Friday, January 21, 2011

Paralyzed Player - Please Write an Email to Encourage

Please remember in your prayers a high school football player who was paralyzed from the shoulders down last June. 

I would also like to ask a favor - Would you please consider writing an email to Brian to encourage him and to let him know that he is not alone or forgotten? You can send the email to ljudd@sportsleader.org and address it to Brian and I will make sure he gets it. 

Maybe you could ask your players to sign something and we could mail it to him or scan it and email ...

Here below is a recent note from his Coach:

He is struggling.  He came back to school for a few days but each time he did he got pneumonia and had to go back to the hospital.  His mom is not letting him try school again until the spring.  He is having a tough time.  As the “glamour” of a heinous injury wears off and people stop coming around it gets tough to accept that his life is not going to get better.  

I fear that he does not have much time left.  It is heartbreaking and difficult to comprehend.  Prayer is greatly appreciated and the only thing that can help him.He is still on the ventilator and has had some difficulty breathing a lot.  I hate to see him struggle and just fear that the difficult breathing coupled with sickness will be more than he can handle.  It is a tragedy.

When you have a player go through this it puts things in perspective very quickly.

Thank you so much and may God bless, Lou

...

Urgent Prayer Need: SportsLeader Player Paralyzed

Brian Diefenderfer, a 15 year old star offensive and defensive lineman from Eastern Hancock High School in Indiana, was in a tragic car accident Saturday night. No one else was critically injured in the crash.

He is in critical condition. At present they have him in an induced coma and on a breathing machine. He has a broken back and a broken neck. They did a short preliminary surgery but saw that things were so bad that they needed to stabilize him a bit before moving forward.

Unless a miracle happens, and we all believe in them, Brian will be left paralyzed from at least the chest down. But at present he is still in very critical condition.

Making matters that much more devastating is the fact that his father died in a motorcycle accident 20 months ago. He has his mom and one older sister.

I was just on a team camp with Brian and all of his teammates. He is one of the most beloved, trusted and popular guys on the team.

His teammates and coaches have responded admirably and have gone as a group to visit him and his family even though he is still in a coma ... they are going again tonight. I hope to join them.

Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Life is short, take nothing for granted and don't waste the moments we have. 

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