Jesse's story. . .so far.

The morning of October 11, 2009, at Fort Polk in Louisiana (where he was stationed in the Army), Jesse was found by his roommate, barely breathing and covered in vomit. They rushed him to the ER and the doctors determined that Jesse had overdosed on a drug called methadone. We don't know the amount of, the reason, the time or the place. . . or if it was accidental or intentional. There were no witnesses. My family rushed to Louisiana that night. A seventeen hour drive in the rain! Ughh! The doctors didn't give us much encouragement. They prepared us for the worst. We were told that he may not live, or that he could be in a coma for a very long time only to awake to a permanent vegetative state. He was on a ventilator and had pneumonia for about two weeks and continued to stay in a coma for about two months. Luckily, he finally awoke. Thank you, God! However, he couldn't speak or move. He was very much like a baby. He was moved from the main hospital to an extended care facility. The staff there is AMAZING and we love them. My mother and I returned to Lake Charles to visit him for Christmas and were pleased to see how far he had come. It was also, yet, extremely heartbreaking to see that our smart, sharp, hilarious, fun-loving Jesse was hiding behind a stiff, lifeless body and empty gazing eyes. He has come a long way and made a lot of progress, but it has come very slowly and has been fighting several infections, including a very severe bed wound that may require surgery. The following pictures were taken at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital during the first couple of weeks after his injury occurred, except the last picture which was taken in December when we went back to visit for Christmas. The video was also taken in December. . .the first time my father got to hear him speak.