11. “She couldn’t recall how long she waited alone
in the water, holding onto a porch post and screaming for help.” Lydia’s Story (pg. 130 paragraph 3)
22. “The hall no windows; only fluorescent lighting illuminated
the large space” Lydia’s Story (pg. 128 paragraph 2)
33. “Entering the large VFW hall, we were stick by
the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong it seemed toxic” Lydia’s Story (pg. 128 paragraph 2)
44. Bodybuilding, little brothers traumatic brain injury,
learning to write in Spanish.
55. Purpose: I want to tell this story because, what
happened to my little brother changed my life, it taught me many lessons and
made me realize the importance of life. I want to write about this because I
never want someone else to experience the pain my family and I faced while he
was in the hospital.
66. Audience: Some of the readers might have had a
similar experience either to the same or lesser degree. I would have to only do
a brief background on what happened that day and what happened throughout his
stay at Harborview Medical Center, maybe a little bit about the aftermath. Yes
I can assume that they will feel the same way I did because it would be immoral
if they didn’t.
77. Stance: I want to project a serious informative
stance in the beginning and end but in the middle I was to project sadness and
anger. I want the readers to be sympathetic, or should I say feel what I felt.
I want my reader to see me as a normal guy but I want the readers to see my
brother as a fighter and survivor.
88. Media/Design: My narrative will be in print and
on my blog. I can bring photographs of what it looked like.
99. What do you see? Computer Screen, khaki walls,
pictures of my brothers and sister, out the window it’s raining and cloudy out the
wind is blowing the trees, I got paper and my cell phone, I’m sitting on a black
leather desk chair at a cherry wood desk.
110. What do you hear? I hear the heater rumbling,
wind rustling the trees and bushes, rain patting on the window and gutters.
111.
What do you smell? I smell nothing but a scented
apple harvest candle in our house.
112.
How and what do you feel? I feel sorrow,
sadness, anger, frustration, a little hot cause of heater being so hot, comfortable
clothes, sticking to leather chair.
113.
I taste minty gum.
114.
Short with broad shoulders, dresses in preppy
clothes from American Eagle, they speak with just a touch of a southern accent
and a bit of southern lingo.
115.
Doctors at hospital assuring us that everything will
be okay “From the look of these pictures of his brain it appears that he has an
AVM which has triggered multiple blood vessels to burst and clot in his brain,
but we are here to treat him with the best care and he will be okay we are
currently searching for every possible solution that will do the least damage
to him in the long one, he will need surgery, but we can assure you he will be
in the hands of one of the best neurosurgeons in the world.” All of us talking
to my little brother even though he was in a coma and was unresponsive to everything
we said, “Your little brother is a fighter and he’s going to push through it”
116. My name is Joshua
Rentz and I'd like to tell you the story of my little brother Daniel's
traumatic brain injury. My dad, friends, and brothers all went skiing on
February 27th at Steven's Pass Ski Resort in Washington State. We left school
early and got pizza and were all super pumped about the day. It all was
turning out to be an excellent day there were wonderful conditions, sunny and
about 36 degrees. We got to the resort and split into our groups, me being a
snowboarder went with my 2 best friends, then Daniel and his friend went
together, then my father and other brother went together. We all agreed to meet
at the car at 10:00 p.m. and then return the following morning. We set off and
had an excellent day of skiing. On our last run of the day I had lost my phone,
as I bolted down the mountain to see if anyone had returned a phone I passed by
2 kids, one was on top of the other telling them to wake up, I ignored the
situation and continued to go down the mountain and find the lost and found. It
took me a good 20 minutes to find someone to open up the lost and found to
check and see if my phone was in there, as they entered my name into the
computer they asked me if I had a little brother, I said yes is he okay? they
replied come with me now, I followed them to the ski patrol medical office and
told them to tell me what was going on, I was very frustrated and angry that
they weren't telling me what was going on and I started yelling at them, they
told me to calm down and sit. I didn't and they were very frustrated. My dad
finally got to the medical office and they broke the news to us. "Your son
Daniel is being sent to the Monroe Hospital, he took a hard fall and is
currently unconscious and has swelling on his head." as soon as they told
us what was going on I flipped out, at that moment I knew that the 2 kids on
the mountain were my brother and his friend, I immediately regretted my
decision to pass them, (last season I had dislocated my shoulder and was stuck
on the mountain for 2 hours before someone stopped to help me and after that
incident I had made it my duty to always ask people if they are okay and if
they need help.) The one time I break my promise to myself it bites me in the
ass. 10 minutes later they inform us to head to Harborview Medical Center
because Daniel was being airlifted out of the area to seek immediate medical
attention. We rush over to Seattle which was a good 2 hours out and we call our
mother who was about an hour away to meet us there immediately. After many many
hours of him being scanned and getting images done the doctors talk with my
parents. Our parents inform us that my little brother had dislocated his left
shoulder, fractured his nose, fractured his left eye, has a brain AVM, has
bleeding in the middle of his brain and on the left side, and has many blood
clots in his brain. They then had his friend come in and describe what had
happened, he was the only one who knew because he was the only one with him, he
said they were going to try and cross a creek so his friend went first and then
Daniel but his friend wasn't watching him and the next time he turned around
Daniel was face first in the snow. The doctors are still trying to find out
whether he had blacked out before the fall or if the fall triggered the brain
to shut down. He was unable to breathe by himself for 4 days and had all these
tubes and chords attached to his body, he looked more machine then human.
But 3 days into the hospital he had brain surgery to remove the clots and the
AVM. He still has some minor clots in his brain but they will disintegrate over
time. Unfortunately my little brother can not move the left side of his body
and can't talk. He is being transferred to Seattle Children's Hospital on
Monday and will start his road to recovery there.
117. I know I may not be
somebody but my little brother is definitely somebody. He is an
incredible 14 year old, he is one of the fastest freshman cross-country
runners, an amazingly talented violinist, an very very smart A honor roll
student, a sailor, a fitness freak, a great skier, a dedicated
friend, and the most supportive, challenging, awesome, goofy little
brother. If you could take some time and share my brothers story it would be
immensely appreciated, he needs motivation and he needs stories he
can relate to for he can see that he WILL be okay and WILL recover with
determination and dedication. And Kevin Pearce's Story is an excellent example
that would fuel him to want to recover.
Also my family and
his friends need support to find out what we can do to help Daniel out and
ensure him a speedy recovery. Seeing that Kevin had such a supportive family I
would like to know what his family did for him and how it helped him.
Thank you for your
time and please share my brothers story to Kevin and/or people that can help us
out, and teach us how to be supportive and to teach him that he WILL recover
and be a better version of himself when it is all over.
Thanks Again,
Joshua Rentz
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