Kirby Cares

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Good morning. Back in November, I emailed the below to the Senator. I didn’t hear back from him and didn’t see any mention of it on the blog so, I was a little miffed at the time. But, looking back now, I understand that he was dealing with a lot. Very understandable.

Here’s what I emailed:

Good evening,

Hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable.  I wanted to drop a line and tell you about my family’s tough last month and the pleasant surprise we had today… My handle on the blog is Morris Day but my friends and family know me as Richie Powell, if you decide to post on the blog, you can use first names.  No worries. 

On Oct 20, my son (Devert, we call him Dev) had an auto accident, on his way to work, and suffered a spinal cord injury.  Also, dislocated all 4 fingers on his left hand.  Had ortho surgery on his hand and neurosurgery at Atrium Navicent in Macon.  By the 27th, we were moved to Shepherd Center where we’ve been since.  Currently, he has no feeling below his knees.  Weak feeling in his thighs.  Waist up he’s good.  Has a bruise on his spinal cord, which we’ve been told takes 3 months to heal.  So, we’re not expecting major improvements until late January.

Soooo… what does this have to do with GTP? Well, my best girl and I were home first part of this week.  We arrived Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with him.  They were putting up this flyer when we arrived:

So, Wednesday night we found a sporting goods store and bought a pair of UGA “youth” helmet and jersey sets so that we could get the helmets signed.

The event was awesome.  Milling around in the Shepherd Center auditorium with all those Georgia players brightened his day tremendously. Football can be more than just a sport.  And, today, it was a ray of sunshine. Heartfelt thanks goes out to Kirby and the team for taking time out of their schedule to brighten the day of people who have been knocked down but are fighting back.  

Link to album of photos we took.

The poster at the end of the photos was being signed for people that didn’t bring anything.  We grabbed a couple just to have.  Some of my photos tuned out a little blurry, not sure why, is what it is.

Go DAWGS!

———-

I have to say, that was one of the few times we spent at Shepherd Center that we forgot what was going on, why we were there and what the future may hold. Kirby presents a personality that is all business. We all perceive that he would rather be out recruiting or practicing than doing anything that might take away from getting better. But, obviously Kirby understands how positive an impact a visit from his team can bring.

Further… Kirby was one of the main autographs we wanted to get while the team was visiting. When the event began, Kirby got on the mic, spoke briefly and with the customary “Go Dawgs”… he disappeared. I kept my eye out for him, never saw him. I stopped one of the volunteers assisting with the event and asked where Kirby went to? Well, Kirby immediately left the auditorium and went into the hospital floors to visit with those that couldn’t get out of bed. That’s leadership.

So, suddenly, his autograph wasn’t all that important. Again, Just want to say to Kirby and the team, thank you for taking the time to brighten our day. Go Dawgs!

P.S.: An update on my son’s condition since November… he busted his T12 disc, a spinal compression was done and T10-T11-T12 were fused with aluminum rods. His spinal cord wasn’t cut or torn, no spinal fluid lost. But, he has a contusion on the cord and the inflammation from that is blocking his nerves from communicating all the way down his legs. Our hope is that as the inflammation recedes, he will get feeling and use back. Of course, that isn’t an overnight change, it will take months, maybe up to 2 years before/if he recovers. We are all back at home now, discharged Jan 19, he’s doing therapy in Cordele and we’re working to make the house accessible for him. If you’re the praying type, please remember us, we need all the prayers we can get!

21 thoughts on “Kirby Cares”

  2. Thank you for sharing and so sorry to hear about your son. I hope his recovery is going well.

  3. Hope your son’s on the mend and recovering well. I’ve had family at Shepherd Center also and they’re top notch. Kirby’s the man!

  6. thank you for sharing that. I agree that Kirby has a way of knowing what is important and following through. I hope your son is doing better and well on his way to recovery.

  7. It is great to hear that Kirby is visiting the patients. I believe that his experience with his brother’s health issues gave him such empathy.

  8. I’m writing this in the hope that it will be encouraging to you all. In 1975 I was headed to Florida and was in a van crash in Atlanta. I fractured my T-6 and was taken to Grady where my orthopedic surgeon was Hamilton Holmes, a UGA Undergrad and one of the namesakes of the Hamilton-Holmes Lecture. At that time the conventional wisdom was to drill into my skull and put me in traction for a year. Dr Holmes and the other Grady Orthopods presented me with the option to isolate the broken vertebrae with Harrington rods and do a bone graft off of my hip to reinforce the fracture. I was extremely fortunate that I was not paralyzed and that I fully recovered. My experience is not the same as what your son is facing but I hope my situation can offer some encouragement.

    • You truly were very lucky! My father spent 45 years in a wheel chair after a C6 break when he ditched his F86 Saber Jet in the Arizona desert at Nellis AFB.
      One of the truly great Americans and a hero to thousands…lucky for me he was my father!

  9. An update on my son’s condition since November… he busted his T12 disc, a spinal compression was done and T10-T11-T12 were fused with aluminum rods. His spinal cord wasn’t cut or torn, no spinal fluid lost. But, he has a contusion on the cord and the inflammation from that is blocking his nerves from communicating all the way down his leg. Our hope is that as the inflammation recedes, he will get feeling and use back. Of course, that isn’t an overnight change, it will take months, maybe up to 2 years before/if he recovers. We are all back at home now, discharged Jan 19, he’s doing therapy in Cordele and we’re working to make the house accessible for him. If you’re the praying type, please remember us, we need all the prayers we can get!

  12. I’m glad to hear your son is on the mend, Morris. Better days are ahead.
    Kirby is simply amazing.

  14. Great story and looking forward to hear of more progress as time goes on. Prayers for all!

  15. Good luck to you and your son. That’s a long, tough road but at least you have hope things will continue to get better. Thanks for all the work you’re doing.

  17. Good luck to you and your son, Morris. You have a long road ahead of you, but hopefully it will end well.

  19. Morris I’m glad to hear your son has shown improvement. Cordele is not far from me so if y’all need anything when you’re down here let me know.

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