Critical Injury

It was my sister on the phone. “Don’t freak out,” she said. With those words, I sat heavily in the chair, turned off the TV and waited for the other shoe to drop. “Dad fell playing racquetball and he is in critical condition.” With those words life has been turned upside down.

I threw some items in a suitcase, (I have no idea what I grabbed) grabbed the dogs and put the bunny in his outside cage so the neighbor boy could check on him. I took the bale of straw out of the back of my rig and pulled out of town while trying to make calls to tell my children, to put it on the prayer chain and to somehow pull it together so I was calm when I got to the hospital.

On the two hour trip to Portland, I prayed I cried and I fretted that it was taking too long. My sister called again to tell me that he was in surgery and they did not know anything yet. I finally pulled into the hospital and sprinted to the ICU. All of the family was there. My nephews and nieces and great nephew. Aunt and Uncles and my sister. It was total chaos. I moved around the room and greeted everyone and tried to make sure that no one was in too much distress. Then I found a quiet corner and talked horses with my mother’s pastor. It was balm to my worried heart.

When the surgeon came out he was surprised at the cloud of people that stood when he asked for the family of Tony Crawford. The surgery went well. Dad has a fracture skull with bleeding on the brain. They operated to relieve the pressure but he is in critical condition. The next 24 hours will be critical for him. The doctor told us to go home and sleep and come back in the morning.

I am so stunned. He had turned the corner on the recovery from his heart surgery and has been doing so well. This just seems so impossible. But yet it is all too possible. I am praying for his body to fight, to heal, for swelling to go down and bleeding to stop. I know that he is in God’s hand. I just wish the waiting was over.

“He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.” Luke 9:11

Just Connie