ADO President Chris Helms seriously injured

From Charlynn and Chanda.

UPDATE 11/1/2012 for my little bro, Christopher Shawn Helms, who managed to get out of bed today when he decided he should – but he learned that he should wait for help at this point. He must really want to get up and do more. Sooo, the family is now taking turns staying overnite with him in case he needs assistance. Below is an update from my little sister, Chandalee Helms, who is staying with him tonight. 🙂

“Spending the night with big brother, Christopher Shawn Helms, at LifeCare Hospital tonight. He has been outpacing the doctors’ idea of how quickly he can recover and after his 2 attempts at taking walks yesterday they felt it would be beneficial for someone to stay with him in his room. So he is all tucked in and sleeping, complete with his stuffed dog, Coco, and his soft fuzzy blanket from home.

Baby Steps and other info.

Chris is still running a low-grade fever around 99+ degrees. Mom (Avalee Freeman Helms) was with him all morning and he spent the morning sleeping away (don’t we all wish we could sleep away Monday mornings? LOL). (y)

He woke up around lunchtime. Just in time for Anita (his wife), Chandalee Helms (little sister) and Shawn Jones (nephew)…and his speech therapist.

This is where humor was inserted into the routine. She (the Speech Therapist) asked him to open his mouth, his lips moved. She asked him again to open his mouth more, his lips parted a little more. He was obviously trying to do what was asked…but. She then asked him to open his jaw – presto-bingo his mouth opened. She then said ‘Oh, I see how it is’ and laughed as she joked with him. He ‘smirked’.

Baby Steps.

So far, his pattern has been to sleep in the mornings and be more alert in the afternoon and evening (with cat naps here and there).

Send Cards to: 327 Devonshire, San Antonio, TX 78209

Visiting hours: 9am – 9pm
Lifecare Hospital, 8902 Floyd Curl, San Antonio, TX 78240.
He is in room 306. Main Switchboard: (210) 690 7000
Unlike · · 10 minutes ago near Dallas, TX

UPDATED 8:48 am EST:

Well, little sister Chandalee back with a post about our prince. Hopefully everyone has learned already that he is opening his eyes and is awakens from time to time. It has been a fantastic weekend for all of us as we see him steadily returning to the waking world.

I cannot express the level of gratitude and appreciation I have for EVERYTHING all of YOU have been doing for my brother and our family. He has been truly blessed with many amazing, wonderful and generous friends in his life. Not only have you been helping with donations and fundraisers, but you all as a whole have lifted him up in thought and prayer to bring him (and all of us) through this difficult time.

Your encouraging posts continue to be shared with him, so keep them coming. Those photos of beautiful places will be great for him to see when he is a little stronger. The sillies and jokes will be, too, as we all know about Chris’s sense of humor. And speaking of photos, I have to say that the Good Sportsmanship award named for Chris is so amazing. He will blush, for sure, when he sees it.

And on a final note, I want to send out hearty congratulations to all of the dart players who have placed or won in their tournaments. I know Chris would send each of you a personal note if he was able. Also, for those who were not shooting as well as they liked, be encouraged. Chris would inspire that in each of you, to be and do your best.

UPDATE from Charlynn, Chris’s Sister:

10:30 pm Sunday, big sis here with an update on my brother, Christopher Shawn Helms.

He is resting comfortably, vital signs are stable, still listed in critical condition. He is currently in a natural coma which can last days or extend up to a month. This is ‘normal’ for head injury and allows his brain and body to heal. (and time for his mustache to grow back!)

If you happen to stop by for a visit, please be sure to stop by the waiting room on the 8th floor first and ask around for the Helms. Please sign the visitors book we have for Chris, bring a card if you like.

We wanted to share some information about changes to his medication, a change to his tubes and wires, and his responses to stimulus tests.

Meds: As we shared yesterday, the medical team has reduced the sedation meds. Today, they had him completely off the sedation meds in order to conduct the stimulus tests. The reason for this is so that they could compare his responses with and without the meds. They have restarted the sedation meds at an extremely low level and added an anti-convulsive as a precautionary step to prevent any spasms.

Tubes: As a way to make Chris more comfortable they are likely to put a tracheotomy in so that the tubes can be removed and he can close his mouth. (and not have tape on his face!)

Stimulus: Tickling nose, washcloth on face, touching hand, pulling a chest hair, removing tape – he objects to all of these things and moves his hands or legs, or makes a face and pulls away.

We have been reading to him and talking quietly to him, music is on the list soon.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Post a story to his timeline, tell about when you first met him, or something you have experienced together. Be sure to use names in the story. We read him every post that is written, and they will become precious to him as he goes through the healing and rehabilitation process once he wakes up.

Also, if you post photos please try to identify everyone in the photo.

Your prayers and good wishes and visits and posts are all so very important. You have no idea how much it means to our family. We are so very grateful for your support, and awed by the strength of it. Thank you so much.

God bless you
Elaine Bohls
ADO Regional Director – 3-1

Hello from little sister again. Small news, but good! They have lowered his pain meds to half what they were last night and the sedatives have been brought down to 1/4 what they were. The nurse gave him a bath a short time ago and he responded like most kids do by turning his face away from the washcloth. >.<

Thank you all for your support throughout this time. You are all amazing friends for our prince and our family. I’ve so enjoyed getting to meet some of the people who have been so much a part of Chris’s life.

Keep the posts going! He will have a lot of reading to catch up on.

Updated at 9:16pm est on 2012-09-26:
Chris is stabilizing. He continues to respond to stimulus by moving legs and wiggling fingers. Still on respirator and still in induced coma. Still the waiting game. She ways that his face is still very swollen. The CT scans, last night show that he does not have any additional broken bones and there does not appear to be any spinal or neck trauma. Anita and the family are most thankful and grateful for the thoughts, prayers and messages. Anita is doing as well as can be expected and his mom is, too. they said to definitely say thank you and bless you all. Chris feels the love.

Updated at 7:43am est on 2012-09-26:
This is Chris’s sister Chanda posting an update on his condition. He has come through the emergency surgery well, all things considered. He was beginning to move fingers and both legs shortly before he was assigned to room 1060 in university hospital ICU just before midnight. …All Chris’s family have been blessed by the many visitors and the multitude of prayers and good vibes being sent his way. Words cannot express our heartfelt gratitude for the outpouring of love and support we are receiving. Continue to keep him close in thought because this is just the first step of many on his road to recovery. We will continue to post updates as time permits. Again, thank you all for everything

Update at 10:00pm est From Elaine Bohls :
Hi, everyone. Update on Chris Helms: Anita asked that I send out this latest official update. Chris is in recovery and is in an induced coma. Should be in it for at least the next 72 hours. Anita was able to see Chris, in recovery. They will move him to an ICU room, as soon as possible. According to Anita, the skull fracture is from ear to ear and the surgeries were to get that swelling under control. Additional triage will be done, when he stabilizes. So, there may be additional injuries to other areas of his body. He was working on a job site in Boerne, TX, which is outside of San Antonio. He was Life-Flighted to University Hospital, where he immediately went into surgery.

Update: 9:36 PM Est:
Chris is in recovery and is in an induced coma.  The skull fracturegoes from ear to ear.  He is to be moved to ICU as soon as possible.

Original Story:
ADO President Chris Helms had serious accident today at work.  He is currently in critical condition.  We ask all of you to not call his home or his wife Anita.  We will be posting updates on Chris’s status here on the ADO Website and on the ADO Facebook page.  On behalf of the American Darts Organization, I am asking you to all to keep Chris in your thoughts and prayers.

Please do not spread information that you hear as it might not be true or might not have all the full details.

Regards,
David Hascup
ADO Communications Officer

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