Paul was playing rugby when he got hit in the head. After that he lost sensation and movement of his legs and most of his arms. He could shrug his shoulders and that was about all. His friends wisely brought him to the hospital shortly after this. His xray revealed he had a C6-C7 dislocation of his cervical spine which was causing his paralysis. Before Jim left on Monday, he was able to track down some cervical traction tongs from Kundiawa hospital and have them brought to us so he could put Paul in them. The first attempt at reduction didn't fully straighten out his spine, but further weights and positioning did. So the xray on Tues showed normal alignment of his cervical spine, then it became a waiting game. I wasn't really sure how long it would take for him to regain his function, even asking Bill how long I should expect to wait before we see a change, and he said keep waiting. So since Monday, every day I see him I ask him to move his fingers and every day he says he can't. On Thurs, when I asked him this, he said he can't, but as I am looking at his fingers I see his index finger moving. Yeah. On Friday, he can move all his fingers, his toes, and bend his knees. The traction is working. Paul has a long road ahead of him. He will be with us for a couple months in traction to stabilize his spine. Pray for him. He isn't a christian and I when I see him every day I pray with him and have shared the gospel with him. Pray that during his time here that he would draw closer to Jesus and that he would know the true healer. Pray also for his patience and ability to hang in there as his spine heals.
