Accident Updates

On September 6, 2004, Joey, Carla, and their youngest daughter Amy were involved in a car accident that rolled their full size van twice, sending the three of them to the hospital. Joey had minimal injuries, and Amy had glass imbedded in parts of her body and a broken ankle. Carla was in a coma with over 20 hematomas in her brain, a broken neck and a crushed spine that threatened her life. These, along with several other injuries including a broken wrist, fractured hip, and broken leg, were the subject of several surgeries over the next several weeks. The swelling in her brain subsided after two weeks, and she was on the road to recovery.

Her recovery has been incredible, and nothing short of a miracle. After being told she wouldn’t survive the initial brain injuries, the pressure in her brain subsided, beginning to heal itself. Next, she was told she would never walk again, and with God’s grace, and countless hours of physical therapy, she is well on her way to going from a wheelchair to a walker.

It has been a long road, and periodically, updates are emailed out to friends and family. The two most recent updates are always posted here. Thank you for your prayers!

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April 2009 (written by Carla Link)

It has been some time since we last contacted you. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf.  I have been contemplating a thought I was presented with in my Quiet Time. The verse for meditation was I Corinthians 10:31

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

I think we often give God the glory ‘after the fact’, but how often do we give God the glory before or in the midst of what is going on in our lives? So once again, in my own prayer time, I have been stopping to give God the glory for the things I struggle with, or don’t understand the “why” or “how”.

I have been in water therapy two days a week since January. It is hard work. When I started, I had to wear ankle and wrist weights, as well as a life-belt.  Now, I don’t need any of those! I can freely walk or swim to wherever I want to go in the pool! To warm up, I walk the width of the pool front-wards, backwards, and side-to-side, both ways.  My water therapist recently told me that my core strength improved 50% in one month’s time! Best of all, I no longer need to use the lift to get in and out of the pool. I can walk up and down the 7 steps into the water, with no braces!

My mobility on land is greatly improved as well as a result. I work out on the land exercise equipment three days a week, and walk the mall almost every day. Since I can now walk the entire mall (1/2 mile in perimeter) in under a half hour’s time, I have just started doing two laps.

This is all good news. The down side has been the pain. Whenever I use muscles in new ways, or have other ‘normal’ aches and pains, it triggers the nerve pain, and together, they have been unnerving. I unexpectedly got a call to go to Mayo Clinic last week, and was given an epidural injection in my spine to help ease off the nerve pain. It takes a week-ten days to kick in. I would say the relief from the nerve pain is about one-third of what it was, so I know it is working, and I am grateful.

Prayer Requests:

• Continued increased mobility and endurance
• Quad muscles would continue to strengthen
• Hamstring in left leg would heal – it has been a huge source of sharp, stabbing pain
• I would stay injury-free
• I am working on losing the 35+ pounds I gained on a medicine last winter

 I am sure you will easily recognize why this verse in Psalm 138 speaks to my heart.

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your loving kindness, O Lord, is everlasting. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

On another note:

Our daughter Amy has been struggling with health issues for about three years now. She has had a lack of energy, trouble breathing, and continual nausea among other things. We couldn’t get a diagnosis on her locally, so we encouraged her to seek medical attention after she settled into school in Nashville. She has found a wonderful primary care doctor, who will not give up his determination to go beyond treating symptoms to finding solutions.  She has endured more medical tests than any young lady should have to face, and has impressed us that she has faced this on her own there, without our physical presence.

They have found several different things, but have yet to find what ties them together. Please pray that they will determine a diagnosis, and that it will be treatable.  Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for remembering her in prayer.

We trust all is well with you and your families. Thank you again for partnering with us in this path God has taken us on. To HIM be the glory!

If you would like to send notes of encouragement to Carla you can send to linkaccident@mchsi.com.  Remember it’s a “read only” account so she can’t reply back but she enjoys hearing from you! 

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December, 2008 (written by Joey Link)

We so appreciate your prayers for Carla’s continued improvement. If there was ever a time we need your prayers, it is now! Over the Thanksgiving holidays, we could all see that Carla has made significant progress. We went to Chicago to celebrate the holiday at the home of our son Michael and his wife, Rachael. This got Carla out of the comfort zone of being at home, and she had to try and do things in different ways than she usually does. This is what we all noticed:

• When she stood up, she stood straight up. She has been working on this for a long time.
• She could sit for a few hours and then stand straight up and walk. She wasn’t able to do this until a few weeks ago. She would have to stretch when she stood and do weight shifts for several minutes before walking.
• On Thanksgiving Day, she stood taking pictures with her nice camera, which is heavy. She did not hold onto anything to steady herself, she only held the camera, and she could focus it! She has not been able to do this since the accident.
• She got up early Friday to go shopping with Rachael. They stood in line to check-out at one store for over an hour. She only sat down twice during that time for 2-3 minutes each time!  She stood straight and tall. This is proof that her quad and hamstring muscles are much stronger. When she stood before, her knees locked to hold her steady, and she only lasted a few minutes. To have her thighs holding her steady is a wonderful change.
• Even though we have a handicap plate on our van, there were no handicapped spots available at the mall. So they had to park in a regular stall which made it impossible to rotate the swivel seat that lowers electronically (that Carla sits in) out of the van. Carla climbed down 3 steps and stood up. Because there was no room for her walker, she walked between the cars only touching the cars with her fingertips for balance.
• Despite the crowds, she did not use a wheelchair. She had no trouble using the walker. When she got back to the van, again walking between the cars, she decided to climb the 3 steps up into the front seat.
• She was trying to get up from a soft, low couch and her knee buckled. At any other time, she would have fallen, because when it did this, her quad muscles were not strong enough to pull her back up. But this time she didn’t fall, she tightened her thighs and they held!  Praise God!
• For the first time since the accident, Carla put ornaments on our Christmas tree standing up. What a beautiful sight to see!

When we were all commenting on this she got quiet and I asked her what she was thinking. She said, “I need you to understand that this is a result of all the pain and sleepless nights I have been struggling with. I know when I work on new things (her posture and stability) I am going to be in pain.” The pain that comes from working muscles in a new way triggers the nerve pain. That is what she deals with. She went on to say, “I know you have difficulty seeing me in pain and you want to ‘fix’ it, and get frustrated because you can’t. I hope you all understand once again that this is why I can endure it. It is worth it to be able to progress in these ways.”

On Monday she had PT again. Because of a snowstorm that left ice on the road, I took her to physical therapy. Her PT was excited to hear of her accomplishments over the holiday. He was encouraged as to where she is at. She is doing well because of your prayers. Her physical therapists ask her what we ask prayer for, and then they shake their heads when they see improvement in those exact areas. Your prayers would be meaningless if Carla was not willing to keep pressing on, pain and all.  She often says that when she gets discouraged, she reminds herself that in that moment someone is likely praying for her and she will not let that prayer go unheeded, and off she goes for another workout.

From what I have shared, hopefully you can see why I said this is a very important time to be praying for Carla.

1. Her quad muscles would continue to gain strength.

2. For safety as she must do new things to put into practice what her muscles can now do, without being fearful of falling again. We ask you to please pray for a hedge of protection around Carla’s body allowing her to stay injury free and to continue the improvements she is experiencing and we are starting to see.

3. That she will sleep more consistently and for longer periods of time.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. May God give you a blessed Christmas season as you worship our Savior like the wise men did so long ago.

If you would like to send notes of encouragement to Carla you can send to linkaccident@mchsi.com.  Remember it’s a read only account so she can’t reply back but she enjoys hearing from you! 

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