Chase Kear (Hutchinson CC) Critically Injured

[rainbowgirl28]

October 28, 4:50PM

I just got here and chase was sleeping. He woke up and turned it to spondgebob. Then he said hello to someone visiting. My mom then called me over and he said in a muffed voice but i could still hear him say Clay. This mayed my day. He then started saying polevault and hi and said by when they left. he is getting so much better and they said the hole from the trach tube would heal up in about 5 days. Prayers are needed now so that he will be talking, writing, and walking just like regular. Even bigger steps on the way to recovery.

[rainbowgirl28]

"Chase went outside and rode around in the wheelchair. He is talking a lot more and is a lot clearer. He gets a food tray tommorrow with food to eat on it. He is going crazy because he doesn't have a MT. DEW or hasnt had a MT. DEW. He really doesnt like the feeding tube and is hopeing to get it out this week. He is going to ask the Doc. if the Doctor can take the tube out but i don't know for sure when they will take it out. Keep Prayin' and soon all the tubes will be out and Chase will be doing great. Thanks again KEEP PRAYIN'."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.ksn.com/news/local/34693919.html

MAN VAULTS TO MIRACLE RECOVERY


Story Created: Nov 18, 2008 at 3:10 PM CST
Story Updated: Nov 18, 2008 at 6:19 PM CST

WICHITA, Kansas, November 18, 2008 – Doctors are calling it a miracle and they don’t use that term lightly. Just six weeks ago, Kansas pole vaulter Chase Kear was put in a medically-induced coma following critical injuries from a freak accident. But now, he’s just days away from leaving the hospital.
MULTIMEDIA
WATCH THE VIDEO
Chase is learning the basics again. With each step, he’s getting back to life as he remembers. And to think, even doctors, who work with brain injuries every day, never expected him to recover so rapidly.
"When he came to us at the Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital he was still severely impaired from his injury, and his rate of progress has been outstanding,” said Dr. Blake Veenis.
But Chase hasn’t been alone in his healing. Family and friends have been there for every miracle moment.
"My recovery has been amazing even to me,” Chase said.
Chase doesn’t remember the accident. It happened on the second day of track practice at Hutchinson Community College when somehow the pole flung Chase too far and he landed head first. But just 47 days later, doctors say he’s ready to go home.
"No I'm not done, I'll still have some outpatient, but I'll still be at home and that's what I want,” Chase said.
He’s feeling so good he’s already roughhousing a little bit with his younger brothers. And one day, he even wants to return to the track to pole vault again.
"I probably will,” he said. “It is something that I loved."
Returning to the track is a long term goal. In the short term Chase will return to school through on-line classes and plans to coach his track team this spring.
Donations can be made to the Chase Kear Fund at Colwich City Hall
310 S. 2nd St.
in
Colwich, KS
67030 . For more information, call 316-796-1025.

[rainbowgirl28]

Short article, but there is a long news clip on the website.


http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/34886029.html

Injured Athlete Returns To Heroes Homecoming Save Email Print

Reporter: Caroline Brady
Email Address: caroline.brady@kake.com

A Hutchinson Community College pole vaulter is finally home from the hospital today.

Chase Kear was critically hurt after landing on his head during practice in early October. He was flown to a Wichita hospital -- and placed into a medicallly induced coma.

Doctors said he wouldn't live, but Kear recovered. He went through physical therapy for seven weeks and today returned home to Colwich.

Family and friends welcomed him home with banners, signs and a police escort

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.kansas.com/690/story/612079.html

'Miracle man' recovers from near-deadly pole-vaulting accident
BY TRAVIS HEYING
The Wichita Eagle


Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle

Track coach Pat Becher knew immediately when he saw Chase Kear that something was wrong. In 24 years of coaching, the head coach at Hutchinson Community College had never witnessed anything like what was happening on the turf in front of him.

Chase, 19, was lying on the field turf that surrounded the school's football field. There wasn't a visible scratch on his body, but he was convulsing and fading in and out of consciousness.

Within minutes, the wail of sirens entered the stadium. The Hutchinson High School football team, practicing nearby, stood and watched.

Becher pulled out his phone.

'It's bad; it's real bad'

Paula Kear was at home in Colwich that day, Thursday, Oct. 2, when the phone rang. It was a quarter to five.

"Chase has been in an accident," Becher said to Paula.

Although she didn't understand why the news was coming from Chase's track coach, Paula assumed that Becher meant her oldest child had been in a car accident.

"He was vaulting. He missed the mat and hit his head," Becher said. "It's bad; it's real bad."

Bad trajectory

Chase finished third at state in the pole vault his senior year at Andale High. His father, Paul, competed in the pole vault at Fort Hays State University.

Every vaulter has had a crash, according to Becher, but what happened in Hutchinson that afternoon was a vaulter's worst nightmare.

Chase had been practicing simple "pop-ups," not even using a cross bar. On the final attempt, instead of the pole shooting Chase upward, he shot straight out. He turned his body to land on his back but his trajectory sent him past the edge of the mat. His head absorbed the blow when he hit the ground.

Within 30 minutes, Paul and Paula Kear were racing toward Wichita, knowing their son was en route to Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus.

As they drew closer to Wichita, Paula looked out the window to her right and saw a Life Watch helicopter. On board was her son, clinging to life.

"It made me sick to my stomach," she said.



A damaged brain

The Kear family was ushered into a private waiting room at St. Francis where they were given the news: Chase's skull was fractured all the way around his head and his brain was swelling at a dangerous rate.

"Be prepared," the doctors told them.

"When you see him, he will look like something you see on TV."

While they were hearing this, Chase was given last rites by a priest.

The battle Chase's body was fighting was simple: The swelling would restrict the flow of blood and oxygen to different parts of the brain. The brain would be starved of oxygen and die.

Praying for a miracle

Paula is the youngest of 12 children and Paul is one of five. The vigil that began for Chase grew to more than 70 people over the next 24 hours.

Becher was there, too. They waited. They went to Mass. They prayed for a miracle.

The next day, the first step to try to save Chase's life was to medically induce a coma. Though the swelling in his brain subsided momentarily, less than two hours later the pressure began to spike to a level that gave doctors only once choice: They would have to remove a portion of Chase's skull, hoping to relieve the pressure.

Chase's parents asked doctors whether there was an option B.

"Yes," they were told.

"Your son will die."

'He won't die'

There was a strong possibility Chase could die on the operating table. Even if he did make it through surgery, according to Paula, the family was told he might die afterward.

Paula and Paul told doctors not to sugar coat anything.

What were Chase's chances?

"Your son has more of a chance of dying than of living," doctors said.

Paula later turned to Paul and told him, "The doctor is wrong. He won't die."

Becher said he will never forget that Friday afternoon. The room was filled with nearly 80 people yet there was total silence.

Paul stepped before all of them and told them he would only say this one time: They were going to remove part of Chase's skull and this was the last attempt to save his life.

As nurses prepped Chase for surgery, his parents, his two brothers and his girlfriend surrounded him and told him to be strong. They told him to fight. They held his hand, knowing that it might be for the last time.

'Miracle Man'

It was Chase's aunt, Geri Hilger, who first came up with the term "Miracle Man."

She wrote that name for Chase on an Internet care page where friends and family could track Chase's recovery.

The Miracle Man had been taken off the operating table alive. The Miracle Man squeezed hands two weeks later to let his family know that his brain was still functioning. The Miracle Man walked confidently around hallways of the Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital a few weeks after that.

Last Friday, seven weeks after Chase nearly died on an athletic field in Hutchinson, he stepped out of a car in front of his Colwich home and walked through a throng of well-wishers and family members who held signs congratulating him on his return. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Paula cried nearly the whole time.

Giving thanks

Today, the Kear family will gather at the home of Paula's sister, Linda Wapelhorst, and celebrate as they have every year:

Two turkeys, one smoked and one fried. Pumpkin pies baked from scratch. They will play cards and Chase will sit among them and play along.

It will be bittersweet, Paula said, because the patriarch of the family, John Wetta, died last March. This will be their first Thanksgiving without him.

But Chase will be there, most of him anyway. Part of his skull is still missing and the flesh over the right side of his head dips into a depression. A ceramic replacement will be fitted and inserted surgically later.

It's a lot to be thankful for, Paula said. But she said the lessons she learned are also worth giving thanks for.

"I will never doubt miracles one bit," she said, "because I have one."

Reach Travis Heying at theying@wichitaeagle.com

[rainbowgirl28]

Chase had an appointment with Dr. Grundmeyer, his brain surgeon today. He will have his skull replaced in late December or early January. It all depends on when they can get the CT scheduled, and how long it takes to make the plate. The Dr. hopes it will be this month, and so do we. Chase will be in the hospital for 1-2 days. They will use the same incision as before, but will close with stitches instead of staples this time. They will be in for about 2 weeks. When the plate is in place Chase will not need the helmet any more. He will have no more chance of a head injury than anyone else. The Dr. said when the plate is in place Chase can begin to train to be that great athlete again. The Dr. was quite happy and excited to see Chase doing so well. We are all very excited and hope the surgery happens in the next few weeks, giving Chase a wonderful Christmas gift. Chase came home Nov. 21 and is enjoying being home. He is still going to therapy everyday, and his memory is improving.

[Boomer]

This is an amazing and inspiring story...

Here's to hoping and praying for a continued positive recovery for a fellow vaulter !!!

[Keardad]

This is Chase Kear's Dad. I want to start off by thanking all who prayed for Chase. The polevaulting community has shown us such great support. Truley an awsome extended family to have. Chase made it home from the rehab hospital Nov. 21. Is walking ,talking and pretty much being himself. Still has a long way to go in regaining his strength before he can vault again. It is one of his goals. He has surgery to place a ceramic plate in his skull hopefully before Christmas if not sone after new year. We have enrolled him in two online courses for next semester. We expect him to return to Hutchinson full time in August where coach Becker intends for him to help coach although he says he will be vaulting. Mom isn't to sure of that. www.kansas.com had an awesome artical in the Thanksgiving day paper. Search for Kear to find it . Thanks again.

[Bubba PV]

Update on his condition
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?sec ... id=3790290

Pole vaulter defies odds overcoming injury
Associated Press

Updated: December 23, 2008, 4:32 PM ET
Email
Print
WICHITA, Kan. -- The story of Chase Kear sounds straightforward: Pole vaulter sustains terrible injury, makes an unexpected recovery, returns home in plenty of time for Christmas.

Dig deeper, beneath the basic plot line, and there are many threads to the tale.

There's perseverance, a young man's will keeping him alive when he probably should have died, pushing past others' expectations for his recovery.

There's the love of family and friends, companions with him on the arduous road back to a normal life.

Kear's story also has an inexplicable quality, an improbable arc that has some wondering if they've witnessed a miracle.

"No one has been able to explain it to us," said Chase's mother, Paula Kear. "No one knows, not even the doctors."

If nothing else, Kear's story has miraculous attributes to it.

It started Oct. 2, during track practice at Hutchinson Community College. Chase was trying out some new poles, practicing pop-ups -- jumps without the crossbar -- when he lost control. Flying out instead of up, his feet caught the back edge of the mat, flinging his head to the turf below.

Chase didn't have a mark on his body, but was clearly in trouble, convulsing and fading in and out of consciousness when Hutchinson track coach Pat Becher arrived.

"I thought we were going to lose him right there on the field," Becher said.

Paul and Paula Kear rushed from their home in Colwich to the hospital in Wichita 20 miles away, a helicopter carrying their son overhead, close to death. A chaplain greeted them at the door.

"It started to get real scary because it wasn't the normal ER visit," Paula said.

Chase's skull had fractured across the front from ear to ear. Two sections of his brain were bleeding.

Doctors induced a coma to curb the massive swelling inside his head. It didn't work. The only option was to remove part of his skull, give the brain room to expand.

Can't we wait and see what happens, the Kears asked. No. Wait and he'll die. Even if we do it, don't expect him to make it, the doctors said.

A friend in the medical profession later asked to look at the scans, to see if she might be able to provide a better prognosis. She never returned.

"She couldn't come back and talk to us," Paula said. "She couldn't face us."

Somehow, the procedure worked. Chase was alive.

Then, another problem.

Chase remained unresponsive days after surgery, unflinching when nurses pinched his arm -- his eyes open, staring blankly past family members.

Might be time to start talking to special needs hospitals, doctors said. This could be all he is.

The Kears didn't care.

"At least he was alive," Paul said. "I thought, if I have to carry him, I'll carry him -- as long as he was alive."

A few days later, Chase moved his arm, a reaction to a sonogram. Finally, a glimmer of hope.

Slowly, he became more responsive -- parents and nurses euphoric with each wiggling toe, a reaching hand, his pursing lips.

Then, on the 10th day in the hospital, a nurse asked Chase to squeeze her hand if he understood what she was saying. He did.

"That's when we knew he was in there," Paula said.

Chase continued to progress from there, moving from intensive care to a regular room after 19 days, walking the hallways of Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital a week later.

Then, on Nov. 21, the young man who wasn't supposed to live, wouldn't have any brain function, walked unsteadily through the door of the family home, less than two months after the accident.

And the future, the one he wasn't supposed to have, looks good.

Chase turned 20 earlier this month, had surgery last week to fill the baseball-sized hole in his skull with a ceramic plate. He's enrolled in two online classes next semester and has been offered a chance to coach track at Hutch. He still plans a career as a firefighter, hopes to pole vault again some day -- despite his mother's pleadings.

Doctors can't explain how Chase survived, much less how he has recovered so well.

Now, the Roman Catholic Church wants to know what happened.

Among the numerous prayers the Kears said every day was a special appeal to Father Emil Kapaun, a local priest and chaplain during the Korean War who is a candidate for sainthood. Church officials plans to hold a hearing soon, to talk with the Kears and doctors to gauge whether Chase's case might count as one of the two miracles Kapaun would need to be canonized.

"He could be a miracle or just somebody who had something horrible happen to them," Paul said. "We'd like to think he's a miracle."

Perseverance had a hand in his recovery, too.

Chase had the quality at a young age, a scrawny kid who never gave up, always fighting and clawing his way against bigger kids. He put it to use in high school, too -- never the biggest, fastest or most talented, yet still earning state championship rings in football, wrestling and track -- the first three state titles in Andale High history.

Perseverance helped Chase overcome a lack of natural ability in pole vaulting, his father's sport at Fort Hays State University. He struggled the first few years, even into his senior season, before determination won out, earning him third at the state championships, a scholarship to Hutchinson.

"In any sport, I have a lot of drive to be the best in whatever I do," Chase says, the conviction in his eyes telling you he means it.

That tenacity followed Chase into the fight for his life in the hospital, and has been a part of his therapy, where he has blown past goals others set for him, rewritten expectations with every step, every correct answer on the memory tests he has been given.

Even the unexplained-but-still-excruciating back pain can't stop Chase, the focus on the memory test before him never wavering as he shifts every 15 seconds to find a comfortable position.

"He's a stick-to-it kind of guy," his father says. "He shows up to therapy and is going to get well -- that's all there is to it."

The emotional support of family and friends, of an entire town, has been part of his recovery, too, pulling him through the difficult times, making sure he knew there was something to live for.

Maybe love is the miracle behind the story of Chase Kear.

It certainly was there to comfort him in the hospital.

Paula is the youngest of 12 and Paul has four siblings, a group that has produced 61 more kids. They swarmed Via Christi St. Francis Hospital after word of the accident spread, driving from as far away as New Mexico.

Friends also started showing up, filling the waiting room with nearly 100 people by the second day. They kept coming back, even when he moved to a rehabilitation hospital, bringing meals, downloading music, creating slideshows for Chase while they waited.

"I don't think there was a minute at Wesley Hospital when someone wasn't with him," hospital CEO Pam Stanberry said. "They were always there supporting him."

Love manifested through the Internet, good wishes and prayers coming from as far away as Australia, from people of many faiths, on Facebook and CareBridge sites created for Chase.

Neighbors provided support at the Kears' home, mowing the family lawn, doing their laundry, looking after their dogs, taking younger brothers Cole and Clay to practices.

The whole town got involved, too, holding fundraisers to pay for medical bills, providing a police escort for Chase's emotional ride home.

"The outpouring was incredible," Paula said. "I don't know what we'd have done without it."

Of course, Chase didn't know any of it was going on, incapable while fighting for his life, too busy while trying to get better.

He understood it on the day he came home, however. The police escort. People lining the streets, waving as he went by. The front yard full of people seconds after pulling into the driveway, neighbors, former co-workers, the track team pouring out of a bus, television reporters -- all there just for him.

The moment shook Chase's core.

"It really hit hard that that many people had been pulling for me and praying for me," he said. "It was amazing."

Miraculous, even.

[peteyboi]

Mr. Kear, if you haven't figured it out yet, yes Chase is a miracle. his tenacity comes from God Himself. I know this because 11 years ago I was in his shoes, God held me in his arms for 10 days, i am sure that the same holds true for Chase. My accident came from mountain biking on a mountain in north Georgia. It took the rescue team 4 hours to get me off the mountain and to the only field big enough to land a helicopter, and then another 2 hours to fly me to the closest hospital that could handle major a trauma. The worst part of it all is that i love flying in helicopters and i slept through this whole ride!! Actually i slept for the next 10 days. Reading Chases story, i thought i was reading my own story. The doctors could not give my parents any idea weather i would survive or not at least not until i woke up completely, and then they didn't have any idea how much i would recover if any. my life has changed completely since that day. I could no longer function at my job to a level they could use. since then i have moved to New York, and learned a new career, and i am in school learning new skills to further my career. currently i am in school to become a paramedic. i guess that in part i am following this line of work so that if the need ever arises i can be there to help.

Chase will do his best with God's, your and his friends support. he still has some tough times ahead of him, but with everyones support he will do great.

[Bubba PV]

God bless you and thanks for sharing. Your words are encouraging and inspirational!! Bubba

[peteyboi]

Thanks, and if there is anything i can do to help, please let me know. i have known many people with brain injuries, talking seems to help a lot. look in your area for a brain injury support group. Some of these groups are great, some not so great. when i had my injury i was in atlanta GA, it seemed like there was a brain injury group on every corner. go to a meeting or 2 and get a feel for what its like, if you like it keep going, if not move on to the next. i found the ones that i liked best were the ones where i actually had something to offer in the way of discussions. tell Chase that it helps to talk about it, and please don't hold anything back when he asks questions. be honest and up front with him, some of the things that you may think he doesn't want to hear, he may need to hear. it drove me crazy some time, my parents and friends wouldn't tell me everything when i asked and i really wanted to know. by the way, i have no memory of being in the hospital, i was there from July 4th 1997 to sometime in september. i would really like to know what happened during that time, but now no one remembers, or won't tell me.

Chase will be in my prayers and thoughts