Pull Through Darryl Tait

Hello everyone I am just wanting to apologize for the lack of updates to the website latley.

But I will now be posting more frequently.

I thank you all again for the love and support.

To our loving family & supporters !!!!!!!!

 I want to write you a brief note because with our departure fromVancouver ,there is much to get accomplished  in these last days and Imight not have a chance to write you until we are well settled intoWhitehorse.

 Can you believe that just over 5 months have passed by, since webegan this journey in Boston at Mass General Hospital (MGH - I recallsomeone telling me the initials stood for Man's Greatest Hospital)?  Itwas there, that God in His infinite mercy granted our son, Darryl, LIFE!!!!! How quickly we move on in our daily lives and press forward andsometimes forget the everyday miracles that take place !!!!  We are notto dwell on the past but we do need to give THANKS for what we have today because thejourney truly says it all !!!!  Our Heavenly Father has been everpresent in our daily walk and the continued healing of Darryl'sphysical body has been remarkable !!!! His physical & mentalstrength has grown with each days passing!!!! Darryl is ready to starttesting his wings out at home!!!! Thank-you, Lord for this !!!!

 Yes, we are preparing to leave rehab and it is a joyousoccasion !!!!!!  There are so many along the way, who through theirindividual and corporate efforts have brought us to this point !!!!!!We are truly thankful for all medical, nursing, & patientsupport staff who have actively contributed in the care of our son. Weare thankful for your years of dedication to your profession and thatyou allow God to work in and through you to accomplish much. Ourjourney has been enriched by the strength and determination ofpatients, rehab clients and their families that continually encouragedus by their words and actions. Love is something that is expressed inindividual unique ways and we have been abundantly blessed with it byso many. We are truly grateful for all our family and friends who havewalked along beside us and shored us up with their prayers, words andactions in our time of great need. Please know, if we can ever be therefor you and your loved ones, you can count on us !!!

  Jamie is presently driving north on the Alaska Highway andincurring some snow storms enroute. Please pray for Jamie and ChuckBurrel's safety on their trip north. Chuck flew down to Vancouver todrive Darryl's converted truck back to Whitehorse for us!!!!AWESOME!!!!!  Oh, as an aside, Jamie did get his helicopter licensewith an endorsement on a Jet Ranger!!!  YAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!  CONGRATS,Jamie!!!!!!

 Curtis is working full time as a Kinesiologist at a rehab facilityin Richmond and volunteering one afternoon a week at the gym of GFStrong. He is quite happy to be putting his year's of education topractical application!!!!  Please keep him in your prayers as he(we) wait upon his acceptance into UBC Physiotherapy Master's program.Becky is just enroute back to Guatemala for more Spanish and volunteerwork as a dental hygienist. Please pray for her schooling, as well asher safety, during her time away !!!!

 We are looking forward to the next chapter in our journey. We know it will not be without its challenges but it is appreciating a world filled with renewed possibilities!!!

 May this be a truly BLESSED EASTER with family and friends!!!!!! Thank-you all for being the hands,feet and heart of Jesus in and through our circumstances !!

 With much love and appreciation of all of you,

 Jamie, Barb, Curtis, Becky and our beloved, Darryl

Good Day to all our loving family members and our cherished supporters !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!             

February 28, 2010.

WASN'T THAT A TERRIFIC GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY GAME, both teams were equally matched and we all know it could have gone either way!!!! But in this moment in time, the CANADIAN TEAM BUSTED OPEN with the PLAY THAT SEALED THE DEAL!!!!!! THEY HAD/HAVE US ALL GOING CRAZY WITH JUBILATION!!!!!!! IT REALLY DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT!!!! Just when you have shared that adrenaline rush of victory with all fellow Canadians every where, then the closing Olympic ceremonies just went to the core of our appreciation of being Canadians!!!! The OLYMPIC FEVER HAS BEEN REAL HERE IN VANCOUVER and we consider it a real PRIVILEGE to have experienced it FIRST HAND!!!! Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

I cannot get to sleep, I have tried but I just can't settle down !!! I am just filled with excitement and just filled with that feeling of being PROUD TO BE A CANADIAN!!!!! I really don't think I have felt this way since the Calgary OLYMPICS but even this is more intense !!!!! It's like a deep REJOICING resonating in the multitude of everyday Canadians, that we have and will always have much to be thankful for !!!!!!!!! We are, as individuals and as a nation are free to DREAM, to BELIEVE, to HOPE, to EXPERIENCE with all the diversity and richness of our people, in our home we call, CANADA!!!! Every time our national anthem was sung during the Olympics and the phrase, "God keep our land, glorious & free," I would thank God for His faithfulness in keeping our country "GLORIOUS & FREE !!!!!" WE ARE TRULY RICHLY BLESSED as a NATION !!!!

March 8, 2010

Much has happened since our last update and it is hard to know where to begin.

I believe we left off where we had returned home from the X-Games.

We have our new discharge date as March 30th with much to get organized before then. All Darryl's equipment has been ordered so we hope it all arrives before Jamie heads home with the truck and trailer. He is hoping to get at least a week head start so he can set up the condo in Whitehorse. We have much to be thankful for because Darryl's friend, Corey Sands has the renovations completed on the condo !!!!!! Thanks a bunch Corey!!! We can't thank you enough for taking this project on and seeing it through!!!! The changes are going to make a tremendous difference in Darryl's daily life!!!!!

Darryl has completed His driver's rehab and his hand controls will be installed into his truck this coming Friday. The necessary mechanical lift/transfer board is on order and will be installed once we have the truck home in the Yukon. Thanks to our wonderful friends in Yellowknife for these devices, as their way of enabling Darryl regain his independence. We all know what freedom Darryl is going to experience when he is able to get behind the wheel of his truck and go places on his own!!!!!!!!

On the EPIC OLYMPIC HOCKEY GOLD weekend, while Jordan, Matt and Ryan were visiting, Darryl had the opportunity to sit ski (mono ski). Needless to say Darryl caught onto the sport quite quickly; with completing three lessons in the framework of what would normally have been one. Darryl had some pre-coaching on sit skiing from his wheelchair sales rep, Daniel Wesley, who is a former para-olympian in the sport. It is a real privilege to have Daniel as Darryl's vendor. He is able to instruct Darryl on how to approach various wheelchair sports with a vast amount of experience. Daniel and Darryl make a GREAT collaboration with Daniel's experience and Darryl's enthusiasm who knows what the possibilities are!!!!!!!!! It is a real blessing that they have hooked !!!! Daniel also introduced Darryl to his buddy, Rob in North Vancouver, who designs molded seating for paraplegics, quads & amputees, for their various sports activities The networking we are able to do while we are here in Vancouver, but especially at rehab, is going to prove to be invaluable down the road for Darryl.

Darryl, about a week ago moved down into the "independent wing". He has very minimal nursing care now and has a room to himself. In his old room, he had a revolving door of room mates that were either short stay clients or ones who got moved to their own rooms because of there special needs. It was a little crazy there for a while!!!!!! Darryl is nicely settled into his new digs. With this change, it is time for Jamie and I to step away for the most part and let Darryl have his space to complete his home stretch at rehab. We, Jamie and I, have much to accomplish behind the scenes to insure a smooth discharge and return to the Yukon. Even though we will not be directly involved with Darryl's day activities, other than visit, we will still have meetings with staff members to coordinate the final stages of transition home to the Yukon. in addition to meeting, I will go to his physio sessions, just in case an extra set of hands is going to make a difference between mat work and brace walking with hand crutches.

This coming week Jamie has moved out to Abbotsford to finish his helicopter license. It was decided, that he needed to devote his energies to the completion of this course without all the many daily distractions we are experiencing. It will be good for him to be focused on this one task and get it accomplished.

For myself, I have much paperwork to get caught up on, get myself prepared for the journey home and what lies ahead in Whitehorse. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to returning to the North. Vancouver has had a spectacular warm, early spring!!!!!! The cherry blossom are every where and the gardens are bursting with the fresh spring colours!!!! Even with all that beauty, my heart longs for the serenity and Spring beauty of the north!!! The ache for the quiet, soft spring noises, like the snow melting against the rocks and the strong winds that can erupt through the trees as your skis caress the crystallized snow beneath you. The rhythm of your skis beating in synchronized time with your heart. The warmth of the sun reflected off the snow as you bask in the richness of all that your senses can behold!!!!! The NORTH gets in your blood and there is nothing like the people of the NORTH!!!!

 They are a special breed and their rich diversity gives much depth to our lives!!! We are more than community, we are like family. There is an eerie calm silence that we are all drawn to in the vast north !!!! The hustle and bustle of city life is a far cry from the quiet elegance we experience daily.

How RICH is a quiet soul !!!!!!

We are ever mindful that each day we are richly blessed to have one another. That our God is ever present in our lives as we press forward, and He is there because He simply loves us and wants a personal relationship with us!!!!! The simplicity of that confounds us because it should logically be more complicated !!!! We are ever so thankful that the staff at GF Strong continue to find favor with Darryl and that God continue to work things out for a TREMENDOUS FUTURE FILLED WITH HOPE !!!!

God Bless each and everyone of you!!!! Your prayers make a huge difference for our family because they carry us through the rough times and shore us up when our own strength is diminished !!!!!! We are a work in progress!!!!! We are looking forward to seeing our friends in the North very soon!!!!

With much love and gratitude,

Jamie, Barb, Darryl, Becky & Curtis

Dearest family & friends, who continue to give us much support in our journey;

We are challenged these days because many of our dear friends at GF Strong are leaving or preparing to live their lives independently post Spinal Cord Injury. It is a natural progression but it is like being separated from our new family members. Oh, the heart feels the tug and it is not easy to say goodbye!!!! We truly have been richly blessed by their presence in all our lives. New clients will join us in our journey, and no doubt will feel like family members as well.

Our journey to Aspen, Colorado to spectate at the 2010 Winter X Games was a HUGE learning curve for Darryl, Jamie and myself !!!!! Darryl had hoped in the late summer of 2009 (pre-spinal cord injury), to be competing in the Snowmobile Freestyle event of these games. It was an emotional event for all of us, on different levels and in many respects we are still processing things. It was a bridge we all needed to cross in moving forward with our lives.

We cannot say enough about Darryl's friends in the sport who rallied around to give us support. We truly could not have done this trip without them !!!!! They arranged for pit passes, parking pass,and given access to the athletes' tent to warm up. Darryl was toured around by a buddy (fellow rider) in an all terrain vehicle to meet various riders in the industry. This was truly one of the highlights for Darryl, as he finally met some of the riders he had always looked up to and respected for many years.The generosity of others (perfect strangers at times) was amazing !!!!!!!!! from assisting us getting Darryl up the snow covered hillside to the pit and viewing area, to visiting with us and making us feel right at home!!!

We all had the opportunity to meet Mike Schultz (amputee athlete) and Doug Henry (low injury paraplegic athlete) who both won gold and bronze medals respectively in the adaptive snocross competition. Both of these athletes are truly inspiring with absolutely amazing attitudes towards life !!!! I know for sure Darryl will be in touch in the upcoming years with Doug Henry. He really took time out of his busy schedule to talk one on one with Darryl, and give him some pointers on life as a paraplegic. With role models like these AWESOME guys for Darryl, it just gives you a sense of reassurance as his parents, for his independent life ahead.

Not sure if any of you watched the total X Games competition on TV but it was unbelievable!!!!!

United Airlines was AWESOME in assisting us through our first time experience travelling with Darryl in his wheelchair. There is an alot to consider as Darryl's parents but even more so by Darryl !!!!!!!! You know how we can sit back and relax once we are settled in our aircraft seat, such is not the case for Darryl. He is always trying to find his balance point (remember I told you it is like he is sitting on a large pilates ball from his upper chest down) as he is sitting in an unfamiliar seat, anticipating the movement of the aircraft. A shoulder harness like in a car would have been an asset but I think the pilots and crew members are the only ones who have them on in the aircraft. My mind is buzzing with how we could make it better for him, in that regards with some attachment to the existing apparatus so he can feel more stable.

For the most part, Darryl stayed warm during the outdoor event because we layered on the clothes. It appears in doing that we caused a pressure sore to develop on his butt. We caught it early and it is still healing (the medical staff believe it should be healed by early next week). We have three thoughts on what happened (1) that a couple layers of clothing (ie fleece pants and the outdoor lined snow pants) lined up the seams one on top of the other and caused just enough of a ridge to form to cause pressure to the one area of his butt (2) or that having a few layers on caused a wedgie to form on the inner most fabric and caused pressure on the area. (3) A transfer from or to his chair where he landed on tire of his wheelchair or the clothing guard. WOW, we all have so much to learn !!!!! Pressure sores are not something you want to happen because of the limitations it sets on the person in the wheelchair activities and it takes so much energy from the body to heal the presssure sore. Anyways, we are going to learn from this and ask other peer mentors what they do to dress for the cold. We thought we had a good handle on how to do it before we left for the trip, but obviously we need to fine tune it and learn more.

For every good day on the trip, we had a high learning day, where we had to lie low!!!!! It was amazing to see how the altitude of Aspen played into the duration of our activities. We had factored it into our thoughts but probably not quite enough. Jamie and I became Darryl's nursing staff so we were starting to run a little shy on sleep by the end of the trip. But in all fairness, Darryl was tired too from the daily challenges and another urinary tract infection.

Our original hotel booking was for an accessible room but they upgraded our room (thinking it would help us out). It posed some real challenges for Darryl and he was a real trooper about it all. To transfer into the bed it was up six inches from his wheelchair. I know that sounds crazy but you would have thought we were royalty with the height of these fluffy beds in our room. The sinks in the bathroom came up almost to Darryl's sitting down chin height. We all have a new appreciation of the importance of ensuring the reservations on accessible hotel accomodations is not altered for our next trip.

Today was the assessment for driver's rehab for Darryl. Hand controls, of course are in order, approximately 3 lessons and then a road test, all of which will take place after the Olympics. As a result, Darryl's discharge date will probably be extended to more like the middle of March. We really want to make sure he is able to drive before leaving Vancouver ,because we strongly believe this is critical to him living his life independantly.

We continue to have prayers answered like Darryl slowly reducing his pain medication, gaining wisdom and knowledge as we go, continually relying on our Lord to supply our every need, and to sustain us all. The continued healing of Darryl's body - he is gaining sensation further down his body than originally determined upon entry into the rehab center. The staff at GF Strong continues to find favour with Darryl. WHAT AN AWESOME GOD WE SERVE.!!!!!!!!! He hears our cries and petitions and He is faithful in honouring them. I am humbled daily by His presence in our lives !!!!!

Tonight is the fund raiser in Whitehorse for Jessica Frotten (21 years old) who suffered a spinal cord injury after being in a car accident as a result of a drunk driver. This took place after Darryl's accident later in the fall. Please take the time out of your busy schedule to lift her up in prayer and if you are able to give financial to help her and her family out.

We are really looking forward to returning to the north soon!!!!! We know our remaining time in Vancouver is going to fly by!!!!

Take good care of yourself and those you love.

With much love and gratitude,

Jamie, Barb, Curtis, Becky and our beloved, Darryl

To all our loving supporters !!!!!!!! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!! We have much to be joyful and thankfulto our Lord about !!!! Sorry, once again on the long span sinceupdating you on our journey!!!   

January 5/10

This morning, I was having a conversationwith a friend back in the Eastern United States looking for an updateon Darryl. I gave him a brief update that included Darryl has been outand about for the rehab center during the holidays, figuring how to goup and down escalators, going out to movies and shopping  travelling onthe sky train. He is transferring from his bed to his wheelchairwithout a transfer board and without supervision. Car transfers arestill with assistance but as described before, it is a 6-8 inchtransfer upwards but he is constantly improving.

During the holidays, we had a very BIG SURPRISE visit from twoformer employees, Yuki and Jeffrey Lai. They were in Vancouver fromSingapore for Jeffrey's Mom's 60th Birthday!!!! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY,Mrs Lai !!!!!! Thanks for that because we were the benefactors also ofyour celebration!!!!

I am just beside myself as I write to you tonight. It might take meawhile to write this email because the tears of joy just keep wellingup in me. I really don't think I can do justice to what took placetoday in Darryl's physio session!!!!! It was an ANSWER TOPRAYER............... Darryl was having physio in his room showing withease his physio therapist all he could do. He had  accomplishedeverything in half an hour but there was 20 minutes left in thesession!!!! No surprise to me!!!! So I just asked what are we going todo with the remainder of the time. I just about fell off my chair whenthe therapist said, "Let's go downstairs and measure  Darryl out forbraces." REALLY!!!! Darryl and I couldn't believe what was transpiring.Off we go and lo and behold they have a pair that fit him. "Well, let'stry them out, Darryl !!!" says the therapist. I am still in shock but Irun to Darryl's room to get the video camera. I have to record this forJamie, Curtis and Becky and all of you, so you could share in thismoment with us !!!! It was CRAZY!!!!! With braces on he was rolled overto the walking parallel bars. Darryl  grabbed the bar, one in each handand pulled himself veritcal. It was the first time he has stood up since his accident!!!!!!  THANK-YOU LORD JESUS for all you are doing in my son's life!!! He has to now work on building up his ability to maintain his blood pressure while standing!!!!! Darryl's first comment was, " Man, this is the farthest my head has been off the floor in a long time."I could barely film because I was crying for joy!!!!! OH, WE LIVE FORMOMENTS SUCH AS THESE,!!!!! God in your mercy you have answered ourprayers to be encouraged and that you truly are doing a work inDarryl's life that is beyond our comprehension!!!!! We give you all thePRAISE & GLORY!!!!

January 6th, 2010  Darryl takes his first steps in leg braces and the parallel walking bars. THANK-YOU, Lord Jesus!!!! 

January 7th, 2010  Our son, with the assistance of the RecTherapist, transfers to and tries out a hand bike. Darryl felt so GREATwith the speed of the bike picking up with every stroke he made withhis hands. His rec therapist after the initial check out in the gym andthen outside on a figure eight pathway, said "Have at 'er, Darryl." She is just getting to know Darryl and had no idea what permission shehad just given him. He was smiling from ear to ear and rounding thefirst bend of the figure eight pathway when a mischeiviousclint crossed his eyes. He departed for the paved pathway and headeddown a grass knoll right down into a mud puddle at its base!!!! Hecompleted the task with minimal amount of mud spray on his clothing buthis beaming smile was priceless!!!! 

January 10th, 2010 

First experience in the facilities swimming pool. Darryl describesthe experience as being a stick on the upper part of his body and a wetnoodle below his level of spinal cord injury. It wasn't exactly apositive experience but I am hopeful maybe with some more one on onetime with a therapist he will experience the benefits of being off hisbutt in this capacity. Janet, the rec therapist,gives TERRIFIC massages when people are floating because the pressureis off all the joints, etc.. This is extremely good for Spinal CordInjury (SCI) clients. 

January 13th, 2010

Darryl was up brace walking (supporting himself on parallelwalking bars and moving his feet, by initiating the movement withmuscles in his shoulders and his pectoral muscle in his upper chest.)It is a swing motion with his legs going forward and backwards on theparallel bar. We received our first standing HUG from our son and withtears of gratitude and joy we embracedone another. Darryl's physio therapist, Danielle, welled up intears, as well, during this treasured moment !!!! ARE WE NOT BLESSEDwith such tremendous moments as these!!!! 

January 14th, 2010 

Another urinary tract infection (UTI) which causes Darryl to takea dive physically and needs bed rest. Temps sky rocket up to 39.4degrees celsius and the doctors at GF Strong are getting ready to sendhim back to Vancouver General Hospital Emergency. Fear can take grip ofyou because most medical and nursing staff at VGH do not know muchabout how to meet the needs of Spinal cord injury patients. It is aspecialized area of medicine and because his UTI would be the reasonfor his presence there, he would not be sent to the spinal ward. Weprayed together that  we understood that God has designed our bodiesperfectly, and that running a temp means our body is killing off thebugs in it, so we ask that the high temp had completed that necessaryfunction. Now, we ask that Darryl's body temp would be reduced to givecomfort to the doctors at the rehab center, so they did not see thenecessity of sending Darryl to VGH. We understood that the doctors hadDarryl's best interest in mind and that God would give the doctors Hiswisdom in this situation.  We asked that any fear would be removed fromus at this time, in Jesus name we pray. AMEN. 

Our Lord, honoured our petition !!!!  Thank-you, for your faithfulness, Lord!!!!  I have discovered throughout our journey, that when I truly humblemyself before our Lord, and give Him the authority over ourcircumstances, He is ever present and real !!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!!! WE HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFULFOR!!!!! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND VISITS!!!  HOPE TO SEND SOMEPHOTOS SOON!!! 

We cannot thank-you enough for your continued prayers because theyare being answered. Darryl has put on 10lbs !!!! His pain has beenGREATLY reduced !!!! He is making GREAT progress!!! 

Prayer request at this time are:

1) That God would continue to protect & strengthen Darryl, andenable continued weight gain for him. He is at 131.5 lbs now,but a goodweight for him post injury is around 147 lbs.

2) That Darryl's pain would diminish that he can slowly be weanedoff the medication he has to take for it. (side effects of  the drugsare a concern) and give wisdom to his doctors.

3) That God would continue to guide us individully and corporately as a family members. 

Love you all lots, 

Jamie, Barb, Darryl, Becky and Curtis

Dearest Family & Friends !!!!

May this be a blessed Christmas with love, joy and peace radiating from within you, causing you to reach out to others that need to be blessed, and blessed abundantly!!!! It might be a smile to a stranger, touching the hand of someone who is hurting, give a hug when it isn't required, inviting a lost soul to supper, shovelling the snow off your neighbours walk, but express that same love to others as our Heavenly Father expressed that first Christmas Morn!!!! Love came down that morning through His son, Jesus Christ!!!! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal Life." Yes, Emmanuel ("God with us") began with a humble start with Him lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes but the fullness of His relationship with us and its potential is as GREAT today as it was then. He already knows you (the number of hairs upon your head, your every thought) and loves you more than you can conceive. His greatest desire is for you to know Him well.

My heart's desire is that Jesus (Emmanuel - God with us) would reveal Himself in a revitalizing new way to you this Christmas!!! And that you would have one of those moments that says, " Oh, God, you are there and always have been in my life, I just didn't see it that way before !!!!"

We are happy to share with you that Curtis arrived back into Vancouver on December 16th to celebrate Christmas with us!!!! YAHOO!!!!

Jamie, Darryl and I are ecstatic beyond any reasonable measure, it is JOY OVERFLOWING, to have him with us!!!!

We are so blessed to have one another and have this opportunity to celebrate Christmas together!!!

Have a blessed time with family and friends. As we say our grace at our Christmas dinner you will all be held dearly in our hearts and prayers. Thank-you for all your support and may our Heavenly Father exceedingly bless you in ways you never thought possible!!!! Open your hearts to receive, because love is going to come down just like that first Christmas morn!!!!

With much love,

Barb

To all our loving supporters, our family & friends;

My sincerest apologies for not writing you sooner. I apologize, should I have made any of you anxious because of my delay in writing an update on Darryl's progress and where we are in his/our journey.

Rehab requires alot of commitment, time and energy from all of us. It is like Boot Camp for Spinal Cord Injuries - there is soooooooo much to learn and sometimes when you are still resolving medical issues the learning curb just floods you and you feel like you are barely treading water.

Last weekend, after Jamie got back from Atlin/Whitehorse, I left early from GF Strong to take a breather and just relax by decorating our Christmas tree. I was feeling overwhelmed by what lays before us and fear of the unknown was welling up in me. I thought the decorating would give me an opportunity to switch my thoughts. There on a Christmas ornament, my Mom had given me last Christmas (when our family gathered in Atlin to celebrate together), the first words on it spoke instantly to my heart, "Fear not". My vision blurred as tears from the depths of my soul recognized that my Heavenly Father knew my heart and my thoughts, and was reaching down to give me encouragement and comfort through His Word written upon this simply designed tree ornament . I truly could feel His arms enfold me and just hold me!!!!! The RICHNESS of HIS LOVE never CEASES to AMAZE me!!!!! How REAL your LOVE IS, LORD !!!!!! The reality of His presence washed over me with a peace that filled my heart !!!!

Darryl is being a real trooper at this Spinal Cord Boot camp. He has only been here just over two weeks and is at the head of the class in advanced wheel chair skills after attending three sessions. His physiotherapist could see he was far beyond the basic class level because of his awareness of balance and placement of his body to accomplish the task at hand. The physics of it come to Darryl naturally because of all his sports activities !!!!

He has Physio everday and now Occupational Therapy looks like it will be daily as well after the holidays.The Christmas holidays break will be great for socialization but will put a slow down on the rehab portion of his development. Attendance at Educational classes are a requirement for rehab and I can't imagine not taking these sessions. He attends pulleys classes 3 times a week when his pain is not too much. In the midst of all that Darryl has to accomplish daily, the doctor have had to reduced his pain medication by two thirds because he is experiencing some negative side effects from the medication. The net result is incidents of autonomic dysreflexia (as I described in my last email). It is a real balancing act for Darryl to manage his own well being and get to know his body post spinal cord injury !!! We, as his support team, do the best we can but sometimes it just doesn't seem enough, especially when you see his face grimace with pain. Oh, Lord, if only I could bear that for our son !!!! Also, some of the meds he is on causes nausea, so eating continues to be a challenge. Darryl presses on with this task knowing it is in his best interest to eat and maintain, and hopefully gain back the weight he has lost. I put together a chicken ceasar wrap together for him this evening and he devoured it!!!! YAHOO!!!!!! BIG SMILES ALL AROUND!!!!

He does have the opportunity to explore other realms like the music & art studio, possibly take some cooking classes,and hopefully down the road, experience the pool. So many of the clients tell us what a wonderful feeling it is to get off there butts for just a little while!!!! Which makes alot of sense to me!!!!!

Today's challenge in physio for Darryl was to attempt a transfer of his body from his wheel chair going up into a vehicle that has 4-5 inch height difference. It took a couple of tries with our assistance but by golly he did it!!!!!! YAHOO, another VICTORY!!! It can be pretty scary for him because he is always trying to find his balance with every new thing he tries. He has describe it is like balancing his upper body on a big ball at all times. Accomplishing this transfer to the vehicle enables us to take him to our condo and anywhere else he wants to go throughout the holidays. It looks like he will be able to have day passes and for that we are ever so truly thankful. It will be a wonderful thing being together in our temporary Vancouver home for Christmas!!!!

Luke 2:8-14 “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

So, we are going ahead without fear because God is in control of our circumstances. Amazingly, today, almost a week later, God gave me this verse: "Don't be afraid for I am with you, Don't be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10). He is walking this journey with us and we will not be discouraged because He continually shores us up with His LOVE & STRENGTH through His Word.

We are thankul for all of you and your continued demonstration of love!!!!! May you have a Blessed Christmas with family and friends!!! I will try and get another update out next week before the Christmas holidays.

With much love, gratitude and prayers,

Jamie, Barb, and our beloved Darryl (with Curt and Becky in South America)

P.S. If you are trying to reach us can I please encourage you to email us or call our condo phone number (778) 737-2429 before 8:30 am or around 10:30 pm or leave a message and we will do our best to return your phone call (we have unlimited phone calls anywhere in North America included in our rent). Our cell phone bill has been outrageousy high for the past couple months and we can't afford this on going expense. I have turned my cell phone off for the rest of our duration in Vancouver. Thanks for helping us out on this matter.

To all our loving family and friends everywhere !!!

We have been treading in water here in Vancouver!!!! The RAIN IS INCREDIBLE!!!!! My hats are off to the people that live here because I really don't know how they do it day after day !!!! Sunshine is a novelty this time of year !!! CRAZY !!!! Our Vitamin B is in pill these days!!!!!!

I am one HAPPY Mom this evening!!!!! Darryl has been on a Skype call with his buddies (Jordan S in Calgary, Ryan A on Vancouver Island, & Matt W in Whitehorse) for over an hour just laughing, razzing one another and telling old and new stories !!!! I finally had to butt in and say, "Hey, guys, I have an idea !!!! How about we do a first and pray together via Skype and then I head home so you guys can keep on visiting with Darryl!!!!" I tell you, those buddies of Darryl's are AWESOME because they were all for it!!!!! As far as I know they are stilling chilling together on Skype!!!!! I LOVE TECHNOLOGY WHEN IT BRINGS US ALL TOGETHER TO BUILD EACH OTHER UP!!!!! Thank-you, Lord for the positive use of the technology that we have available to us!!!

This past weekend has been filled with visits from my Mom (Grandma), my sister (Joan) & her daughter (Erin) all from Calgary - plus my sister Wendy, her husband ,Craig, and their two sons, Colin & Scott. We celebrated our family time together with Chinese food !!!! Much appreciated by all of us, but especially Darryl because it was a wonderful treat from institutional food !!!! Thanks so much!!!! The fun just didn't stop there, we then had a visit from Adam & Connor Blakesly and Aaron (Timmy to some), part of the infamous "Atlin Boys" and all their beautiful girlfriends. When I say they are beautiful, they are all stunning women but their beauty starts from within and radiates outward!!!! You boys know how to pick'em!!!!!!!! In the middle of our visit, "Darryl Tait" was paged over the rehab PA System to "return to the 2nd floor". I thought we were in trouble - sheds of school days for me !!!! Darryl was in the middle of telling a GREAT story so he tried to do a Reader's Digest condensed version, and low and behold who should walk into the room but Jamie and Sheldon Sands. Well, I tell you it was like homecoming week for Darryl and I. We felt like a little piece of Atlin had come to us!!

Darryl was delighted with the WELL WISHING CARD from the school & community of Atlin !!!!!! It was AWESOME to read all the notes everyone wrote!!!! Sheldon and Jamie were responsible for having Darryl paged but they sniffed us out !!!! I think those boys should be detectives!!!!!! Mind you all they had to do was follow the loud noise and laughter in the building, and they were sure to find us!!!!

This past week has not been without it's challenges for sure but we are stronger for it!!!!!! Darryl suffered a really bad autonomic dysreflexia (AD) response!!! This is where from the site of his injury the lower portion of the body is trying to communicate with the upper body that there is something terribly wrong going on and you need to take care of this bad situation. The upper body, on the other hand, is saying everything is fine !!!! The confusion between the upper body and the lower body messages causes the blood pressure go sky high, causing a vise grip headache, nausea, etc. The headache Darryl was experiencing was unbearable !!! The nurse and doctor couldn't see this AD coming on because Darryl's blood pressure was not much higher than normal. Before his accident, Darryl was in such good shape that his normal blood pressure was very low, so when his reading was just above normal , he actually was experiencing a high blood pressure state. With some fast thinking, they were able to determine the problem and resolve it. My goodness, we sure want to do everything we can do to minimize that AD from happening too often. I

had a complete meltdown when we discovered on Thursday night, Darryl has lost well over 20 lbs.- he now weighs 120 lbs and is 6 ft 2 inches. Bless Him Lord with meat on his bones and restore his strength within the new muscle cells you are forming in his body, so he can do the tasks that lay ahead of him. Our Precious son is having a hard time eating because he feels sick to his stomach most of the time, since arriving at rehab. The food is actually better here than VGH, and we are supplementing him with some home cooking and foods he enjoys. Presently, it takes him two hours to eat a small meal because of the nausea. We are going to meet with the Doctor tomorrow morning before heading out for a chest x-ray at UBC Radiology, so we hope to get some input from her on this matter. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN YOUR PRAYERS because Darryl putting on weight is critical to his overall well being and progression.

Darryl has described this last week as a lot of women with clipboards doing assessments of all kinds on him (Physio,occupational therapists, dietitian, doctors, nurses, etc). It is going to be busy here at rehab, working hard to accomplish the goals Darryl has set for himself and mentally he is up for the challenge. Darryl is settling into his new digs but we are all still figuring out what Darryl's routine will be in this new environment. We have much to learn this upcoming week.

Having family and friends around has sure started this next week with BIG SMILES on our faces!!!! With the love of family and friends that continues to surround us through their support and prayers, causes us to soar above the day to day trials we face!!!!! We truly have a tremendous amount to be thankful for !!!!!! In the not too distant future, we are all going to do a victory lap together in our hearts, and I even believe even in a physical sense !!!! It will be a GREAT CELEBRATION of LIFE !!!!! Of the VICTORY that Christ has had daily in this journey !!!! You really see the hand of God working daily, if you stop, be still and realize He has it all under control. I can tell you it is not easy for me (a jump in there and get her done kind of person) to wait on the Lord's timing on things. In all of this, WAITING will be our greatest challenge, should we choose to take on this MISSION IMPOSSIBLE !!!! but ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!!!!!

With much love and prayers for you,

Jamie (in Whitehorse/Atlin), Barb, Darryl (in Vancouver) and Curtis/Becky (in Argentina)

November 23, 2009 8:21:22 PM

I am sure you can hear the ALLELUIA Chorus being sung all the way to Africa!!!!!!! Darryl is being transferred tomorrow to GF Strong Rehabilitation Center, here, in Vancouver!!!!!!!! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is AWESOME NEWS for all of us!!!! The doctors and staff on both sides have given their blessings that he is GOOD to GO!!!!!!

He was really challenged today by a new physiotherapist, Regina. She really put him through the ropes and down on the mat (literally)!!! Anyways, she told DARRYL THAT IF HE COULD HANDLE TODAY'S WORKOUT HE CAN HANDLE REHAB!!!!!

Heavenly Father, We are thankful that Darryl is healthy and ready for this transition. Prepare him completely, this night, for the transition and renew his strength in taking on new challenges in his life!!!!!!! Remove any residue of fear from his mind and may he press forward to the goals that lie ahead of him. We have much to look forward to and we continue to trust in the future you have for Darryl, in Jesus name we pray, AMEN.

Thanks for being there with all your love and support.

 With much love and gratitude,

Jamie, Barb, & Darryl (Becky & Curtis, now maybe in Northern Argentina)

To all our loving family and friends,

I think Fred Flintstone says it best with , "YABADABADO!!!!!!!!!!!!

The blood filter is out!!!!!! YABADABADO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank-you, Lord Jesus!!!!!!!!

Darryl is sleeping peacefully as I write you now, 6:00 pm!!!!  It might sounds unbelievable but this blood filter removal was really the toughest mental challenge Darryl has had to deal with during the course of the last month. Our son is a getter done kind of guy so having tried twice before, and not succeeding due to extenuating circumstances, had him mentally exhausted. We are HAPPY to say it is behind him NOW!!!  YAHOO!!!

His body continues to fight a urinary track infection with the assistance of antibiotics. Once he has this infection beat, they will be reviewing his case for acceptance at the rehab center, G.F. Strong. It is very important to have all the medical issues taken care and be stabilized with your health before entering the rehab facility. The down side of leaving too soon from VGH is that depending on your health issue, chances of being placed in the spine ward on re-entry would be nil.  Lord, we ask for your perfect timing and placement of Darryl to leave the spine ward at VGH into GF Strong. Your timing, God, has been perfect so far throughout our present circumstances, so we continue to TRUST IN YOU !!!! Guide those making the decision on this transfer for Darryl. Make Darryl's heart, spirit, mind and body ready for this upcoming transfer and that he willing embraces the challenges ahead. Jesus, you have complete control of all of this and we pray these things in your precious name, AMEN !!!!!

I am reminded of the song entitled, "Jesus, Take the Wheel", sung by Carrie Underwood and another one called, "You know better than I", sung in one of Darryl's videos (Joseph, King of Dreams) that he watched when he was younger. Both are  about trusting in our Lord when we realize we can only do so much and the rest in in His Almighty Hands. He knows the bigger picture. We only see in part, where as God sees it fully.Thank-you, Lord!!!!

Cousin Brock left today and we are going to miss him. Today, he really helped keep Darryl occupied while we waited for the procedure to take place in the late afternoon. It was GREAT to have Darryl focused on other things!!!!  Thanks, Brock!!!

With much love and prayers,

Jamie, Barb, and our beloved Darryl (Curt & Becky in Bolivia on their belated honeymoon)

Hello Everyone, I just wanted to appoligise for the site being down on Tuesday.

There was a major problem with the data base but I'm glad to say everything has been resolved.

So lets get back at It and show our support!

thanks again and take care!

Sincerely,

Chris Morton.

Good evening to our family and friends !!!! November 11, 2009

As we watched the National Remembrance Day service on TV, we knew Mrs. Conolly’s class were reciting “In Flanders Field” to our friends gathered in front of the Atlin Court house for the service there. No doubt, more snow was on the ground this year with a real bite in the air. Afterwards of our community friends would gather inside warming up with friendly conversation, tea/coffee and tasty treats. Ah, the joy of small town living!!Are we not richly blessed by our unique northern lifestyle!!?? WE DO LOVE IT!!!!!

We were talking with Gran in Haines Junction and she advised us it was -25 degree Celsius!!!!!!!! Oh, my goodness!! We (Jamie, Darryl and myself) believe after this winter in Vancouver we will be wusses to our familiar northern winter temperatures. BRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

After much deliberation, the trauma team removed Darryl’s chest tube at his bedside early yesterday morning. All the chest xrays since then have come back with excellent results!!!! Thank-you, Jesus, for the healing that continues to take place in Darryl’s body!!!!! YAHOOOOOO!!!!! He was exhausted the rest of the day but it was in his best interest to rest and keep healing.

Today, he is building up his strength and trying to consume calories to put on the 15 lbs he has lost over the past month. Darryl wasn’t a beefy fellow before the accident, so he has a lot of ground to gain with respect to his weight. This weight gain is an important part of his overall health to prevent pressure sores on his body. Please join us in prayer that Darryl’s body would continue to heal, strengthen and put on the necessary weight for the continuance of his good health. We are thankful for his good spirits that outweigh any of the down times he is experiencing. As family and friends, we know our prayers are being answered with respect to his spirit, because we know this is the epicentre of his healing. The evidence of his healing on all levels is so real when we consider where Darryl was a month ago. Thank-you, Jesus, for your healing hands upon our son's spirit, body and his mind. You trul do have it all under control!!!!!

Sometime, later this week we anticipate the doctors will want to remove the blood filter that was put in Darryl at Mass General. We understand this is a nominal procedure but none the less an important one to his onward movement to placement in rehab.

Take good care of yourself and your loved ones and remember to tell them how much you love them.

With much love and prayers,

Jamie, Barb, and Darryl (plus Curtis and Becky in Peru)

Good evening to our family and friends  !!!!                                                                        November 9, 2009

I’m not sure where to begin, so much has happened in the last 48 hours!!!!

Darryl, Jamie and I had a meltdown Sunday morning when Darryl’s throat was soooooooo chaffed by the nasal feeding tube that he couldn’t talk or swallow because it hurt soooooooooooo bad. It is the first time we have witnessed our son cry from pain during this whole ordeal !!!!  It just seemed like a huge step backwards for Darryl and there was frustration written all over his face. We all knew the tube needed to come out!!!! Being the weekend, procedures take longer to organize and would they get approval to remove it ASAP!!! We did everything we knew to do within the existing hospital system to bring about the necessary action for our son!!! Time is time, but our minds can make two hours feel like eternity!!!!!!!! Darryl’s nurse, Allison, pleaded his case over the phone with the doctor and we finally got the approval to have the tube pulled!!!! The instant relief was evident as Allison extracted the nasal feeding tube. Within half hour, Darryl was eating, drinking and talking!!!! YAHOOOO!!! The healing was AMAZING, thank-you,  LORD!!!! As of tonight, he is on a dental soft diet and tomorrow his Occupational Therapist believes he should be upgraded to a normal diet!!!!! His consumption is GREAT so they are confident the feeding tube will not have to go back in. BIG HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!! ALLEULIA CHORUS!!!!!

Having this one tube out is a HUGE step in bringing a sense of normalcy for Darryl. He is feeling much better about himself and each day his self-esteem is growing. I was able to give Darryl a shampoo and haircut today as he sat in his wheelchair (trust me it is a new art form that few can perform- hehehe!!), which was another way for him to feel like things are coming together for him.

Our weekend afternoons were filled with visitors from Whitehorse, Southern Alberta and Vancouver!! It was wonderful to have their energy and encouragement to finish and start our week here.

Darryl just finished a SKYPE Video chat with his buddy, Jordan Sands, and is now chomping down on a meatloaf dinner. What contentment wells up inside me, much better than sitting down with a good book in front of the burning woodstove on a cold winter’s night. What a perfect feeling!!! This journey right now is like a yoyo but when these moments of contentment come as presents, I store them up like treasures in my heart.

Tomorrow, the Trauma Doctors are reviewing the removal of the chest drainage tube. All indicators today are that the lungs are healing nicely and there is no evidence, at this time, that there is a hole in them!!!! We will know better tomorrow!!!! We thank-you Lord for the continued healing that is taking place in Darryl’s body!!!!  Lord, you know the very number of hairs upon Darryl’s head and how much more you know what needs to be healed and in Your perfect time in and throughout his entire body. GOD YOU ARE AWESOME and we continue to trust in the plans you have for Darryl, and in Jesus name , we pray!!!! AMEN!!!

Part of today, Darryl spent on the internet researching what paraplegic athletes are doing – sit skiing, motocross, skateboarding, swimming, wheelchair rugby, surfing, etc. The spirit and essence of Darryl is very much ALIVE & WELL!!!! Are we not blessed????!!!!

We are trusting that you are experiencing some amazing moments in your lives too, because we know our Heavenly Father has all our best interests at the center of His heart everyday!!!!!

With much love and prayers of thanksgiving,

Jamie, Barb, and our beloved Darryl  (Curt & Becky in Peru)

Good evening to all of you !!!! November 7, 2009

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend wherever this email might find you!!!

We are looking forward to having Jamie back with us in Vancouver. There was some problem with Air Canada’s ground computerized system. It was completely down and we are not sure if they Jamie is on his way south from Whitehorse to Vancouver.

Today was a much better day than yesterday, so we are extremely thankful for that blessing!!!! He even had enough energy today to post a note on face book. He tires easily still but his endurance is slowly picking up. We had a GREAT CHAT with Curtis and Becky down in Peru via SKYPE. You’ve got to love technology when you can feel so close to your loved ones. It did all our hearts good to feel connected once again!!!!!

Darryl’s procedure to have the blood clot filter removed yesterday, got cancelled on his arrival downstairs the other day. He did get a grand tour of the hospital out of deal which he stated upon his arrival back into his room. This early morning mix up really through the rest of the day’s schedule off. We were playing catch up but to no avail !!!! The grand finale was a horrible coughing episode that lasted over an hour, starting at 9:30 pm. Oh, my goodness , it is so hard to watch your son labour at getting stuff out of his lungs with the assistance of his nurse applying severe pressure just below his rib cage, working with Darryl’s natural coughing action. At times, I just had to leave the room throughout the session!!! Darryl is so good about it though. He tells the nurse to press harder because he knows it will take a stronger force to dislodge the fluid in his lung. Once everything was cleared out he was able to breathe and sleep peacefully. Thank-you, Lord, for those who choose nursing as their profession and we especially thank-you for Darryl’s nurses. Bless them with your abundance and more than meet their daily needs as they meet the needs of their patients. Give them you patience and love for those they serve, in Jesus name we pray. Amen

YAHOO!!!! Jamie just called from the airport and is making his way to the hospital!!! YAHOOOO!!!! It has been a long week without him and both Darryl and I are ecstatic to have him back!!!! We are stronger when we stand together to face the challenges in our lives.

We cannot thank all of you enough for your love, prayers and support you have given and continue to give Darryl and us, as a family!!!! Because of all of it, we are shored up, made stronger knowing we are bathed in your love and prayers. The journey ahead is unclear but we trust that God has a plan that will prosper Darryl and give him HOPE and a FURTURE that none of us dared to imagine possible for him!!!!

With much love and prayers,

Jamie, Barb, & Darryl (as well as Curtis & Becky in Peru)

Hello Everyone,

For those of you asking where they can send cards and ect.

this updates got all that info.

thanks for the support!

To all our family and friends,

We have just resolved some of our technical difficulties with our move into our new apartment. Your best chance of getting hold of us is in the evening at (778)737-2429 or leave a message and we will get back to you.  It will be better than our cell phones that are giving us some grief here. Our new address for the next 2-3  months is:  Apt #209 - 888  West 13th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

V5Z 1P2. Darryl's at Vancouver General Hospital, Centennial Pavilion 9th floor, Spine Ward, Room #988

Step by step Darryl is gaining ground. He is eating minced meat now with everything else pureed. We did get him his long awaited CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE but it was kind of chalky tasting at the back of his mouth. Today a Mango Passion SMOOTHIE went down with much enjoyment along with his supper meal. (that made mama very HAPPY!!!!!!!) His caloric count is coming up daily so we anticipate they will be probably be pulling the feeding tube early next week.

Please keep Darryl in your prayers as he is having a procedure to have the blood filter taken out tomorrow morning. From my understanding they are going to put him under and as always this has inherent risk. Also, he is experiencing surging pain in the center of his chest and we are not sure if it is a result of the new chest tube or neurological pain at the base of his spinal cord injury. He has a hard time breathing when these painful episodes happen. The stress it causes Darryl is hard on him and me because we feel helpless so at that point. After getting the nurse, etc my next best tool is prayer !!!!! I am going to run over late tonight just to check up on him. It does me good to see him sleeping comfortably.

Our eldest son, Curtis, left Tuesday along with Deny, Brandon, and Raymond !!!  Kelsey left Wednesday and we really felt a loss with all their departures. What good medicine their antics and laughter were for Darryl. Late this morning, Ross Mercer and Lisa arrived and the antics began again. Seeing my son laugh and smile is the greatest JOY a mother can have at this time!!!  It really helps to balance our lives!!! We had an unexpected visit from Matt & Britney Orr yesterday!!!! Britney who is a nursing student at the University of Lethbridge brought him some specially designed hospital gowns !!!! One has iron on logos of snowboarding company, etc. He loved it and he is wearing it today/tonight!!!!!  Thanks so much, Britney!!!!

My Lord is my strength and shield in times of trouble. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me and my heart is filled with JOY!!

Look what amazing GOOD is coming out of Darryl's accident !!! Look into your own heart and see !!!  Isn't it TOTALLY AMAZING!! We give thanks to God for what is being accomplished in and through all of this. We are ever so grateful for the continued healing of our son, Darryl !!! Thank-you Lord, Jesus for being the Great Physician and knowing our individual makeup and what we need to heal. We put our trust in you alone!!!!

Have a good night's sleep and take good care of yourself and those you love. 

With much love and prayers, Jamie, Barb and our beloved, Darryl  (as well as Curtis & Becky in Peru)

Hello everyone, hears another recent update, I just wanted to thank everyone for all the support and questions coming in! Feel free to continue emailing me with any questions or concerns you may have. or call me at 204 384 8051, after 4 pm(central)

thanks again,

Chris morton.

Good day or evening to you all !!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           November 2, 2009

REJOICE in the LORD Always,  again I say  REJOICE!!!!!

We are doing the happy dance once again!!!!!!!!!!!  Darryl had his trachea tube removed yesterday and is finding he has better range of motion in his neck. First thing this morning his oxygen nasal tubes were removed!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!  Oxygen levels are at a 100 !!!  YEAH, BABY, because they like him to be between 90 – 101 levels!!!!! He passed his swallowing test so at lunch time, we were pleased to witness Darryl take his first few bites of custard, then a little pureed turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes!!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!! HAPPY, HAPPY DANCE!!! ALLELUIA!!!  Thank-you, Lord !!!!   Darryl’s first comment was, “ Oh, Yeah!!! I never had a turkey dinner at Thanksgiving, (our Canadian Thanksgiving, eh !!!! which was on the weekend of his accident)”  I told him when he is ready I’ll have the biggest turkey dinner with all the trimmings for us all!!!! YAHOO!!!!  Tonight, he ate some yogurt for supper!!!!!! His goal is to get his daily caloric content up so he can get the nasal feeding tube out next.  We are going to get the long awaited Chocolate Milkshake , tomorrow!!!!!!! They are reviewing his chest tube status and we had a GREAT explanatory conversation with the Trauma doctor, Court. He was so terrific with all of us and our inquisition of questions. Antibiotics are still being administered for his lung infection.

We want to thank-you Lord for Jenn, Darryl’s new Physiotherapist , she is a real gift to our son.  Jenn has been building a wonderful trust relationship with Darryl as she works with him (she is very caring, sensitive and easy to talk with individual). She is good medicine to help him transition mentally and emotionally from MGH and settling into VGH. She is an answer to prayer, thank-you, Lord!!!

We have Denny, Raymond , Brandon, and Kelsey visiting tonight!!!!  They are great comic relief for us all. They have been having wheelchair competitions for the past 1.5 hours. Curt has joined in!!! Darryl in the middle of all their antics has a skype call from Jordan Sands and manages to carry on a conversation for almost 30 minutes.  Visiting takes a lot out of him but it is a real balancing act between that and his social stimulation from his friends that helps to shore him up. Slowly, but surely Darryl is building up his strength in small increments daily. In true Darryl fashion, his best time is the evening  !!!!!

We thank-you Lord for answered prayer to Darryl’s healing and restoration!!! How you are placing the right staff members on to Darryl’s case that can give the much needed encouragement meeting his physical, mental, and emotional needs. Please bless his  day nurse, Jessica, his night nurse, Esther, Dr. Mike (Darryl’s doctor who manages his pain medication who is a paraplegic, AWESOME GUY!!!!!) , his physiotherapists Jenn & Hilory and all other staff members on his care team. May they continue to experience your love and joy as they do their job, but more so that they are blessed tenfold as they bless others with their gifts and talents in their given profession. We thank-you, Lord, for all you have done, all that you are doing and all that you are going to accomplish in all our lives, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

With much gratitude, LOVE, lots of JOY and prayers,

Jamie, Barb, Curtis, Becky and our man, Darryl

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone enjoyed there Halloween!

To all our global support team !!!!!!!!

We continue to be lifted up by your prayers and emails. I am sorry, I am unable to respond to all of them. Your expressions of love and encouragement are a well spring of joy for our family. Thanks ever so much.

Jamie and I got the best sleep last night in our wee little home in Atlin. It is amazing the restoration power of sleep in the peace and beauty of our small northern community. We consider ourselves very fortunate to live here!!!! We want to wish you a " Merry Christmas" because over the past 24 hours we have approximately 5 inches of snow on the ground here!!! IT IS AWESOME!!!! I'm almost tempted to play Christmas music !!!! CRAZY!!!!

Our beloved Darryl is very tired these days but he presses on. The other day he and Curt were chatting about whether Curt had decided what type of physiotherapy he would like to specialize in. Darryl was curious because he and Curt had just done a session together. Curtis felt Acute Care was not for him but he was thinking REHAB would be very rewarding, Seeing your client progress to independent living would be very rewarding. Darryl with a grin said, " I guess I have opened a window for you."  We all smiled and agreed. As their mother, it is so incredible for me to watch them work together, as a team, doing the necessary physio and enriching each others lives with their humour and love. Jamie and I have been greatly blessed to have them both as our sons.

Today has been a mellow day for Darryl and Curt with Denny, Raymond, and Brandon visiting from Whitehorse, as well as Kelsey Feldman. The Girls from Yellowknife came in GREAT costumes trick or treating  with alot of high energy !!! Darryl was sitting up in the TLC (preliminary to wheelchair at VGH) for 2.5 hours which is GREAT!!!!! We had a skpe conversation with Darryl and Curt tonight. Their humour was quite evident and you could just tell it was a really good day!!!! Thank-you,Lord !!! Darryl was able to get naps throughout his day and that makes all the difference. Jamie and I can go to bed tonight and sleep well knowing both our boys are doing well!!!!

I apologize for being so panicked last night in my email. I felt so helpless being so far away from Darryl, especially when he was hurting. My girlfriend, Cathie, reminded me of, "Don't worry about anything instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all He has done."Phillipians 4:6 . Well,  I got  2 out of 3 items, but I forgot to give thanks to God for what He has done. Thank-you Lord for giving Darryl life, for doing a deep thorough healing in his body, and we are thankful that you are not done yet. We have much to look forward as you complete Darryl's healing, and we give you all the PRAISE of what you are  going to accomplish in and through him !!!!!!

With Darryl needing to direct his energies to healing his body, we are requesting that you contact Jamie (867) 334-1707 to see if Darryl is up for a visit. With the damage to his lungs, we are requesting anyone who is even slightly sick if you could hold off your visit until you are well.  We can't afford to have him get sick at this stage of his recovery, He truly does appreciates your support through visits, cards, notes, emails etc.

With all our love and prayers back at you,

.

Jamie, Barb, Curtis, Becky and D-rail

Hello everyone,

Late lastnight i recieved the latest update via email...

Darryl needs our prayers right now. we need to show are support and keep him motivated!

Darryl I know its just i minor set back, and your just to strong to let it cross you path.

Everyone believes in you man! keep it up!

Much love!

Mini M.

Hear the cry of a mother & father's heart, WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS NOW!!!!!!  Our son is tiring !!!!

When we saw Darryl this morning, before we left for Atlin for the weekend, he was doing alright. Curtis has been with him throughout the day. Things went down hill when the Trauma team removed the drain tube early this afternoon. A couple hours later he had a CT scan which revealed a pneumothorax again. So they inserted a larger tube than what they took out earlier and he is in a significant amount of pain since then.

Darryl wants to be healthy, dear God, HELP HIM!!! We beseech you, Lord, to strengthen his mind, body and spirit to fight the good fight. Cover him with your love and protect him through the evening. Breathe into his lungs renewed restoration through your Holy Spirit!!!! All power is given in Jesus name, so it is in Jesus' name we come with these our hearts request. AMEN

Thank-you for your prayers. I know where two or more are gathered in Jesus name, He is there in our midst. Our prayers are stronger when we pray together with one unified voice!!!

With our love and gratitude,

Jamie, Barb, Curt (Becky) and our beloved Darryl

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to appoligise for taking so long to post a updait on darryl and the family..

Im very glad that they made it nice and safly to Vancouver. Darryl buddy im so proud man, you really have shown everyone what your truly capable of! And I know theres alot more to come.. So i just want you to know I am with you every step of th way! lovee ya buddy ill be seeing you soon!

I Also wanted to thank Barb for all these  amaing updates during the hard times. Taits! your an amaing family and your what true dreams are made of! The love and streanght you share is incredible. Gob bless you all and take care!

To our global support team!!!!!                                                                 

            Weleft part of a new branch of our Tait family in the Mass GeneralSurgical ICU. Words are truly not enough to express our love andgratitude to the team at Mass General that have enabled our family toleave REJOICING in the next step of Darryl’s  journey.  Eachmember of that eastern branch has made a tremendous difference in ourlives by giving freely to all of us as we faced each day together. Likeyou who lifted us up in your thoughts and prayers, they were the handsand feet of JESUS that were physically there to support us with theirwords of encouragement, love, a touch, a hug, meeting the needs of ourson, and sharing in the celebration of life. They gave Darryl a goingaway present (a set of MGH OR scrubs) so he was very happy and he isgoing to wear them proudly. One of the female SICU team members ran arace on Sunday morning that raises funds to help those with spinal cordinjuries. On her Sunday night shift, she gave Darryl her T shirt fromthe event. Well, my flood works started as she presented Darryl withthis treasure that speaks volumes of the goodness of others. He alreadyplans to wear it during his workouts at rehab, more tears. (I neverknew that God equipped us with so much water in our tear ducts). 

 Wehave just taken off from the Bedford Airport, Boston, MA (30 minutedrive in fairly heavy traffic from the hospital) @ 4:00 pm EST andenroute to Detroit 1 hour and 45 minutes in a Learjet 30,  2nd leg to Great Falls should be 4 hours and the final leg approximately  1.5hours. The rough estimate is 8 hours total. Our arrival into Vancouvershould be 9:00 pm local. Oh, it will be good to be on Canadian soil!!!! Just one step closer to the north and home!!!!

Wejust received this morning a few cards sent directly to Darryl’shospital bed and Kate Fisher and family sent a card with a photo of ourgorgeous view from Atlin. It made us all homesick and Darryl says hecan’t wait to put his hand in the lake. It was like he could visualizedoing it in that moment!!! He loves to feel the sun and the wind on hisface.  We are all discovering the new found joys in the simple things in our lives.

Darrylis resting peacefully on board the aircraft, which does my heart good.He had an extensive morning workout with Maura, his MGHphysiotherapist, pushing him to his pain threshold to get him focusedon pressing forward and learning a new approach to living a richindependent life.

We are chasing the sunset enroute to Great Falls – Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.  Inthe splendour of the sunset, a song is playing on my ipod that was onethat was my favourite as Darryl was maturing into a young man when welived in Yellowknife.  It is incredible how itstruth, from a parent’s point of view, ministers to me now. I suggestyou do a goggle and listen to this AWESOME song on line but here arethe lyrics.

FIND YOUR WINGS by Mark Harris

It’s only for a moment you were mine to hold,

the plans that heaven has for you will all to soon unfold.

So many different prayers I’ve prayed for all that you might do,

but most of all I want to know you are walking in the Truth.

And if I never told you, I want you to know, that as I watch you grow.

I pray to God would fill your heart with dreams,

and that faith will give you courage to dare to do great things.

I’m here for you whatever this life brings,

 so let my love give you roots and help you find your wings.

May passion be the wind that leads you through your days,

and may conviction keep you strong and guide you on your way.

May there be many moments that make your life so sweet,

Oh, but more than memories.

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams,

and that faith would give you the courage to dare to do great things.

I’m here for you whatever this life brings,

so let my love give you roots and help you find your wings.

It’s not living if you don’t reach for the sky,

 I’ll have tears as you take off but I’ll cheer as you fly.

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams,

and that faith would give you the courage to dare to do great things.

I’m here for you whatever this life brings,

So let my love give you roots and help you find your wings.

If you arereceiving this email, it means we have arrived safely in Vancouver andare in Vancouver General Hospital. We are on our journey to find ourWINGS !!! We will all cry with JOY some day, as we, one by one, findthe courage to take flight to live the LIFE  God intended for each of us, filled with every possibility, everyday!!!!!!  He believes in YOU and LOVES YOU more than you know, so reach for the skies, as we intend to do!!!!

 Thank-you,Jesus, for your protection during our travel across the continent.Abundantly bless the flight and medical crew, Lord because they havefound favour with us throughout our time with them.

With much love for you all and we pray that God will continue to reveal Himself to you daily,

Jamie, Barb, Curtis (Becky), Gran and Darryl

P.S.  Jamie,Curtis & Gran fly out commercially tomorrow morning and we will seethem in Vancouver. Please keep them in your prayers.

Hello everyone!

I Just recieved the newest email, and there some pretty good news!

To our global support team !!!!

Our Heavenly Father has poured out His protection over our son from the time of the accident, exactly 2 weeks ago, right up until now and no doubt will continue to.

God had an angel in place, who was an EMT off duty, enjoying the skidoo event that Darryl was at. When, Darryl's accident took place he felt he was being called to Darryl's side, so he jumped the fence and helped our son. There were medics at the event but they were not stationed at the skidoo area. Next, the Helicopter Medivac arrived  in record time, 20 minutes after the accident, and airlifted him to Massachusetts General Hospital. Due to the injuries Darryl had sustained had he gone to any other hospital in the area he would not be alive at this moment. A few trauma doctors thought they had lost him but 3 other doctors in the unit and a team of supporting staff worked hard to get Darryl back on line and stabilized him enough so he could continue his fight for life. He had sustained broken ribs, scapula, severed spinal cord, broken back, contusions to his lungs and now we find out also to his heart!!!!! By a miracle the skidoo on impact into Darryl's body missed his major arteries.The rest of the story you know.

Thank-you, Lord, for putting trained professionals during the course of this accident and medical intervention afterward that chose to preserve life, the life of our beloved, Darryl!!!!!

I have had a few meltdowns since coming to the realization that so many times we could have lost our son, but with Godly Wisdom these men and women encircled Darryl and never gave up on him!!!!   WHAT AN AWESOME GOD WE SERVE!!!!

After an excruciating wait we have just confirmed an Emergency Bed for Darryl at Vancouver General!!!!! Thank-you Lord and thank-you for all the prayers going up beseeching God for this request. Thank-you, Lord for all the staff, doctors and Jamie that have made this transfer of Darryl possible to Vancouver General.

We will sleep well tonight, so goodnight from Boston Mass General!!!

With much love and appreciation,

Jamie, Barb, Curtis (Becky), Gran, and the our precious gift, Darryl.

PS Darryl had a good day but really played himself out with 2 trips outside in his wheelchair and battling a bacterial infection in his lungs. He is therefore on antibiotics and will be for the next 2 weeks. Vancouver here we come !!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!OXOXOXOXOXOX  

Hello everyone! Here is the new update. Keep up the fight darryl! I know you got much more in you. And ill be coming down soon to give you and your family all my support in person! take care buddy, Chris M.. To all our support team everywhere !!!!!! My sincerest apologies for not sending an update to you yesterday but it was a busy day for all of us!!! Grandfather Tait passed away 2 years ago this month and Gran likes to take family out for dinner on his birthday, which was yesterday. I have to admit I really didn't have the energy to even consider putting out a little blurb of an email at the end of the day. Yesterday and today, I have had the following lyrics go through my head over and over again. I find myself singing them to myself, "Be still and know that I am God, I'm right here by you side. Be still and know that I am God, and in my love abide." Singing these words just gives me a strength that runs deep within my soul to continue on when things are pressing in and around me/us. I just continue to trust that God has it all under control and He has our best interest on His heart. It truly doesn't get ANY BETTER than that!! There are a multitude of levels that each of us are going through, at our own individual pace with all of this. Darryl has, up to yesterday, been heavily sedated for so long that the reality of his present condition is starting to hit home. His mind is going in every direction and yet he remains focused to press on with the job at hand. As I am writing, Curt with the assistance of Jenny,the day shift nurse, is lifting Darryl with a sling into his wheel chair, to do a session of physio with Curt. It is AWESOME that these brathers (said with a Boston accent) are so tight with one another. It is a true blessing for us as their parents to know this. Rovic drove back to Montreal late Thursday and we are really missing all the support he gave us. What a gentle, kind, & generous spirit he has. In getting to know the nursing staff at Mass General Surgical ICU, we now found out there are a number of nurses we could have lined up for him. I guess there was a lot of drooling going on over him that we, and even Rovic, didn't even know about (Jamie says " Anne, book early to avoid disappoint!!!" -He made me do it!!!!). The nursing staff is trying to get Darryl doing as much as he can on his own (brushing his teeth and hair, washing up, etc.) He got his hair washed today and he feels like a million bucks!!!!! It takes a significant amount of his energy to perform these tasks. Where we need your prayers focused now is in getting him a bed at Vancouver General !!!! Oh, my goodness, there are a multitude of levels and procedures, politics & stuff (being polite) to get through the system. Please pray that the powers at be would find favor with Darryl needs at the Vancouver General !!!! Darryl continues to run a fever but I am thinking it is part of the healing process of his body. They seem to have it under control. Medical staff are still working on eliminating the possibilities of the source. So it is back to the lyrics, "Be still and know that I am God, I'm right here by your side." Knowing that I hand it over to God. With much love and prayers, Jamie, Barb, Curtis (Becky who returned to Guatemala today) and the big D-Rail.

Hello again.

well its been along day, for Darryl, his family

and friends. I know it sure was for me, But im just so thankful for everything that's been going on!

the support is unbelievable, and I truly believe that it all made the difference.

well here it  is! the newest email! another update!

To our AMAZING GLOBAL SUPPORT Team !!!!!

Our prayers are being answered, my  dear family and friends!!!!! THANK-YOU, LORD!!!!! YAHOOO!!!!

Darryl's healing so tremendously and even the medical staff are amazed . Our boy accomplished lots in last 24 hours and we are all so proud of him!!!!  He sat up in his bed several times and all his blood pressure readings were great. He did work with the physiotherapist getting up on his feet to getting into a chair !!! THAT WAS HARD WORK !!!!!!!  He told us later he thought the chair was built for a very short person!!!!! The occupational therapist dropped by to do some work with him as well.  Amongst everything else going on they fit in 3 chest xrays. They took out his large tracheal tube and put in a much smaller one. THIS IS TERRIFIC because he is off the ventilator and on the trac mask.  He is totally BREATHING on his OWN!!!! YAHOOO!!!! HE CAN ALSO TALK NOW and the first words I heard  my son speak was, "I LOVE YOU.MOM!!"  The flood gate of tears were released and they just kept rolling down my face.  To hear those words spoken from Darryl meant the world to me !!!!!! With the arrival of each family member he declared his love to Gran, Curtis, Becky and  most importantly to Jamie. We all had about the same reaction !!!!! MY GOODNESS, OH, THE JOY IN LIFE, IN THE SMALL STUFF!!!! They truly are the treasures of our hearts!!!!

He is back on the feeding tube and his stomach is handling that well. They might put him on a soft diet tomorrow which will include a much desired CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE( a real one - made from real ice cream)!!!!  His nurse, Liz, is going to make sure he gets one.  Darryl has been dreaming about that milkshake for a long while!!!!!!!! That is his carrot to relearning how to swallow liquids and the soft food with a smaller trach in his trachial passage. This trach tube will come out in the near future but they will want something left in his air passage until after his medivac transfer to Vancouver.

The only step back is he has some secretion built up into his left lung so they put a drain tube back in it.

IT WAS AN AMAZING DAY and we can REJOICE & BE GLAD IN IT !!!!!!! WOW, that was truly a big day!!!!

We love you all lots,

Jamie, Barb, Curtis, Becky & the man of the day, D-Rail!!!!!!

" Keep up the hard work, Love ya man! Ill be coming to see you soon!"

Chris morton.