January 16th, 2011 by Conor
Sending good vibes from philly. Ever since i saw dannys sponsor me video on youtube a few years back ive been following his career and stoked on the shreddy times videos. Youre a great dude danny, get well soon and i hope someday i can shred with you!
~Seamus Foster
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
For the past 4 months I have been fortunate enough to come out to Australia and play baseball with one of Danny’s closest mates Sean Guinard. About 2 weeks ago, Sean and I traveled up to Surfers Paradise, Australia where I was able to meet and stay with another close friend of Sean and Danny’s, Ian Stacey. On our second day up in Surfers, we learned of the tragic accident that happened to Danny. Even though I have never met Danny, his very well spoken friend Sean has showed me many videos and has told countless stories of his best friend. When hearing about the accident, I came to realize how amazing of a person Danny is after witnessing the concern and sorrow that was brought upon both Sean and Ian. It takes a true man and friend to leave an impact on someone’s life like Danny does to both Sean and Ian. The question often arises in this world,”Why do bad things happen to good people?” About 4 years ago I played on a missionary baseball team up in Alaska and my team chaplain gave me a pretty solid answer to this question. He said, “There are very few things that we have complete control of in this life. When bad things happen to good people, people tend to rush to the conclusion and only see and perceive the negative side to what is really happening. Yes it may seem like a tragedy, but if ONE persons misfortune not only brings family and friends closer to each other, but also brings them closer to God. Well then, it seems as if the Big Man upstairs is working miracles.” When I heard this answer, I still really did not grasp the concept to what he was really trying to say. As I pondered about it for the next few days, I began to realize that if someone impacts others lives by living a caring, compassionate, and loving life (As it seems Danny does). It truly demonstrates that they are gifts and miracles from God. We are God’s children and he would never want us to suffer and turn away from Him. Instead, He wants us not only to look to to each other for support, but to come closer to Him by seeking his guidance and love. When I heard of the accident, I have kept Danny, his family, and his friends in my prayers and thoughts every day. Sean reads me the updates almost every day and I am able to see the constant progression Danny has made through his brothers words. After hearing these past few updates, I know God is watching over and protecting Danny. I will continue to keep Danny and his family in my thoughts and prayers. Keep fighting Danny! Cause God has many great things in store for you.
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
Michelle has been slaving away making hats to help raise money for Danny. This is her 5th and latest installment. They average about 4 hours on the site before they sell. These hats have been made with lots of love while she watches over Danny. They are one of a kind and we love Michelle for making them! Michelle is also the Bomb!
This hat is pretty awesome. We think that this might be Dannys favorite so far. He gave a thumbs up earlier indicating that it was.
January 16th, 2011 by MIchelle
It’s 5:47 AM. The night shift is almost over. David will be be here any minute now and Conor and I will pack up our backpacks, say goodbye to Danny, and walk out of room 5109. We’ll push the green exit button and the doors to the ICU will open. We’ll walk down the hall and into the elevator. Once we’re on the first floor, we will exit the Benefis Hospital and walk two blocks to the Great Falls Inn. The walk will be cold. My hair will be frosty by the time we get there. We’ll talk about Danny or something related to Danny and we’ll reach room 207 a little bit tired, but not quite ready for bed. Our conversation will continue. Our thoughts will occupy our minds until exhaustion finally takes over. Danny will still be in room 5109. He will be on and off sedation. He will go through nuero exams. He will continue to make small steps towards recovery and when Conor and I wake up we will hear all about it from Ellen and David. I will wish that I was there to witness Danny’s progress first hand, but I know that there will be many more opportunities to witness Danny’s strength and resilience in days, months, and years to come. I look forward to being there for those moments. For now, I will continue to enjoy these moments. I will find joy in Danny’s attempt to smile.
-Michelle
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
Michelle made me laugh when I told her she had to keep knitting because sales were booming. With a smile on her face she confidently said with a smile: “If he can go through this, I can knit.”
Danny tossed a pillow out of his bed. He is frustrated, however, I have seen him do things like this at home when he is sleeping on the couch. It is a sign of good things to come.
He seems restless. He is going to want to do some serious physical activity after all this is over.
Bad Dreams… How about the worst dream that you ever had. Really, take a second and think of a memorable horrible dream. Now imagine that it’s real… That is unfortunately what I fear Danny is about to go through. My guess, and most people’s experiences suggest that he will not remember the incident that led him to this state. So, imagine you are asleep and you wake up in a room you have never been to. There is an eerie sound of someone breathing a little too loud. People are hovering over you and trying to communicate with you. They want you to give them a thumbs up. You don’t want to do it because things are not all good. You do it anyway because you desperately want them to shut up, the sound of their voice is painful to your swollen brain. You try to ask what happened but something is blocking your ability to speak. You can feel an uncomfortable tube penetrating an area of your neck that you would otherwise not want anyone touching. A single tear slowly forms out of the corner of your eye because you are scared, very, very, scared. You know something is wrong but you don’t know what. You begin to try to wipe the corner of your eye with your hand but restraints make it impossible. The sedatives kick in and you slip away into a deep sleep while the single tear slides down your cheek… Now imagine doing that every 4-6 hours.
I just ate Brocoli alfredo at 5:40 AM. That is a first. It was absolutely delicious but wow life is getting pretty strange. On the same note I now wake up, on average, with 1 hour left of daylight. It’s pretty weird because I really love the outdoors and I don’t really get much of that either right now. I guess it will all be that much better when I get back out there.
Another night down. Love you Danny… Can’t wait to give you an EPIC hug after all this!
~Conor
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
Tyler and Paul are two of the late night regulars here in the ICU. They are awesome at their jobs but frustrated with the extended title they have acquired – The so called “Male Nurse.” Why is it that they are called male nurses? Why not just nurse? You wouldn’t say “Male Lawyer” or “Male Mechanic.”
Yes, they are males. Yes, they are nurses. And Yes, they are cool and very good at what they do. In fact these guys really guys hold it down here on the graveyard shift at the ICU. They deserve to be called nurses without any qualification.
Just to make sure you know how cool these dudes are we took a little family photo here in the ICU. That’s Paul on the left and Tyler on the right. Xgames was nice enough to send this gear to Danny so we thought we would do something fun with it.
[polldaddy poll=4396594]
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
I wanted to take a minute and thank everyone out there that has helped us out in one way or another. There are a LOT of you out there, and it really is hard to do it any justice with a simple blog post on the website. I hope to one day repay each and every one of you somehow or another even though I’m sure that wasn’t necessarily your plan by helping us.
The offers of time, resources, talents, goods and services, and words of love have been nothing short of amazing. There are a lot of wonderful people that surround us, and it’s hard to imagine this process without them. I want people out there to know that the nursing staff does not see this kind of thing all the time- at least from what I hear. There are people in other rooms that don’t even get visitors. Often times the visitors they have have very limited support systems. I know that because I have talked to a fair amount of them. We are very fortunate to have such generous and loving people in our lives. Even though we are not physically near any of our support systems the love that has come in for Danny and our family has been nothing short of remarkable. We LOVE YOU ALL!
My only hope (and I have mentioned this before) is that everyone can be as supportive (if not more so) when Danny begins to understand what has happened. For us, this is the hard part. We see simple human progress as monumental growth. And given what happened, it is. Danny moving his legs is a big deal for all of us. I am not looking to take anything away from those moments, but I do want to keep one thing in perspective; we are all going to be elated at some moment of progress when we feel satisfied that we can move on mentally from this event. Chances are the moment that we all feel relief is when this event is going to be just starting for Danny. Remember the pain that this moment caused you when you first heard that it happened. That is what Danny will feel. Make sure that you help him get back on his feet with love and support. He is going to need each and every one of us to be there for him. That is when his journey is going to begin. That is when Danny is going to need your love and support.
Thank you all for being there so far. There is a long road ahead and Danny is going to need you.
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
The shout outs keep coming in!
Make sure to send your thoughts, images, etc. to 603-496-6621 or donations@dannyisthebomb.com. My guess is that Danny might be able to see some of these images in the next week or two and my hope is that there will be an overwhelming amount of them to cheer him up. Danny is gonna be bummed out with what happened (If he can processes disappointment), and my hope is that we can all come together with what we have done and cheer him up.
Also, if you have time make sure you send a shot of you rocking your gear when it shows up. That would be pretty awesome. Even if you just put it on the Facebook page I can take it off there and put it on the site.
Keep the material coming everyone!
January 16th, 2011 by Conor
Danny is normally a pretty chill guy. Today, however, his behavior was far from chill. He’s tapping his hand up and down, moving his feet off his bed, and yawning an awful lot. He’s keeping the staff busy by repositioning himself in the bed and keeps us entertained with the new progress. I was talking to him earlier and he lifted his hand up on my shoulder. I kept talking and he started to rub/scratch my shoulder. I told him thank you for the shoulder rub and he clumsily let go and dropped his hand to his side with some of my hair in it. Ellen also got a head scratch. His eyes open more regularly and blink and he had a few tear drops which he was able to wipe off himself. Danny is movin’! The doctor said that this is regular. There is a possibility that he’ll be agitated for a while, but it’s totally normal behavior. He’s brought a lot of smiles to his room today and some good laughs with the shoulder rubs and head scratches. Keep it up Danny!!
-Michelle
January 15th, 2011 by Conor
Conor,
This picture is very special to us right now. Danny came to see Braeden the week we brought him home from the hospital. It meant a lot to us. Hope you enjoy.
Btw, we are praying. Hard. And I know God hears us, and that He is faithful. Hang in there, we are expecting good news.
Lots of Love,
Renae C.
