January 10th, 2011 by Conor

Obviously this injury has changed Danny’s life– no secret there. It has also significantly changed Michelles, my Moms, Dads and my life as well. Our lives are on hold here in Great Falls, Montana. We are all fully committed to seeing Danny open his eyes again and progress back to normal. I have no idea where my life will go after that. I am willing to help in anyway I can. It’s crazy to think how much one moment will have such a great impact on my life.

I have all my friends from all my life with me right now. Friends from each aspect and all years of my life are reaching out to connect with me about what is going on. On top of that Danny’s friends are reaching out to me too. It’s crazy to imagine having all these friends at one time. I can’t imagine trying to make a dinner plan right now.

Michelle hasn’t showered today and is wearing the same clothes as yesterday. I’m surprised that isn’t waking Danny up.

Epic Hugs… You know, the kind of hug that you give a friend or loved one when you haven’t seen them in a long time. I consider that a Epic Hug. This style of hug can also be reserved for deeply emotional times like we are going through right now. I wonder how many Epic Hugs Danny will be giving/receiving when he gets out of this mess. Probably an Epic amount.

Michelle, Danny and I are like a surgical gang. No, I am not trying to say that our bond is so tight that it is like we have been surgically woven together. To date, the 3 of us have had a total of 15 surgeries. That is too many.

Been very busy adding stickers to the website and getting the shirts ready to go out. My thoughts were distracted tonight but great things are happening.

Love ya Danny!
Conor

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

I wanted to take a minute and address something that has been bothering me. In Iris Lazz’s account of How it Happened she described in great detail the entire incident and how it happened through her eyes.

Not that it really matters, but there is one detail in the whole account that she would have to agree with me is a creation. She stated the following “He landed blind and when he turned his head to see the run out, the trees were right in front of him. He slid out, letting his board take most of the hit then flew forward, head first, into the grouping of trees.”

However, when ski patrol asked and even on the car ride to the hospital, everyone agreed that they had seen only part of the incident. The only reason I bring this up is because the idea that Danny “flew forward, head first, into the grouping of trees” is a little gnarly. Yes, in fact Danny ended up in that grouping of trees with his head downhill but now one saw exactly what caused him to fall and how he ended up the way he did. Everyone saw a different part of it. But still there were pieces left out.

The reason I bring this up is because Danny has no injuries or abrasions at all other than the tiny scrape that you see in the picture below. Ski Patrol even suggested that he had caught his edge and hit his head on the ice and then slid into the woods. It’s hard for me to imagine that Danny flew into the woods and hit a tree head first and didn’t get any scrape or cut what-so-ever.

Not that any of this is really specific but for some reason it has been really bothering me and I just wanted to get out there. I guess mostly because the way that she wrote it just paints such a crazy picture in my head. No one saw the injury in full. Period. All that we can be sure of is that Danny hit his head really hard on something. The rest of what Iris wrote is on point and I’m glad someone wrote it because I sure as heck couldn’t do it.

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

We have 2 different stickers for sale that should start shipping on Tuesday. $10 per sticker which includes shipping. Both styles come in black or white, so there are 4 total options. Choose wisely, or, buy them all!

Thank you VERY much to Leslet Betts and InkMonstr for making these happen. Love you guys!

The first sticker is 7″ wide design. Good for cars, boards, refrigerators, etc.

The second sticker is a 4″ wide design. Good for skis, helmets, water bottles, etc.

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

In Feb, 2010, I was looking for some talent for an upcoming snowboarding video project. I met my camera crew up at the local ski resort to do some test shots and see who or what showed up. We taped all day and got a lot of footage…on a lot of different athletes. They were all pretty amazing snowboarders. At the end of the competition, we moved up in the crowd to interview the winners.

I wanted to see if any of them could actually speak on camera. They were all more verbal than I expected them to be. They were all good looking, too. Danny had really made an impression on me though. When I was interviewing him, I asked how he had gotten the shiner (he had a wicked black eye)…and he said without missing a beat, “Well…apparently I can’t do a double cork” and he flashed a charming smile right into the camera. The crew, who were freezing and tired by that time of the day, completely cracked up.

Hmmm …I thought to myself, that boy has some timing. All of the other competitors left, but Danny stayed and chatted with us until WE were done. I made a mental note of that.

When I reviewed all of the footage later, in the studio in Hollywood, I had time to analyze the clips a bit further. Danny definitely had some sparkle to him when he was on camera.

I showed picture’s of Danny to my best “judges of hotness” (my HS girlfriends) and their responses were:

“Oh …cutie pie”

“Adorable”

“Dang …too bad he’s just a little too old for my daughter”

There were some other responses…but they aren’t printable in a public forum. You know how high school friends can be…

So I thought, OK..he has the appeal. I think I will contact him.

Danny was on board with the project from the very start. The show format is a bit silly, but Danny did not have a problem with that. I thought he had a great attitude and definitely had more going on in his mind than just snowboarding . I rewrote the script with Danny as the star and sent it to him. At some point during our conversations he said, “You should talk to my brother…you can work this all out with him.”

Your brother? You…want me to talk to your BROTHER? What was this about…

I talked with Conor a couple of times and dealt with details and ideas for my shoot through a lot of texts.

Actually, I was happy to have found a kindred spirit in Conor. Not too many people get excited about video, and show concepts, and really good edits. Most people’s eyes sort of glaze over…and then they change the topic. Conor is funny…and his texts cracked me up. We had the opportunity to chat about some other things that he was working on. I started to feel like I was rooting for them to defy the odds of being newcomers in the production world.
It worked out that Conor would shoot some tape for me, while he was taping for Shreddy Times. I truly was not expecting much, but it was worth a shot because there just wasn‘t time left in the season for anything else..
It wasn’t until just recently that I looked at the footage that Conor had sent me from the end of last season. I was completely surprised.

It was all really good. Exactly what I wanted. Perfect in fact.

I offered Conor the position of second camera for the upcoming dialogue scenes. He had really earned that job.
I was feeling confident that it was going to be a good shoot. I was waiting for confirmation of the details from Conor and Danny… when this little bend in the road happened…

I am looking forward to working with Danny and Conor someday soon.
Best wishes for Danny, Conor… and their family and friends who are giving them support,

Maralee Spalla Elliott
Producer- Extreme Indoor Recess

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

I don’t now Danny, but a friend on facebook posted the website for Danny and I have been following ever since that day. It hit home for me because my best friends brother has suffered a head injury like Dannys and I know exactly what you guys are going through. Its a rough road, he knows you guys are there and that’s whats most important. Danny is in my thoughts and prayers and so is the rest of his family and friends. I decided tonight to go on youtube and I looked up his name and watched all these amazing/funny videos of Danny. He is truly and inspiring individual. People always say to live life to its fullest and that is something he is doing and then some!

I was very apprehensive about sending an email, but after reading everything everyone has wrote and just the mear fact I have been following, I thought why the hell not. When Danny wakes up and is able to read all this he will see how many people he has touched and inspired to live life to its fullest and have no regrets doing so. Watching all the videos of him snowboarding and the “how to pick up a chicks” video was awesome and down right hilarious. I definitely got a good laugh out of it! I keep reading about this infectious laugh and I’ve heard it a few times on those videos. I must say, it made me laugh. Nothings better than a good infectious laugh! Anyways, just wanted to share my thoughts to everyone even though I may not know Danny. His story has touched me and hit home for me and I am pulling for you Danny from the West Coast!!

Much Love,
Cerese Sage

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

It’s 11:43 PM and the night has begun. I opened up some lasagna (brought to the 5th floor of the ICU and sent from some amazingly generous friends) and Conor immediately turned around and perked up. He and I share the same love for food except that I would probably not indulge in an all out war between Cheeze-its and my mouth. The night nurse, Cindy, is a gem and things are going smoothly thus far. Danny is freshly shaved and looking more like himself since the last tube has been removed from his mouth as a result of the PEG. It’s hard to imagine that Danny needs more calories that you or I right now, but the body is an incredible machine and Danny is healing with an extra does of calories and protein.

-Michelle

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

Some thoughts from Julie Hamlin, Danny’s aunt (Ellen’s sister) from Washington, DC.

So…I went through some old photos and tried to find one that captures Dano’s spirit. (He is Dano to us—I am not sure if we gave him that nickname, but I like to think so—I would welcome corrections here.) In the photos there were common themes: Dano doe-eyed and gorgeous, curious, laughing, dapper (his Ralph Lauren phase), snuggling, on-the-go… Through the years, Dano also seems to have a thing with hats. He even went through a visor thing. (Go figure!) Anyway, I went through the requisite birthday and holiday shots, but chose this picture of him with his cousin Jesse, my sister Carol’s son. In the photo, he and Jesse are at my parent’s house in New Hampshire, and Dano is doing wheelies in his diapers. I love this photo. I think Dano has never met a wheel he didn’t like. (See: scooter 2009). It reminded me of a time when he was five or six years old and I “escorted” him on his bike ride on Old Bartlett Road. The last stretch, which runs perpendicular to my parent’s house, is steep, and people even walk it cautiously. But Dano was on his wheels—and when he rounded the corner and saw his grandparent’s house and that hill, he knew he had hit the jackpot. He took off over the hill and left me in the dust, running breathlessly after him. He executed the descent flawlessly, blasting over the bridge at an age when most kids are barely off training wheels. That day, I loved Dano’s boldness, unfettered joy, skill and pride. He thought it was so funny that I had raced after him; he is always a little mischievous. From early on it was apparent that he was going to approach his life much the same as he approached the Old Bartlett Road hill. We love you, Dano, and know you will channel that gusto to your recovery. We’ll be right there with you–or probably chasing after you breathlessly.

January 10th, 2011 by Conor

I spent the summer at Windells Camp getting working with Danny. I had heard from Moss and Paul about Danny the roommate who would be living in their room and even though I can’t remember the first time we met, Danny was that guy you just were friends with immediately. He was so nice and had a great smile…let alone the funniest laugh you could hear doors down. I remember one day just sitting on a couch with Danny watching him work on Shreddy Times logos and stickers, enjoying seeing him get creative and running ideas out for discussion. That’s the best thing about Danny, he’s just the sweetest guy to hang out with. Even if it’s watching him work on a couch. Eventually when I saw him ride on the mountain, I was blown away at his talent and magnitude of riding. I caught photos of him all summer on the jump line at Windells like this one.

I haven’t seen Danny since camp ended but we’ve spoken on chat and kept in touch the past couple months. He’s still that sweet guy that you can’t wait to high 5 and hear his laugh. It’s been rad to watch Shreddy Times explode and get stoked on Danny’s riding.

Danny love you…be strong.

January 9th, 2011 by Conor

Thinking of number 3, we love you Danny!

January 9th, 2011 by Conor

It’s sunday afternoon. Danny is resting and Wayne is our nurse. He had the PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) tube put in this morning. He handled it very well. The procedure seems to be relatively noninvasive. They shine a light, from the inside out, through his stomach to find the best entry point from the outside. Now that the PEG is in there, it will be there for no less that six weeks. This doesn’t mean that he can’t leave the bed or eat during that time, it just takes that long for the feeding tube to heal properly before you can pull it out without fluids from the stomach leaking inside his body. Since the procedure, things have been smooth. The doctor warned us that there is a likelihood of developing pneumonia because of all of the stuff going on. They have detected it in small amounts and are treating it with antibiotics. Although this stuff is routine or common, it is still very nerve-wracking. There are no black or white answers with TBI.

Yesterday’s nurse brought up that we have an amazing neurosurgeon for Danny, Doctor Gorsuch. That is something that we did not choose. It is whoever is on when the accident takes place. Gorsuch has been truly a great communicator with Danny’s family and friends. The other day, when he came out of the operating room to give us an update, he sat right down on the floor and spoke with us until we ran out of questions. What a humble and down to earth guy!