Keegan Burnett critically injured - now recovered

[rainbowgirl28]

26 May 30, 2007 at 07:10 PM PDT
Hello Everyone,

Well, this portion of our journey is about to come to a close. Keegan is being discharged from the hospital on Friday. We are coming home!!!!!!!

Rick drove back down here from Sweet Home yesterday and brought Bruce and Barb (my brother and his wife) with him. They left for home today in Keegan's pickup, making a stop in Pocatello to pickup some of his stuff. That's a big relief for us. Thanks Bruce and Barb!

We plan to leave here on Friday and go to Pocatello. We're going to spend one or two nights there and then take our time getting home. We will be home by Monday at the latest.

Keegan has an appointment with a Physiatrist in Eugene on Tuesday morning. He will be continuing the speech therarpy but is finished with the physical therapy and occupational therapy.

We got to take Keegan for a ride today. We went out to Antelope Island and showed him the sights. We saw a coyote, several antelope and a herd of buffalo that crossed the road right in front of us.
Then we stopped at the Olive Garden for dinner on the way back to the hospital. I think this qualifies as one of his better days!

Time to go. Only two more nights in that hospital bed for Keegan and only two more nights in the hospital guest house for us. It has been a real life safer, but I won't be sad to be leaving it. Can't wait to get home!

Talk to you all later,

Rick, Alice & Keegan



27 June 01, 2007 at 08:13 AM PDT
Good Morning Everyone,

Well, this is it. In a few more minutes we will be on our way home. Are we excited? You betcha!!

Keegan went down to the ICU yesterday to see it and visit the nurses that took care of him initially. Their reaction as he walked in? Their jaws dropped open, and one said "Oh my god" and ran down to the other end to get the rest of the nurses. Lorraine, the nurse that was on duty when he was admitted, had tears in her eyes as she told him how hard he made her work that night. Levi was his nurse for the next two nights and when he saw Keegan walk into ICU, he thought it must be Keegan's brother (evidently he doesn't know that Keegan doesn't have a brother), until he saw the scar on Keegan's head. They were all soooooo happy to see that his recovery has progressed so far so fast.

Keegan is now having his last physical therapy session. The therapists are still drilling it into his head that he is not fully recovered. He has to take it easy and continue his therapy at home. He has to listen to us and do what we say. And he has to be supervised 24x7 for the next few weeks. Even though he looks like he is completely recovered, his brain has a way to go. So, pray for us. This next part is not going to be easy on Keegan or us.

So, we are out of here. See you all soon.

Love,

Rick, Alice & Keegan

[rainbowgirl28]

Keegan has some crazy pictures up on his Facebook of his head! (for those of you that are Facebook friends with him)

[FormerVaulter]

Glad he's recuperating but this is exactly why the padding needs to be extended at least four feet around the landing pad area in all directions. Or helmets need to be mandatory those light weight but strong acrylic helmets that ice hockey players wear. Since nobody will want to wear a helmet the solution to prevent this from happening again is to enlarge the padding. Why the hell was there any exposed cement behind the pad?

No excuse for this catastrophic accident and I hope his family files a lawsuit because his injury could be life-long. They need to sue the university where this happened and the NCAA and the Track & Field Association. The suit should be for at least a million dollars. I'm sure they are already talking to a lawyer about this but the reality is it could have been easily prevented.

As for me I only signed up here to reply on this thread. I vaulted in high school never cleared more than 10 feet but that wasn't bad for 10th grade. Then I broke my arm skate boarding and when I recovered I gave up pole vaulting and concentrated on gymnastics.

[rainbowgirl28]

They need to sue the university where this happened and the NCAA and the Track & Field Association. The suit should be for at least a million dollars. I'm sure they are already talking to a lawyer about this but the reality is it could have been easily prevented.

What good does that do anyone? How does that help?

[VTechVaulter]

yeah. then your just pushing the event one step further to being erradicated from more schools!

yeah. it should have been padded. the responsibility also needs to lie with the coaches and athletes. if its dangerous dont jump, or make the necessary changes

[master]

What good does that do anyone? How does that help?

Well, what would you say about a lawsuit for a contingency fund. That is the school/organization/?? puts up money in a trust fund that is available to address any needs directly the result of the injury. It is the future risk that the injured person has that is the problem, and there is no way to know what might surface in the future. The injured person or their family shouldn't have to bear any financial or medical burden that results from the incomplete protection that apparently existed at the facility.

yeah. it should have been padded. the responsibility also needs to lie with the coaches and athletes. if its dangerous dont jump, or make the necessary changes

An athlete trains hard and goes to meets expecting to be able to compete in a safe environment. It is a lot to ask of them to just 'drop out' if they find the facilities questionable. That certainly isn't going to get the facilities improved.

- master

[MightyMouse]

The cement should have been covered, no questions asked.
But expanding the pits isnt always the answer.

[rainbowgirl28]

What good does that do anyone? How does that help?

Well, what would you say about a lawsuit for a contingency fund. That is the school/organization/?? puts up money in a trust fund that is available to address any needs directly the result of the injury. It is the future risk that the injured person has that is the problem, and there is no way to know what might surface in the future. The injured person or their family shouldn't have to bear any financial or medical burden that results from the incomplete protection that apparently existed at the facility.

I agree that Keegan's family should not have to bear the financial burden from this. I hope they are able to work something out with the involved parties short of a lawsuit that eases this burden.

[VTechVaulter]

An athlete trains hard and goes to meets expecting to be able to compete in a safe environment. It is a lot to ask of them to just 'drop out' if they find the facilities questionable. That certainly isn't going to get the facilities improved.

- master

right. but if theres a bunch of concrete, ask them to find some old wrestling mat, or an old high jump pit or something. fight to make it safe

at the east regional meet, there was a bunch of exposed concrete and a iron rod used as a flag line holder within the landing area. our coach talked to the florida coach, and they made the necessary changes

[master]

I agree that Keegan's family should not have to bear the financial burden from this. I hope they are able to work something out with the involved parties short of a lawsuit that eases this burden.

It's my understanding the school, NCAA (or whichever) and USATF are making good on the current medical expenses. I would be concerned that the damage done could cause severe problems many years down the road and then who will pay for what? Also, what if he is forever limited in what physical activity he can achieve? The possible problems are endless.

PS The burden should be eliminated, not just "eased".

- master

[rainbowgirl28]

28 June 06, 2007 at 08:57 PM PDT
Hello everyone,

We are HOME! And it feels GREAT!! We took three days to make the trip, leaving Ogden on Friday morning and arriving home late Sunday afternoon, and Keegan did very well the entire time. We spent the first night in Pocatello where we packed up all of his stuff and he got to visit with several of his friends and ISU staff members. Saturday we took the scenic route through Idaho and visited Craters of the Moon National Monument, a place Keegan had been wanting to see. We spent Saturday night in Ontario, Oregon after meeting Gary, Vicky and Aunt Ila for dinner in Nampa, Idaho. Sunday we headed on home, with a brief stop to visit Karen and John Mason in Bend. Home Sweet Home!! We had left it at about 4:45am on May 3rd and arrived back here about 4:45pm on June 3rd.

Keegan is doing really well. Thanks to all of you that sent messages encouraging him to follow orders and not be too hard on us. It must have worked because he has been very agreeable. He met his new doctor in Eugene yesterday and she arranged for him to start speech therapy there next week. It was interesting to hear her tell him the exact same things that the doctors and therapists at McKay Dee had told him. And I think it has sunk in. He seems to be taking it all very seriously and realizing that he has to be very careful in the future.

Thank you all for the many thoughts, prayers, phone calls and messages you sent while we were gone. We really appreciated it, as we did the wonderful care he received at McKay Dee Hospital and the wonderful staff there. These past 32 days will be something we will never forget, yet because of it we will have the good memory of all the people who cared about Keegan.

If you have time to call or come by and visit Keegan, please do. Our number is [available on their CarePage]. He is going to have a lot of hours to fill during the next couple of months and I'm sure he would occasionally appreciate the company of someone other than his immediate family.

Thank you all again,

Love,

Rick, Alice & Keegan

[Rhino]

PS The burden should be eliminated, not just "eased".

- master

That is impossible.