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Two weeks into his senior year, my 17 year-old son Nathan was critically injured when the van he was a passenger in went 75 feet down a mountainside. He and the youth group from church were returning from a whitewater rafting trip in the mountains of North Carolina. Tired and rushed, the youth leader was taking an unfamiliar short cut on dark, wet mountain roads and hit mud. The van and the ten occupants went down a mountainside with the van rolling over and over. Nathan was in the back seat of the van and was partially ejected through the back window. The van rolled over on his head. He was trapped in the van for over 90 minutes before he could be extricated. He was then airlifted to the University of Tennesee medical center and taken immediatly to surgery. He had a basal skull fracture and a depressed skull fracture over his left eye. He was bleeding into his left frontal lobe. The doctor had to remove part of his brain in this area to stop the bleeding. The doctor gave us no hope for his recovery. I had signed organ donor cards for Nathan and started praying. 72 hours later he was still alive. The doctors told us that if he did survive he would require nursing home care. Well, to make along story short, Nathan walked and talked and started eating food again with his mouth instead of a tube on Christmas day, 1996. This was a miraculous recovery! Less than 3 months after devastating injuries Nathan had hope of a future. His only problem now is he has lost a lot of his social skills and judgement abilities. I am hoping to find a rehab that specializes in retraining these skills. If you know of a place where we can find such help for Nathan, please e-mail me at Costners@Shelby.net. Thank you and you all have been an inspiration for me as I read each story you have posted. God bless you all and a speedy recovery.