Prayers for Mark B

Hey Mark, Brennan and I are praying for you bro. Hang in there! Anything you need, we're here for you anytime. Gods speed.

 

Mark, prayers and wishes for a quick recovery. I haven't met you, but a friend of Todd is a friend of mine to be sure! And prayers for your family; I hope they are doing OK.
Thanks for being there for him, Todd. Friends like you are priceless. That song penned by Carole King and popularized by James Taylor is so appropriate now.
'You've got a friend' Mark: all of us!
Hang in there pal,

Morris Foor

 

Mark, still thinking of ya bro.

 

From the gang in columbia...

Mark, we(everybody, Jarcoco, GregM, Jenn, Brandi, Misty, JohnBoots, Ann, and Rambo) are all thinking about you. Hope to speak to you soon...

 

Ya'll haven't changed a bit....great pic!

 

WHEW!!! what a weekend. Barber was a blast, i had a great time talking with SOOOOOOOooooo many folks, im still just blown away at how much of a family we have here.

Update on Mark: Stopped by yesterday during the endurance race (myself, Chad/Robyn Dupree, and Lee Fields). Mark as i said earlier has been moved out of the full blown ICU and into a "halfway" room. Visiting hours are much less restricted there, seems like just a regular type room.

Walking in the door, when i first looked at Mark, you couldnt have knocked the smile off my face with a bat. Here was the Mark ive known for the last 5 years or so. He was sitting up in bed, no neck brace and looking GREAT! Still has his witty brit sense of humor and kept us laughing most of the time we were there.

Mark is still in a good bit of pain, but nothing the little red button attatched to his pj's doesnt help overcome (gotta love the morphine drips ). As it turns out, during surgury they found he had several more vertabre damaged than the original 2 they saw in the xrays. His back now has been fused from T3 down to T7, and then again a few more just below those (i cant remember the exact ones). His wrist also has been pinned together perm. as it was ALOT worse of a break than he had originally thought. Mark was funny cus he says to us "i have permanent metal in my body now, ive never had that before, isnt that cool??"

Tomorrow theyre supposed to be getting him out of bed and getting him into a wheel chair. He cant wait for this, cus he says he's ready to start racing around the hallways in it. He wants a full carbon fiber wheel chair.

Shepard Spinal Center is supposed to be sending someone out this week as well to evaluate him, and then within the next week to two weeks, he should be moved to Shepard in Atlanta to begin his rehab.

The paralysis is still there, nothing has really changed. He still has "tingly" sensations if you touch any parts of his body below the chest and he can tell you WHERE your touching, so IMO, there is hope that he can eventually at least gain partial mobility back. We teased him a bit, as he's been eating ALOT, staying hungry all the time. Of course, what goes in, has to come back out. They're having to give him suppositories, and he says, (im my best british accent) "I can damn sure feel where the hell theyre putting the bloody thing!!!" I gave him a bit of a hard time about that cus when i was at UAB in the trauma unit last year with my broken pelvis, i got the "alabama handshake" when the doc gave me a surprise finger up the rear end to check for internal bleeding, so as Lee Fields put it so well "Mark is getting the UAB Alabama handshake with a *mint*.

I went back over to the hospital this afternoon to see him before i left to come back to Atlanta. I told him about the huge photoshoot everyone in the paddock did for him on Saturday, carried him over a copy of the picture, along with a big WERA sticker that we had signed by as many as i could catch today. Among the big names were Scott Russell, Josh Hayes, Lee Acree, and Opie Caylor just to name a few, and of course, everyone else in the paddock i could get on such quick notice. In the photo shoot on Saturday, they got a huge Pirelli banner and i think there are around 200 signatures on it. Guys, Mark is totally overwhelmed by all this, and is at a complete loss for words on how to thank you guys. I told him i thought the best thanks he could give all of us was to just work his ass off at Shepard and do EVERYTHING possible to prove the doctors wrong!!

Check out the Donations thread, im going over to post up some FANTASTIC news. :up:

 

Mark I'm pullin for ya and hang tough.

I'm still praying for you and you are in my thoughts.

 

Hey, can someone send me a copy of the photoshoot? Thanks!

 

Good stuff, Todd. Thanks for keeping us all updated. :up:

 

im working on it Vicki. She just had one shot printed as a temp. pic for me to take and show him. Lori is supposed to be emailing me all the pics from the weekend along and then snail mailing the diary to me to get to him.

 

Thanks Lori!!!! Thanks Todd!

 

Yup but I have found someone much better. I'm actually happy my ex did what she did it motivated me to become more independent faster just to show her i wasnt going to be dependent on anyone.
The look on her face the first time she saw me and my girlfriend was priceless!


LOL! at the suppository comment. I know what hes talking about for sure! If he can feel were you touch thats great. I have full feeling like normal in my body. He'll gain improvement the first 3 months up to 2yrs normally. Glad he's in good spirits that means alot when dealing with his injury. Reminds me alot of my attitude

 

I'm pulling for ya Mark. I was riding with you on Sunday at Barber, I was on the Ducati 998 #17 and we were having a few great tassles, but I couldn't quite hang with you. I wish you the very best and a speedy FULL recovery. I instantly noticed that you were a great guy, giving folks thumbs ups on the grid and giving nods of encouragement. I could tell right away that you were a guy I needed to meet but sorry I did not get the chance. Take it easy and keep your chin up!! We're pulling for you!:up: :up:

J.R. Nims

 

That's what I was thinking! Great to see some faces from a while back!

 

Thanks for the update, Todd. I know you don't need to hear but you are a true friend & much respect to you sir.


MarkB...Keep ya head up & that brit spirit. You'll will do fine.:up:

 

Thanks Gary, im not doing anything that he wouldnt do for me (or any of you guys for that matter) :up:

 

hey guys - its also good to still see people on here that we know!! We do miss it. Hope you are doing well. Maybe we can get out to see you sometime - maybe at CMP?

 

I hear that. Even tho alot of us have never met, it amazes me how much of a family WERA is.

 

Has Mark been asking for the Alabama handshake? Does that add to the bill?

 

Putt-Putt got the Alabama handshake, except the doc had both hands on his hips