A bit of Christmas cheer :)

Andy

Honorary Member
Back story:

About 6 months ago, I posted here about the unfortunate turn of events surrounding our lighting engineer, Oz (Austin). He suffered a ruptured aorta. Usually fatal, but in Oz's case, they managed to stabalise him (to some extent) at our local hospital. After being transferred by helicopter to QE critical care hospital in Birmingham, he continued to have a rough time (understatement of the year) for several months. He required resuscitation no less than 11 times during the first two weeks, & we thought we'd lost him.

After much interest here & many kind wishes, I promised an update, so here it is:
We visited Oz in the specialist orthopaedic hospital some 100 miles away last week. Here he is (pictured with my wife) having his ward Christmas dinner. His heart (aorta) is still very weak, & will probably take another year to repair to a point. He's permanently paralysed from the chest down, c/w all the attendant lack of functions that accompany such a condition, but he is still with us, & true to form, in amazingly good spirits. He's scheduled for discharge at the end of January, all being well.

On Christmas day, the hospital has provided an ambulance to travel the 100 miles from the hospital to his favourite pub near Hereford. He can only stay for two hours, but all of his friends & the band will be there. We're even planning a little acoustic set for him. So, some Christmas cheer indeed. Nothing quite like the return of a dear friend who you thought was lost to you.

Oz will be back on band lighting duties as soon as he's able. It's one of the things he's really been looking forward to. One way or another, we'll find ways around the logistical challenges to make that happen.

Happy Christmas everyone, & thank you for your kind wishes. I'd like to think it helped Oz in some way. We'll never know eh - but he beat the odds big time!
 

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Thanks for sharing that Andy!! That is just AWESOME!!!! I've lost friends to ruptured aorta, and for the most part, those I knew with the condition, were alive one moment, and gone the next.

This is just an excellent Christmas story with an Outstanding outcome.

Merry Christmas to Andy, Oz, and all my fellow Tub Thumpers everywhere!
 
The perfect Christmas story. Thanks for the update and I'm very happy for all of you!
 
Heart = warmed. Thanks for this Andy. I'll continue to send Oz healing thoughts.
 
Nice to open my computer in the morning to some good news. I'm sure you and your mates are ecstatic. Merry Christmas to you and yours, hope your get together is fantastic and that this will be a good sign for 2014. He just may be the Wizard, Oz!
 
Thank you for your further kind thoughts & good wishes guys :)

Of course, such a degree of paralysis will mean many challenges for Oz over the next year or two. Coupled to his very limited stamina, his independence will be minimal for some time yet. The local authority is in the process of sorting out suitable accommodation for him after his discharge from hospital, & then, going forward, his own single story dwelling, but he'll always need daily care.

Being a really nice guy means he has lots of friends, & they're all the kind of friends who will really put the effort in. Given the enormity of the challenges he faces, if it's possible to be in a good place - he's right there :)

If ever there was a manifestation of "what goes around, comes around", this is it!
 
Just amazing, I almost cant speak. last night my wife and I watched a movie she taped "oz the great and powerful" then I read this, I didn't read the other thread about him so im late to the game. glad he survived but what terrible ordeal, what a cool thing to get him to a pub gig for a few hours,hope to see some pics of that!!
 
That piece of news lifted my spirits Andy.It's great to hear that your mate will still be around,especially during the holiday season.Cheers.:)

Steve B
 
Well, now, that is an incredible story!! Cheers to Oz!

Thank you for sharing.
 
That's wonderful news. What a Christmas present for his family and friends!
 
Thank you everyone for your further kind words :)

Not a gig, just a gathering of his friends. We may just pull out a few songs acoustic style - minimal setup. I'm bringing my cajon!

not to derail this thread but along with the chimes, wood blocks and assorted late night infomercial purchases you also have a cajon!
 
Glad he's in good spirits! For some people survival from the chest down would be a worse outcome than dying so it's pretty inspiring that he's able to see the glass half full.

This video is relevant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTO_dZUvbJA#t=146s. (well worth watching the first 15 mins BTW). The scientists did surveys that showed that people who became paraplegic and people who won the lottery reported the same level of happiness a year later.

Fingers crossed for further recovery!
 
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