The Murray family has been updating Stephen's condition on BMXtalk.com regularly. Below is the most recent post, along with all of the info you need to donate to the Stephen Murray fund. We will keep updating this news post as often as we can.
MURRAY UPDATE JUNE 30
Stephens tracheostomy operation went well and has made him more comfortable. He now has the respirator breathing for him via a tube into his thoat and a feed tube into his stomach rather than everything going into his mouth. This has meant he is able to communicate better and we can understand most of what he is trying to say. Although no sounds comes out when he speaks, we are optimistic that with time and speach therapy, his voice should slowly but hopefully improve.
The doctors and surgeons have said that being so fit and healthy has been a major help to him in both sustaining the shock of the injury and in his ability to recover.
Yesterday he was put into a wheelchair by the side of his bed for 2 hours whcih gave him a huge lift.
His next goal is to gradually wean himself off the respirator and to hopefully breath for himself in the future. Whether this is possible we aren't sure but should he overcome this it would be a great aid in his recovery. This is more of a mid-term goal than an immediate one.
We hope that with some improvement to his breathing he will be moved out of intensive care and down the corridor to a slightly lesser dependant unit within the next week. That will be another big step.
His spirits are strong and he is so determined to overcome this, it gives us all hope.
We want everyone to know that we really appreciate everyones support. Some of the things people have said, have done, and are doing is overwhelming. Unfortunately we haven't had the time to reply to everyone at the moment, but Stephen has said that he will reply to each and every person that has contacted him over the last week to show their support.
He is in the University of Maryland Shock and Trauma Unit Hospital, widely regarded as one of the best Spinal Chord injury hospitals in the world. Can you believe he injured himself 300 yards from here!
Updates to follow (hopefully tomorrow)
Murrays
Murray Update June 28
Yesterday was quite a big day for everyone. The general surgeon arrived to discuss his tracheostomy operation which should hopefully be a temporary measure rather than a permanent fixture (amazing). This procesure takes the respirator out of his mouth and into his throat relieving pressure off his voicebox. They will also take out the feed tube from his mouth and insert this into his stomach. This leaves his mouth free and should be a lot more comfortable for him. It should also enable him to mouth words over the coming weeks, something which has been really frustrating for him. They hope to do this today.
Today, they also plan to operate to put a filter into his vena cava vein to prevent the build up of blood clots along with an MRI to check on the status of his neck.
Quote of the day came from the director of the neurotrauma team.
"he's not going to end up like christopher reeve"
This, as you can imagine, was a massive boost for everyone. There are plenty of rumours still flying round that he'll be riding by xmas, he's gonna be able to walk etc. etc. The only thing to listen to is this blog/update. He has sustained a life altering injury and we have come to terms with the fact that he may never walk again. The most we could ever hope for at this moment is for some use of his upper body and the ability to breath on his own in the future.
He did also manage to tell my mam "happy birthday" for today!
Last night his friends from england, scott edgworth and marco delisola flew in which put a smile on his face.
The comments on ths site (and others) and emails we have received are so comforting to us, and they will be even more comforting to stephen over the coming weeks when we are able to read them out to him.
Thanks again.
Updates to follow
Murrays
Stephen Murray Fund Update #3
Once again I have to say that the response to initial message sent out has been absolutely amazing. Donations are coming in from all over the world! Stephen’s family is so proud of all your donations and generosity and it has brought some light to a dark time in their lives.
Good news is that Stephen is showing great potential compared to others who have suffered similar injuries. He’s an athlete and a fighter and we all hope the best for the up and coming months. STAY STRONG STEPHEN!!!
We have also made a HUGE stride in the way of legitimizing the fund and are now receiving the help from a profound 501(c) 3 Non Profit Organization. What this means is that we can now receive much larger donations! We can now be involved with much larger scale opportunities to support Stephen Murray and many different plans are already in the works. There are some truly exciting opportunities on the horizon and Stephen Murray will have a ton of support to get through this new challenge in life.
There is now a new way that you can donate funds! Go to www.stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com where there is a link directly to the Pay Pal account for Stephen Murray. You can determine your own dollar amount and even if you are not registered with Pay Pal you can still donate. For all who have donated by email to stephenmurrayfund@hotmail.com this is all now linked into one account. It has been overwhelming with the number of emails to send out invoices for each individual donation. Now it’s all stream lined into one button. Please pass this web site around to everyone you can. www.stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com
There is also a myspace page set up at www.myspace.com/murraystrong
You can also copy the following HTML coding to you’re my space profile and it will include his beloved flag from Great Britain and the message to STAY STRONG STEPHEN MURRAY. It will also create a link from your myspace page directly to the web site where people can donate!!! So copy and paste the code to your myspace interest and personality profile to help spread the word!!!
<a
href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnN0ZXBoZW5tdXJyYXlmYW1pbHlmdW5kLmNvbQ=="
target="_blank"><img
src="http://stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com/images/StephenMyspace.gif"</a>
<br><b>Use the code below to add to your Myspace profile<br>Just copy and
paste it in the
interests & personality <br> section of your profile.</b><br><br>
<textarea cols="45" rows="8" wrap="hard" readonly="yes"><a
href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwO
i8vd3d3LnN0ZXBoZW5tdXJyYXlmYW1pbHlmdW5k
LmNvbQ==" target="_blank"><img src="http://stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com/
images/StephenMyspace.gif"</a>
<br>
</textarea>
Thank you all!!!! If you have any questions feel free to email stephenmurrayfund@hotmail.com
