope to convert him to a tracheostomy tube. “

Also this page is now accessible from plain old http://nicksrecovery.com (at least in boston … who knows how long it will take domain name to propagate to NZ or elsewhere)

I’m glad to see people are registering don’t be shy about posting!

The latest word from the doctors is that nick might be ready for extraction as early as 4-5 weeks from now. They are also saying that there is still a very good chance that he will come out of the coma - though there is still a chance that he won’t come out of it.

Some other small updates from Honor:

“other small updates- they’re taking the stitches/staples out of his head right now. his breathing is good, still battling the pneumonia, swelling of the brain will go down over the next two weeks and at that point they’ll think about putting his bone plates back in. his hand was not broken.”

That’s all for now.

The succinct facts as well as I could remember.
Nick has been off the drugs keeping him asleep for 20hrs or so and is still in a coma. In his slumber he has moved his foot, squeezed his hand, and moved his tougue, so he’s probably not paralyzed. He has some fuild in his lungs which is being sucked with a tube.
He is on a respirator to help him breathe and save his energy but he could breathe on his own, breaths are very shallow. His temperature has gone up a bit which is common when the body starts to take over and recover. His face is very swollen. The piece of scalp that was removed is relieving the pressure or brain swell. The impact was above his temple on one side. He has fractured is neck and spine but not broken it (due to the ninja landing technique used ). All in all he doing well, and no shattering bad news.

The important thing to be aware of now is that we won’t know the full extent of any mental injury for days or probably weeks after he wakes up. It will take time to first heal and then evaluate. When he wakes they will have to put him under again to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself, move too fast, or gag on the tube in his throat. He will have to stay in the hospital in Dunedin for 3 weeks. Both sides of his family are there with him, his brother Colin is in Boston manning the phones through which I get all my updates.

Note: 3 people have said to have vivid dreams of Nick the day this happened.

I have added the only picture I could find on my hard drive of him. It helps me to have an fresh mental image while meditating and sending white light.

he’s going to be OK,
trusting,
Shane

P.S. To add to some of the beautiful responses replied, I’d like to include an exerpt of well said words from our friend Tim O’Shea

“Tim [tMo]”
Subject: Re: PRAY FOR NICK - update #2

Shane –
…We all savor the energy of adventure and open minded embracing of the unknown. We know that there is always the potential for and certainly the thrill of risk. But a life without risk is a life without love and laughter. If we don’t climb atop the trees both proverbial and real, we are never acquainted with that most holy of views from the perch of new perspective. And the air is so sweet up there. Nick, like the rest of us, breathes deep and full.
The challenge in a time like this is to accept with equal spirit the lessons of the ground as we do the lessons learned on high. Nick has more to share, just as we will have more to share with him. Positive vibrations and an appreciation for living well the life we are given afford an immortality in the time that we are here….

Healing, Happiness and Harmony.

TiMO

Nick is in a coma.
He was hanging out with a newly befriended paragliding guide sometime after jumping. A tradition there in Queenstown NZ is to climb a tall tree in town and carve your initials in the top. He had done that (successfully of course) and on the way down he passed
2 other guys waiting for him in the tree. Perhaps he had to step around them onto a smaller branch but they heard a crack and a branch broke from under him. He fell 30ft, and landed on his head in some way.
Luckily a doctor was walking by right after it happed, so medics were quick to the scene. He was totally unconscious and has brain swell from the impact, and has a few broken bones and dislocated shoulder. His spinal chord looks OK, so he might have escaped being paralyzed. The doctors have since put him under on sedatives to let the swelling go down and so he won’t hurt himself. They have taken a small portion of his scalp off to monitor his brain swell and bloodflow (which is lower than normal) His sister (in med
school) said this could end up to be the worst or a minor injury, it’s just a matter of time. The doctors will keep him under for 2 or 3 days to let the swelling go down and then take him off sedatives to see if he responds (wakes up).

He was traveling with one side of his family for the holidays when this happened. The other half is traveling from Boston to NZ tomorrow. I am in touch with them and will update you asap.

Whew what a day, thanks for all your calls, they give us all strength, and I’ve passed on your good wishes to his family.

Nick is a super bro and needs us now. Please send him love and positive energy. I’m sure he’s out there is some dimension and needs some company…

blessings,
Shane

— Shane Bediz wrote:
TO ALL FRIENDS OF NICK ROBBINS

NICK IS IN THE SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND, HE TOOK A BAD FALL AND LANDED ON HIS HEAD. NOT MUCH IS KNOWN AT THIS POINT. HE WAS AIRLIFTED TO A LARGER HOSPITAL IN DUNEDIN AND IS IN INTENSIVE CARE AND SURGERY. HE COULD BE IN A COMA OR JUST UNCONSCIOUS.

WE THINK HE’LL BE OK, BUT THIS IS SERIOUS. PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SEND HIM SOME PRAYERS, THE COLLECTIVE POWER WE HAVE TO HELP HIM IS HUGE, AND WE ALL LOVE THE GUY.

PLEASE FORWARD TO WHOMEVER APPROPRIATE, AS I SENT THIS QUICKLY. I’M IN SF, GOING UP TO HIS PLACE TO GET HIS INSURANCE PAPERS. I’LL BE IN TOUCH AS SOON AS I KNOW ANYTHING.

WITH LOVE VIBES
SHANE

978-884-2006