July 31st, 2012 by Zac

July 27 – 10:03pm (an e-mail send out from a good friend who heard the news from us first)

We just received a call from Zac Shepperson.  About 5pm tonight, Kim, Gwyneth, Sam and Hampton were in a car accident where their car collided with another car  on teh drivers side. Kim was airlifted to Banska Bystrica (about 3 hours from the accident scene) and is in surgery right now. She has 5 broken ribs and internal bleeding. They want to make sure her liver was not damaged. Draho and Zuzana Poloha are with her at the hospital. Hampton was on the same side of car as Kim and received a blow to the head. He was airlifted to Kosice (about 1,5 hours from the accident scene) to a different hospital. No one was allowed to go with him on the helicopter. Duski and Anna Marsal are on their way ahead of Zac to Kosice to find out which hospital Hampton was taken to. Gwyneth has a broken leg and broken arm and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Poprad (about 30 minutes from the accident scene). All three are in hospitals in different cities. Sam was in the car but did not have any injuries. Emily was at a different camp and may not have heard about the incident yet. The Shepperson family was in route to an summer English camp. Zac was traveling with another team in a separate car and had already arrived at the camp, which was about 10 minutes from the accident scene.

July 31, from Zac’s Face Book page

Thank you all for your kind notes and prayer for our family. we have been through the “ringer” over the past several days. But I’m very thankful everyone is alive. Last night I was able to get all the kids back home under one roof (except for Emili who is still working at a camp and Kim). Hampton looks the worst, but is actually the least injured. He has about 50 stitches around his eye and forehead. Gwyneth is the most immobile. I’m literally carrying her everywhere. But she is feeling much better. Sam was uninjured and is being a big help. Kim was transferred to our local hospital this morning. She is in the worst condition, but today was her best day. In the final analysis, she had 5 broken ribs, a damaged spleen that had to be removed, a punctured and collapsed lung and a punctured liver. She ate some soup today and didn’t throw it up, which is better than previous days. Plus, she just felt better (after the painful transfer by ambulance of course). She’s really strong, but she still needs lots of prayer. I’ll try to keep everyone updated. Thanks again for your kindness and friendship.

August 7, from Zac’s Facebook page. 

I snapped this picture as Kim was packing up her her hospital room to come home this morning. She is home now and resting. She’s still really sore and moving really slow, but at least she’s at home. Her sister Georgia also arrived yesterday and is already hard at work. Kim does have a low fever, so she has a check up in the morning to make sure all is ok. Hampton will go to get all his 50 stitches out as well in the morning. We’ve been working on insurance claims all day and hope keep the process moving forward. We are feeling your care and prayers.

August 9 (From Zac’s Facebook page)

The happiest boy in the world! Hampton got all his stitches out yesterday. And he didn’t even cry once. He still has sore muscles and joints and he moves like an old man sometimes, but he’s stronger each day. We are celebrating that he is still with us.

August 14

After a night of increasing pain, I rushed Kim back to the hospital at 2am to try to understand what was wrong. After some hours of examinations and tests, they found that she had a blood clot in her lung and also one in her liver. This was a most dangerous condition and extremely painful. The doctors admitted her to the hospital once again and began blood thinning treatment to dissolve the clots. Kim was very frightened for her life in those hours, knowing that another clot in her heart or brain could mean heart failure or stroke. But God faithfully protected her from any further damage and clotting. She remained in the hospital for another 10 days, as they monitored if her blood was thinning properly.

August 21 (From Zac’s FB page)

I spent most of the afternoon with Kim today during visiting hours and I’m happy to report that she has made real significant improvement! Her pain has drastically diminished over the last two days. She had regained her ability to move more freely. Her breathing is better and she just feels better all together. The doctor said today, that as soon as they can confirm that she has no more clots in her legs (by ultrasound) she probably can go home. Wow, what a change from two days ago! I don’t think she could have stood any worse.

We are really thanking God for his mercy and gentle restoration of her body. And we are so thankful for all your faithful prayers and kind notes.

 August 24 (From Zac’s FB page)

Kim was released from the hospital this morning (Friday) and I already have her at home! The doctor said her blood platelet levels are a bit high still, but he didn’t see that as a reason to stay in the hospital longer. She’s already sitting outside enjoying the sunshine (so glad to out of that hospital room). She still has pain and moves very slow, but it’s a vast improvement from a few days ago. All of you are so kind to keep praying and responding.