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http://dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_4447015,00.html

Matt was injured seriously yesterday, and is currently at Denver Health. All our prayers and hopes go out to him .

can you post the text ?? requires login.

Hope it's not too bad.

Sending thoughts.

Piifish beat me to the punch... I would like to read the article.

Heal up Matt! In my prayers...

ditto...
hope you're doing alright Matt... get well soon!!
Jen

Paraglider crashes at local park
Local man listed in critical condition with head injuries

By Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writer
February 7, 2006

A paraglider is in critical condition with head injuries after crashing Monday morning at Wonderland Lake.

Matthew Hecker, 21, of Boulder, fell just after 9 a.m. about 50 feet out of the air with such force that it "popped" his helmet off when he struck the ground, according to a witness.





Hecker was taken by ambulance to Boulder Community Hospital before being airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition late Monday afternoon.

Hecker's friend, Alex Gilmer, told rescue officials he watched as Hecker took off from the popular paragliding spot in north Boulder. Gilmer reported hearing the yellow canopy "crackle" as Hecker's chute folded and collapsed.

Gilmer called 911 from his cellular phone.

"He thinks the canopy might have hit the ground first," said Dave Booton, Boulder County emergency services supervisor.

Rescuers from Boulder Fire Rescue, Boulder Open Space and Rocky Mountain Rescue hiked about 500 feet up the steep hill popular for paragliding and strapped Hecker in a litter before carrying him down. Hecker was conscious and in pain, screaming obscenities as he was loaded onto the ambulance.

Gilmer told rescuers Hecker has been paragliding for about five years, and said he has even more experience in sky diving and BASE jumping, which stands for building, antenna, span and earth and involves leaping with parachutes from buildings, bridges, cliffs and other fixed perches.

Hecker was listed as a winner of a scholarship in 2004 by the Mile High Youth Gliding Association for lessons on the nonprofit's Boulder-based glider.

Kay Tauscher, owner of Peak to Peak Paragliding in Boulder, was walking her dog at Wonderland Lake near the time of the accident and spotted the two lone paragliders.

"I thought 'That's weird, this is clearly not a day to fly,'" Tauscher said, noting the wind was blowing the wrong direction. "Anybody who's been through proper training knows today is not the day to fly."

Paragliders launching from Wonderland Lake need winds to be moving in an easterly direction to fly safely, Tauscher said, not from the west like it was blowing Monday morning. When the wind is at a paraglider's back, it creates a condition known as a "rotor," Tauscher said, and paragliders are not engineered to fly in that "kind of air."

Tauscher said there had been talk in the local paragliding circles about some younger, inexperienced paragliders launching in less than desirable conditions from Wonderland Lake, but there is no law that they must be licensed.

im sure youll be alright... keep the nurses on thier toes...

was he doing aerobatics ?

Ouch. Vibes for Matt, and his family and friends.

Does anyone have an address for cards and such?

Seconded. Somebody needs a carrot.

Ditto on both the carrot and the request for contact info, such as address.

Just what we expect from a jumper! Get better Matt!

Matt
hope you come out of this all right . you still have to show me how you perfected the Mic twist. get well soon.
Maggot

All the best to you brother .Get well .

Dam,
get well soon.

atleast he could swear, thats always a good sign.

damn this is not a good day.


Screaming obscenities....that's great...lol


Matt, hope you heal up real soon man.....

Get well soon Matt. Have fun with the cute nurses .

Hopefully he'll get as cute of a physical therapist as I got when I was in the hospital with my broken femur!

Get well bro!

Shit, shit, shit.

Matt, can't let this slow you down bro, we still have that big project coming up. I know I can't handle it myself so I'm going to need you around.

Pull through this buddy.

Fuck.

Matt is still in the surgical intensive care unit and is listed as "serious, in a critical state."

Please keep him in your thoughts--We can't lose such a creative young mind in the world, let alone the sport.

I'm going to try to go down tonight.
stay strong brother!
pope

edit: it kills me that this happened mere blocks from my house and I just found out now.

Can you be sure to tell him (even if he's unconscious when you see him) how hard the community is pulling for him?

 

I third it. But I would add that as much as his mind is creative, his heart is...good, big, open wide.

I'm going to write to him, but if someone sees him sooner, tell him I said "the last thing that you wrote to me, and I really mean it, dammit. We need you here."

He'll remember.

He'll stay.

rl

Wishing you the best, Matt!

CYA Wed.

Blue Skies!
Baz

Hey Matt,

You'll get out of the hospital and start reading all the posts you've missed soon enough!

Until then, heal well brother!!

Russel

Matt, you're in my thoughts bro. Just get well...

Oh my gosh, this is terrible news! Matt is wanted here on earth!

Hang in there Matt, we're all inspired by your fresh outlook and waiting to go rope jumping with you someday! I am spending some time today praying for you working my connections on “the other side” – hopefully we can help!

Don't beat yourself up over the accident, we're all just happy you're alive and we will certainly learn from what ever happened.

C-ya soon after your speedy recovery,

sum1

Pope: Tell him I'm there too in spirit - and not to give up - there's too much still to live.

ATTENTION!!!!!!

This is Nic Garcia... as some of you may know as one of his best friends and fellow rope jumper... here is his update!

First off... that report is retarted. That woman WAS NOT there when it happened and conditions were ideal. We're contributing the accident to either rigging error or gear malfunction to a line set becoming undone.

CONDITION... Hecker is stable and doing quite well, however not awake and alert yet. He suffered a major head injury despite him wearing a ski helmet, pads and Hanwag boots. His screaming was typical of a severe head injury and even though he was awake he was not alert and aware to his surroundings, being unable to communicate with anyone or follow requests. They had to sedate him, intubate him and put a pressure sensor in his skull to monitor his progress. No draining of the skull was neccissary and his ICP is stable and the neurologist expects a full recovery with no brain damage. They need him a little more responsive before they remove the tubes, but this is expected to happen in the next few days or so. His leg and ankle suffered serious trama and have recieved one surgery with one more to go, worst case he'll have to have his ankle fussed. Due to concern of "secondary impact trama" Hecker cannot risk another blow to the skull because it may be instantly fatal, regardless of available help... meaning he has to take it easy for a long time and will need our support. Any mail can be sent to
SINE INNOVATIONS
115 S. 34th Street
Boulder, CO. 80305

ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS...
please feel free to call or e-mail myself or Alex Gilmer, leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible... there are many concerned friends.

Nic Garcia 303-570-4720
nicholas.garcia@colorado.edu

Alex Gilmer 303-748-3276
agilmer1@mscd.edu

Heal well, the world needs more people like you!

Best wishes

Steffen

My best whishes.. please give Matt my get well..

Hope you have a speedy recovery so you can get back to doing all the things you love.

matt:

pain pills, hot nurses and sponge baths...

you really are living the dream..

get well soon.

Nic,

Wow that sucks but thanks for the update and we wish Matt a speedy recovery. But that dude was living the dream though... and I sincerely hope he is able to get back on it. I still owe him the chance to rope huck me off something sick so hopefully he will heal fast enough to toss my fat ass without the BASE security blanket.

Best wishes to him and your crew and look forward to seeing you all somewhere sooner than later.

Donk

UPDATE!

So Hecker is doing about the same. He had a temperature in the morning and some swelling of his arm, but they gave him some drugs for that and are working on getting some new x-rays to make sure he didn't fracture his arm. Good stuff... they took out the pressure gadge and they are hoping to take him off the ventilator tomorrow. Still not awake, but we're hoping for the best soon. Again, feel free to contact me or Alex and we'll do our best to keep all his friends informed and worry free.

hey, also if you guys haven't checked out his latest movie you should get on that. Sorry to not post a link... but it's "The FRASCA Story" on skydivingmovies.com
Russel, you should like the footage of you and our "practice throw"

If someone could pass along good vibes and prayers for Matt for me, I'd be very appreciative. We had some communication a while back when I was looking into purchasing a turbine caribou as a righteous jumpship. He was very enthusiastic about offering his services as a dehaviland rated pilot.

I sincerely hope for his full recovery.

UPDATE!

I'll be sure to pass the above on... Hecker is doin' pretty good. He was gettin' a little aggitated and decided to pull his breathing tube out and he's strong enough now that they're fine with that. He's still very much out of it, but I was in the room when he said his first "words" when I was helping put his broken leg back on the bed. Thanks for the support.
-Nic

Ok. I hate to expose the dirty laundry in Colorado Paragliding... But I USED to paraglide - and I no longer do - because the Colorado gang of paragliders are not friendly, and very competitive for "customers" in their schools, constantly bad mouthing everyone else they know. The controversy was as heated as the Skyride topic - with instructor ratings being pulled, hearings in front of city leaders, flying sites being closed down, etc.

I could not deal with the negative energy...

For an example, I went to my first RMHGA meeting and introduced myself as a student of a specific instructor - and eager to learn, etc. After the meeting, the group of people lined up, like in the movie Airplane where 100 people line up to slap the passenger who "lost it", to tell me that I was going to die because I chose the wrong instructor. I agree, this instructor made some poor ethical decisions on the ground a few times, but he told the truth when asked, and knew his stuff in the air...

I contacted the President of the club and told the officer why I was upset and said my piece... She referred me to someone else, another officer, who gave me a multi-page letter of why I was wrong, he was right, and I needed to quit my lessons with this instructor before I died... My reply was short and sweet, "you don't get it."

Still to this day I respect the instructor I picked, because he taught me many valuable lessons I transferred over to other parts of my life, and I share with skydivers. I still look to some of the lessons I learned from him when I decide it is better to stay on the ground instead of fly... I still to this day believe I had a great teacher.

Why do I say this? Well, because I don't trust anyone in the Colorado Paragliding community to tell the truth, especially if they are talking about people who learned from other teachers or are not in their clique... It is sad I say that, but, it is true. Notice, the person they quoted was an instructor at a school in which this pilot was not involved? No surprise. Also, no surprise she did not say "no comment", like a skydiver or BASE jumper would after an incident they were not involved in... She instead spread dirty laundry to the world about her weather observations.

To give you an idea of their community, here is a quote from the RMHGA discussion forum about this incident:


They never have had the "no personal attacks" rule...

And here is what Kay posted:


Anyway - Calvin19 - Matt - Get well soon, my vibes are with you... And if any Colorado Paragliders are reading who are the good guys, I am sorry I never met you, but I apologize if my paint brush was too wide and I marked you wrongly.

Travis

Thank you very much. Is he understanding things that you and others say to him? I guess I'm asking what sort of cognitive damage he may have suffered, if you know.

More vibes and prayers for a thorough, speedy recovery.

There is absolutely no way to tell at this point.

Shine that healing light .
Them's incandescence not angels Calvin.

happy getting betterer

UPDATE!

So, Hecker is doin' great!!! He is definately responding to peoples questions... kinda. He yanked his food tube, so there aren't any tubes in him... besides the evil one down below. But I was in there with his mom and when she said "Matt! Hey Matt!" he turned his head and said "Whaaat!"... a typical response to his mother meaning what the hell do you want from me?! The physical theripist did a sternum rub on him and got him to tell her his name. And he said a couple titles of the music we had him listening to. So awesome news as far as him progressing, but as stated above... there is some room for the unknown and further damage that's unseen. He can use prayers, support relayed through me, letters we'll read to him, anything. Keep the questions and info coming.
-Nic

YAY!!! Way to go Matt! Keep on gettin' better... we all want you around!
Jen

get well soon matt!! with treatment like that...no time at all.

Considering what he's been through, that is GREAT news!!! Thanks for keeping us abreast of his status.

My family and me continue to keep him in our prayers.

ATTENTION!!!

Hey guys, thanks again for all the support. Hecker is continuing to improve and was kinda able to say what time it was when his mom, Julie, asked as he was grabbing at her arm. Every once in a while he'll really focus on people and I was talking to him and asked if he was doing okay and he just said "Yeah" very distincly. There really isn't a whole lot else to say. They tried to get him some food by putting a tube back in him, but if you guys really know Hecker, you'll know he didn't go for that very long and yanked it out as soon as it was in. He's really out of it for the most part, but we're really hoping for the best. Thanks again.
-Nic

UPDATE!!!

So Hecker has been doing great today and when he turned and looked at me I said Hey Hecker and he looked me in the eyes and said "Hi Nic"... he did that again later and was also able to tell me that we were watching one of our earlier movies, Vision. He also said a line of one of the songs with the movie. We got him to drink some juice using a straw and we've been feeding him ice chips. They're doing a swallowing test tomorrow and if all goes well, as expected, he'll be eating some real food. Thanks again for the support.
-Nic

AWESOME NEWS!!!
Thanks for the update, my prayers and thougts are with the friends and family.
Later
Blair

Great News. Keep up the good work Hecker.

hey guys, no real news to report. Hecker's doin' basically the same, but is able to eat some stuff now. He still isn't really awake or anything, but it's good that we're able to feed him.

 
Matt, May you become stronger with every breath. Better than before, as soon as possible. Keep up the good work.

Hey guys, the following is a e-mail update from Hecker's dad, Jim.

It is Wednesday morning. I have not talked to the hospital yet today. Matt seemed more "clear" yesterday. He still does not really know who anyone is
or where he is. The frontal brain injuries do that. He is restless and squirming around, trying to get his casts off. It must be very confusing to be him right now. His hands are dexterous and he seems to like playing with
a plastic ball. He is eating and drinking. That is good. I did see him smile at something either yesterday or the day before. He may be moved today from ICU to a step down unit. Then hopefully to a rehab facility. Craig hospital here in Denver is one of the best. We hope to get him in there. He will not have surgery on his leg and heal for at least another week. They want the soft tissue to heal more then it is easier to fix the bones. His arm and wrist are NOT broken, just a nasty bruise, that is good news. I can't tell you how much the prayers and well wishes have meant. I appreciate it so much.

I am going to play with the band on Friday eve for our 10th anniversary gig, at the little bear. I'm going to play my heart out and send some rock n roll good vibes to Matt.

More later
'till then
Jim

Hi guys,

It's Alex. Hecker had an awsome day of actually sitting in a chair with his hands untied (he had to be in restraints this whole time, to keep him from pulling on the wrong tubes). He has been saying hi to his family and friends and capable of saying the right names. He also mentioned a "paragliding crash" today.

All in all he's doing much better mentally, but he still has a long way to go. Thanks everybody for all the support, you all rock.

Slider up,
Alex

Excellent news! Through your posts, there has been a continuous trend towards recovery and plenty to hope for. Many, many thanks. We continue to send vibes and prayers. --md

Hey guys, Hecker continues to improve and they were able to transfer him out of the SICU and into a room where they have a really great tech watching him 24 hours a day, instead of just checking in on him every once in a while. They have him off IV medication and let him stay awake and kicking all day. He's doing great at recognizing people and responding to certain questions. He did a decent job of feeding himself with assistance and remains the same sarcastic Hecker we all love. The best head trama recovery place around is Craig and we're excited to have him transfered there on Monday.
Thanks all,
-Nic

Me to Hecker "Hecker, stop faking."
Hecker, "Shut up, Garcia!"

There really isn't a whole lot of news on Hecker. He didn't sleep a whole lot last night so he was kinda out of it today since we were trying to keep him awake to prevent him from becoming too nocternal. We had him in a wheelchair for a while and he wanted to wheel himself all over the hospital (even though he doesn't know that's where he is yet). It gets really frustrating when all you want is for him to understand so we can stop fighting him to cooperate with certain things. Every once in a while he looks really frustrated like he knows something's wrong but he can't figure out what it is. He'll come out of it soon and I just wish every one of his friends could be there to provide the support and reassurance he needs. Also, in case anyone wanted to visit; they've been limiting visitors to only direct family and Alex and myself. So hopefully when he gets to Craig things will be different, but visiting hours are only 5-9 at night. Please contact either Alex or me if you're planning on coming down so we can make sure there will be time to get you in. Thanks again, you guys are awesome.
-Nic

i dont think a BASE jumper can be too nocternal. Im glad to hear that heckers progress is improving. sending prayers and good vibes.

-nic

Hecker was much more awake today, still doesn't know what's going on, but a lot more talkative. He kept provoking his dad and me into pushing him faster in the wheelchair and was saying some quite entertaining things. He had his sister and I laughing plenty today and a enjoyable visit was quite a relief. I've been recieving some very encouraging messages from friends and I'll continue to pass on the supportive words to Hecker. They keep reminding us that this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint, but we can't help but notice even the subtlest light turning on in that intricate brain of Hecker's. Thanks guys,
-Nic

Nic,

Thanks for keeping us all up-to-date on Hecker. It's nice to be able to hear from someone about how he's doing so often. Let him know that if he wants a master to show him some wheelchair tricks, I'd be more than willing.

Hecker continues to be goofy Hecker, but he was very intersted in Alex's and my phone so we let him make a few phone calls today. He wasn't making a whole lot of sense, as can be verified by Chris Pope and Adam Foster who were 2 of the few people he called before the nurse made us stop. He should be recieving surgery on his left heel on Wed. and his right leg and ankle still need to heal a little more before surgery is performed. I'm not expecting any significant changes in the near future, but I will let you guys know how his first surgery goes. Until Then,
-Nic

I forgot to say his move to Craig was a success and he has a nice big room at the moment all to himself. Also, I must say... the nurse watching over him, very cute.

Yeah, there's something a bit un-nerving to finally get a chance to talk to my bro and he wants to talk about my "man-package!" It was great to hear your voice again brother...even if you were talking about my junk.
Until then,
pope

Hey guys, I should have done this a while ago and I forget that you guys aren’t seeing him everyday, so here’s a better update in response to questions I’ve received.

Hecker is more or less on a normal sleep schedule and is awake most of the day looking around and talking occasionally, this can range from a little to a lot and not all of it makes sense. When he decides that he’s tired, he’s tired. He’ll stop paying attention to people around him and just stare off or roll over and take a little nap. He feeds himself, but doesn’t really have that big of an appetite. As far as when he IS awake and active, he’s a ton of fun to be around and jokes and does funny things that he may not be aware of, but we at least find him humorous. Alex and I think the reason they stopped the phone calls was because it was getting later and he becomes more agitated than the nurses want him to be, but during the day, we’re hoping they won’t have a problem with it.

As far as being able to remember the accident, he’s telling people basically what he’s been told and we don’t think he really knows what happened. He’s done this with other things where he’ll give an answer, then say “I don’t know, that’s what they told me.” Even remembering people can be a challenge for him occasionally, or it could be an issue with him processing the memory and being able to say a name. It was around the third day that Hecker sat up and said “Hi Nic” and just yesterday he had some difficulty saying Alex’s and my name. So we’re not really sure what’s going on there.

The reported injuries are a tibia, fibula fracture to his right leg in addition to shattering off pieces of his talus bone of his right ankle when the tibia slammed into it. He also fractured his calcaneus bone or heel bone of his left foot. His left foot is expected to have surgery tomorrow where as the right leg and foot need to heal more and repair the soft tissue surrounding the breaks before they do surgery. He’ll definitely be sitting out for a while and will probably be calling on Russel to learn some wheelchair tricks.

In Denver Health they had a 24 hours sitter and they continue to monitor him by cameras now at Craig Hospital next door to Swedish. Reasoning behind this is he still isn’t able to fully grasp that he’s in a hospital and tries to get out of bed occasionally or move around, putting his legs in compromising situations when they’re incapable of any load bearing. His left leg is rolled up with a sort of temporary cast on and the right leg, I don’t know if I ever said this, received surgery the first night and has an external fixator consisting of rods, pins and clamps holding his tibia and fibula in place, meaning he has four big rods coming out of his leg that he bumps every once in a while. He still has the catheter in down below and I’m sure you believe me when I say he doesn’t like it one bit, but he doesn’t seem to mess with it as much anymore. I heard something about that being taken out in the next couple days.

I hope this helps and I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner, but if you guys have any question please don’t hesitate to e-mail me and I’ll do my best at getting back to you or letting everyone know depending on the question.

Until then,
-Nic

Wow, my conversation wasn't quite as... riveting as yours sounds, but it was so good to hear Matt's voice (coherently, if even semi) and talk to him. I mentioned as many people as I could on the phone that were sending well wishes, and he was excited at the mention of names. It made me smile for a long time. Thanks Matt.

Hi Nic

is he on drugs at all ?

how does he handle the pain of his legs?

if his on drugs that will play with his brain a heap.

Hey, I'm still workin' on finding out about what drugs he's on, they switch 'em when he transfered doctors, but he is on something. Until then, here's a letter from his dad, Jim.

Matt is in Craig hospital, and at times seems like his old self. He is communicating although some of the words and sentences do not make a lot of sense. There is some jumbled stuff in there. From where we were a week ago, this is spectacular. He has his sense of humor. He thought he was in Wisconsin yesterday. I guess we had not given him the bigger picture. We told him he was in the hospital but not what state the hospital was in. He had a 3 hr surgery on his left heal and is still in the recovery room as I write this. He will be kind of out of it the rest of the evening. They already have him doing 3 hrs of therapy each day. Physical, ocuupational and speech. Maybe they can teach him how to spell.

I can tell you how fortunate I feel. He is in a great place and probably will be here for 6-8 weeks. He needs to get more of a handle on what happened and what is happenning. Julie thinks he knew he was having surgery but not quite why and how come. The docs here have said he cannot have any additional blows to the head for at least 18 months. They could be fatal. I think I mentioned before, they tell us this will be a marathon. He will be wheel chair bound for about 3 months. That probably works because I'm sure it will hurt like mad to stand.

Each day is better! I still can't tell you how much I appreciate the prayers and well wishes. You guys are something else. I love you guys.

'till then'
Jim

P.S. I threw a pic of Hecker on this post. It was taken today before surgery. I think he looks a little sketchy until you zoom in.

Yeah, Matt's still there. I can see it in his eyes.

Thank you for your updates. Hang in there, Matt needs people like you around him. Anyone should feel lucky to have a friend like you.

Please let us know if Matt (or you) needs anything.

Thanks for the pic. Matt actually looks much better than I had imagined from your daily descriptions.

Having never been catheterised and looking at the size of that tube running down his leg, it's no wonder he's been trying to pull it out! :-S

Get well soon Matt...

[shudder]can...we...not...talk...about...that...please?[/shudder]

Hey guys, I'm glad I was able to get that picture up to show you how great he was doing yesterday--before the surgery. Any surgery is a serious thing and seeing Hecker today reminded me of that. He's really hurting and they're doing their best to lower the pain and keep him out of it. When he does come around, you really just want them to put him back under because of how bad it's hurting him... plus we're still having to remind him that his pain is the result of a surgery and why he had it. It's all part of the big picture and is a step toward being fully healed, so Hecker just needs to hang in there and heal fast.
Until then,
-Nic

Having experienced that multiple times, as well as NG tube (rubber hose that runs down your nostril and into your stomach) and ET tube (breathing tube down your throat), all of which Hecker got to have, I will state my educated opinion that the NG tube is by far the worst of the lot.

Yes Tom, I will completely agree with you!

My BEST thoughts and wishes towards healing are with Matt and his family, and have been for the last couple weeks. FWIW, I spent some time at craig hospital a few years back, for what appears to be a similar frontal lobe traumatic brain injury (and a couple little orthopedic issues too). I am sending something to Matt and his family, regarding my experiences and how they relate and may be of some possible moderate help/benefit/inspiration to them. Anyhow, for now I just want to let them know that there is much more support, silent and loud, for all of them, than appears here in this forum.

Hang in there Matt, from what I've heard and seen, You'll be back very soon. It IS a marathon now, and far from trivial, but you will be back, and this will seem like a short sprint to you eventually.

Heal fast, heal well, and you'll hear more from me soon.

Wayne Crill

Im glad to see Matt is improving but im wondering why he is rambeling is that as of drugs or did his brain get any injuryes?

i had a mate that went in hard on a skydive he were just like Matt but that was as of drugs.

The rambeling is mostly from the trama his brain received. The doc came in and explained it a little better and said the areas affected were the frontal lobe, both temporal lobes, and the right hemisphere occipital lobe. I attached a file that explains where and what each lobe is responsible for, more or less.
Until then,
-Nic

sorry man too tecnical english to me,more important will he recover from thouse injuryes then?

Frontal Lobe - associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving.

Temporal Lobe - associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech.

Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing.





Matt, his friends, and family are all still in my thoughts and prayers.

" . . . more important will he recover from those injuries then?"

THAT Faber, is the question everyone wants to know the answer to, but NO ONE will be able to answer.

Because its just not known. As much as "we" know about neurobiology, and we know a lot, when you try to expand these small bits of solid, reductionist biology into an attempted understanding of higher level brain function, we just incorporate too many unknown variables to really "know" anything. We are left with only describing what we observe, and what we observe is HUGE VARIATION IN RESULTS. Maybe something like attempting to extrapolate from 2 dimensions of understanding to "real world infinitesimal dimensions". The bottom line is that we can look at two people, as similar as possible, with, to the best of our ability to understand and describe, the exact same brain injury, and their symptoms and recovery from said symptoms may be totally different ("results may vary"). so we just don't know. All of this is ESPECIALLY true in the frontal lobes.

What I do know though, is that the doctors will do anything they can to avoid giving patients and family a potentially "false sense of hope", so they are by definition VERY CONSERVATIVE in their prognosis of recovery. Although I am a scientist, and certainly a reductionist, higher level brain function, damage, and recovery is clearly a case where the whole is much greater than the simple sum of the parts. A wonderful mystery we cannot yet come close to understanding let alone "solving".

My point is, DO NOT EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL, THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING TO HEAL THYSELF. Attitude and effort are EVERYTHING for recovering from this type of injury, you can definitely do MUCH BETTER than the best doctor's prognosis, and NEVER give up.

Although I don't know Matt well, I know enough to know that he is the type of individual to pull through this as best as can be expected, to exceed expectations, and that is exactly what I am hoping for and expect from him. Matt's recovery, his hard work, and effort will far surpass all of the doctors hopes and expectations. I do know that his doctors, psychiatrists, and therapists, DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DEALING WITH. Not to discount their expertise, or be disrespectful, but Matt is not normal, and he will blow everyone away with his recovery.

Hang in there Matt, our thoughts are you, even though you don't know it yet!

all my best,

Wayne

Here's something less technical:

http://www.neuroskills.com/...xpect-contents.shtml

And this is the main page from whence it came:

http://www.neuroskills.com/index.shtml

There is nice story about frontal lobe and famous Phineas Cage case in Damasio's "Descartes' error". Not related to jumping, but interesting anyway.

Hey guys, I saw Hecker yesterday and will hoepfully go down again today. He was doing alright, not talking a whole lot, but kinda with it. Adam Foster came to visit and he knew him right away and was excited to see him. I'm not sure what the current satus is on the visitor thing, but they didn't seem to have a problem with Adam, they just told him to make it quick. I'll check on the visitor thing, but hey, Adam got in. I left Hecker's phone by him last night by accident and ended up getting 2 phone calls and a text message from him at like 1 in the morning, so sorry if any of you got some random calls, unless you enjoyed hearing from him... I thought it was funny. I was told that the surgery for his other leg is to be on the 6th or 7th, so after that, it's all recovery. Yay!... here's a letter from Jim...

Matt is doing pretty good considering he had surgery on his left heal on Wed. The recovery is very painful for him. The anesthesia and the pain have set him back a bit in the brain recovery world. He is agitated and in pain. They are trying to manage the pain for optimal therapeutic recovery. His sentences do not always make much sense. He seems to know everyone that comes in. Sometimes he needs a little help with that but not much. Brain injuries are very interesting. The prognosis is still good. Just a long game. I must admit that sometimes what he says doesn't make any sense at all yet it just makes you start to giggle and laugh uncontrollably. It is more funny if he is laughing too, which has not been the case the past few days.
It will get better this week then in 8 days he'll need surgery on his right leg and there will be a normal regression because of that. At least we can expect some of those hills and valleys. He is watching some movies and TV shows on DVD. And he asked me for a notebook yesterday and wanted to know the elevations of the Craig and Denver Gen hospitals. He wrote them down,,, I don't get it but he had to know and wrote it down. We see progress everyday. I like seeing progress.

I am very thankful for all you guys, and all the good and hopeful thoughts
and prayers you have sent Matt's way.

'til then,
Jim

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted an update in a while... I've been super distracted. But Hecker is doing really good. He's definitely come out of his post traumatic amnesia and is able to remember things a ton better than he was doing. For example, the nurse came in and he was able to tell her where he was and even the date. He almost seems like the old Hecker, whith the exception of him being a little more crude and tempermental. He's going to have surgery for his right leg and ankle on Tuesday at one and will be down for a few days, but after that it will be all recovery. Unfortunately, that recover is going to last probably until early May before they let him out. He's doing all kinds of therpy now and they still are discouraging visitors to prevent a relapse of what they've accomplished... sorry guys. But we're hoping about a week or two after the surgery we can start working people in there. He received the frame with the signatures and picture today and was impressed with everyones encouragement and was super excited. So thanks to everyone who contributed to that.
Until then,
Nic

bump...update? i had a wierd-ass dream last nite....

I just wanted to remind people on this thread that there has been a place on the web set up to help support Matt and his family. There are places here to send an email, a card, or donate to his family. Again--our brother is not out of the woods just yet--we need to support each other during these times!

Keep up the fight Matt!
pope

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while.. I've been super busy with school. Here's a message from his dad, Jim, that I recieved today...

Matt is continuing to improve. He is still at Craig Hospital in Denver. We had our big meeting with the staff last week. They noted that Matt made good progress last week. He knows everyone and his speech has gotten to where if you didn't know it, you may not know he had the injury. He still has a long
way to go. His brain was injured in 3 areas. It takes time for these to heal up. He seems to really be coming around that way. I can tell that although
he has made miraculous leaps, especially from where we have come in a month. These guys at Craig are real pro's. They understand the issues and can zone in on how to make real progress. The things that are hard on Matt tend to be things that over stimulate him. If it is too noisy or too many people he can get somewhat agitated. So far however, so good. There has not been any seizures since his original one when he crashed and that is particularly good news. They think he will be there until the beginning of May.

He just had a 5+ hour surgery on his right leg yesterday. He severely broke both bones above the ankle. He has been in a fixator (outside apparatus bolted to his leg and heel to keep them straight)since the night of the crash. They took that one off, but replaced it with even a bigger contraption. It is connected, from the outside, to his leg in numerous places. It hurts like hell. He can give himself pain meds at the push of a button. He doesn't want anyone near his bed as you may touch it and that
shoots pain up his leg. The heal cast on his left leg has been replaced by a "boot" to allow him to move his ankle. It will be many weeks before he can put significant weight on either leg.

hope this helps,
-Nic

I am Still Alive...
thanks for the kindness.
im stuck in the HS until late MAY...
and that sucks.
and i need a new paraglider,
and a harness needs to be sewn.


Savvy?

be well kids.
Thanks


Until Then
Dream Immortal
Keep The memories.

"yeah... All the different berries..."

heal well. this world needs more people like you.

sweet pic...



edit to add attachment...