A recovery worthy of many thanks
By Cory Frolik The Daily Times
Farmington Daily Times
Article Launched:11/26/2006 12:00:00 AM MST
FARMINGTON — For Jim Wilson, Thanksgiving Day was not spent at a dinner table surrounded by family. Instead, the 53-year-old Farmington man was lying on a hospital bed at San Juan Regional Medical Center with feeding tubes protruding from his stomach.
Wilson was nearly killed in a freak accident on Nov. 15, when a piece of a cutting disk sliced through his throat and became lodged in his neck bone. The accident occurred at Gene's Frame & Alignment Inc., a business that works on the frames and alignment of big trucks.
Family members say that Wilson was cutting a bolt with a grinding wheel when the cutting disk broke in half. The break caused a large 3-inch chunk to shoot up and slice through his neck. His son, Jeremy Wilson, 23, said his father has been hurt on the job before — a busted finger nail or minor gash — but an injury of this magnitude is rare.
"His windpipe got cut in half," he said.
Jeremy said the chunk that came off the grinding wheel went almost completely through his neck. Fortunately, Wilson's quick thinking may have saved his own life.
As soon as the injury occurred, other workers at the job came to his assistance. They helped apply pressure to the wound and called 911. But Jeremy says his father performed a nearly miraculous feat. He says his father reached inside his own throat and held together his windpipe. Later, Wilson would explain his actions by saying that he knew he needed to breathe.
Some minutes after the accident, the ambulance showed up and inserted a tracheal tube. But Jeremy says had his father not held together his windpipe, he would not have made it to the hospital. Wilson would not have been able to breathe and would have suffocated to death.
"(Doctors) said they have never seen anyone even make it to the ER when injured that bad," Jeremy said. "Usually, people become brain dead in seven minutes from receiving no oxygen to the brain."
Medical personnel familiar with the incident were unable to comment on the matter because of confidentiality laws. They could not confirm the family's version of events.
Wilson was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center where medical staff were still pessimistic about his recovery. Jeremy said they gave him an 8 percent chance of surviving.
Surgeons had to sew his windpipe back together and, at one point, seal it with medical foam. They inserted a tube into his stomach in order to feed him. They also had to treat the damage done to his vocal cords and esophagus.
Wilson might not be able to speak again. Jeremy says he will likely need a permanent tracheal tube and will have to be fed through a feeder tube that was inserted through his stomach wall.
His family says that it may be a year, if ever, before he can eat or speak on his own.
Jeremy's wife, Tara, has visited her father-in-law many times since his accident. She says his recovery is nearly as miraculous as the life-saving technique he performed to save himself.
"He's gotten a lot, lot better every single day," she said Friday. "They told him he'd spend six weeks in hospital. They are talking about discharging him today (Friday)."
Wilson's family bought him a dry erase board. Unable to speak, he is forced to write down his thoughts and feelings in erasable marker. Wilson, who was sedated for the first few days after surgery, fell into a brief, but deep, depression. His will to live eroded.
More than a week later, however, his spirits are lifting. He has expressed appreciation for his family and his fortune in being alive.
On Thanksgiving Day, while families throughout Farmington enjoyed their turkey and stuffing, Wilson and Jeremy sat together in the hospital. They watched their favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys, beat Tampa Bay.
It will still be a long time before Wilson's life returns to some level of normalcy. A medical station will be set up in his home so nurses can systematically check on his wound. The wound has made Wilson susceptible to infection and pneumonia. But through it all, his family says they are simply thankful that Wilson was alive on Thanksgiving.
"I thank God that he's here," Jeremy said.
On Friday afternoon, Wilson was released from the hospital and was helped back into his home.
His wife, Brenda, said it is sad that her husband was not able to eat his favorite food — turkey. She added, however, that it's good to have her husband home.
Cory Frolik:
[email protected]
http://daily-times.com/ci_4723645
Just some friendly persuasion.
Oh, and:
11- leave the damn wedding ring and jewelry out of the f'ing shop. If the old lady whines, ask her how she would like you without a hand.
I also wear short sleeves in the shop, less chance of snagging anything.
