Good Morning Cash,

I listen to your radio show every morning while getting ready for work and it is always a great start to my day. I am often touched by the kindness you guys portray on your show and how much you truly care about the listeners. I occasionally hear you or Kari mention emails that have been sent to you about people asking for prayers or thoughts. I wanted to share my family's situation with you in hopes you could possibly mention it on your show to continue to receive thoughts and prayers for my family and also to show God does answer prayers.

I have an 18 year old brother, Brad Wright. He will be a senior this year at Gardendale High and is on the varsity basketball team. Saturday, June 24th he was in a terrible car wreck. He was riding with his friend when the friend lost control of his car, it locked up and as it went off the road the car rolled. When the car rolled, my brother's side of the car crushed against an uprooted tree. We were told the visor was literally in my brother's lap and he had to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life. He was taken to Carraway hospital to the NICU and we were told it was very bad and that he needed alot of prayers. The doctors told us that first night/morning that he was in the worst possible situation to still be alive and not dead. He had several breaks in his neck, a serious spinal injury, severe head trama, unresponsive, and was in a coma. Those first few days and even week, we weren't too sure how all of this was going to turn out because it didn't look like too many things were going his way, and there was the possibility that if he did survive he would be paralyzed.

Over the next few weeks he had to constantly be given medications for his brain pressure that kept rising and given sedatives to help it go down as well. Eventually they were able to put a spinal drain in the top of his head to drain the fluid and control his brain pressure. He also had bolts put into the sides of his head with weights attached to them to keep his neck in line. Even though we were told he was breathing on his own when pulled from the car they had him on a respiratory machine to help his body from working as hard. After a few weeks things began to slowly look up for us. The doctors did numerous x-rays and MRI's and discovered he only had two breaks in his neck at the C2 and C5 vertebraes. Because he did have a break in his C2 vertebrae they had to put him in a halo that he will be in for 3 or 4 months and they did a tracheotomy on him so they could remove all the tubes from his mouth. His progress over the last few weeks has been nothing but amazing. We were told by a nurse in the beginning he would be on a respiratory machine for the rest of his life. Well God works some amazing miracles and answers many prayers. As of now, my brother's brain pressure is back to normal, he is on no medications or sedatives, he is off the respiratory machine and has been breathing on his own for a week or two now. The nurses said from his chest down he is in great shape, no internal injuries, and has great lungs. He did have pancreatitis for a while but that seems to be healing and they were finally able to start feeding him through a tube last week. He is still in a coma, but we believe this to be a blessing to keep him from being in so much pain. He has started moving his toes, legs, right arm, mouth, and eyes under his eyelids. Some days he will move more than others though. Physical therapy comes in twice a day to work with him, and he gets put in a cardiovascular chair during the day. Now we are hearing the doctor and nurses talk about him being moved to another location for therapy.

This has been such an emotional experience for my family and all our friends that at times we haven't known how to cope. I can't begin to tell you the pain and frustrations of understanding why this would happen to such a wonderful kid that is so loved and cared for and so undeserving of such an ordeal. Yet we have also come to realize that God works in amazing ways and has a purpose for everything. We accept our situation and thank God everyday Brad is still alive and with us. Brad is a very strong, determined person that doesn't give up without a fight. We have had such an amazing outpouring of love, not only for Brad, but for my entire family as well. The first few nights we were at the hospital 200-300 friends, students, teachers, and parents came to be with us and just pray with us for him. We still continue to have people check on Brad, even strangers we've met in the hospital call my mom to see how he is doing. The hospital and nurses from the NICU have been overwhelmingly good to us and have become part of our family, so much have they done for us. There is supper that is brought to my parents every night that has been organized by a close friend, a room has been paid for since the accident at the hotel in the hospital so my parents can stay close to Brad, students have had t-shirts and armbands made to support Brad, and the father of the boy driving the car has had billboards put up all over town to encourage people to support my brother. It's truly amazing the outpouring of love and kindness in times like these, and I know there is no way we could ever truly thank everyone for everything they've done. If it hadn't been for them we couldn't have made it this far believing and staying as strong as we all have.

We know we still have a long road ahead of us, and we're still unsure of what all he will be able to do, but we truly believe it's a miracle God has brought him this far. Please share with others and ask for them to continue to pray for my brother and family to keep us all strong through this adventure. My parents work has also created a fund for Brad to help my parents down the road with any expenses they will have. I appreciate you taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,
Angela Wright

P.S. I have attached a couple of pictures of my brother and the link to his basketball webpage where they have asked people to pray for him.

Cash,

Thank you so much for responding! I will definitely be sure to keep you posted on his progress. Today is actually quite exciting for us. They have released him from the hospital and he is on his way now to Lakeshore rehab. I truly appreciate you adding a link to your website so others can see Brad, it truly means alot to me and my family. Also, I am sending you two more pictures that I hope you would post on your website as well. One is of the billboard for Brad and the other is a picture of some of the students at Gardendale High School. This was the first day back to school and some of them wore tshirts with my brothers picture of him. I hope you all have a blessed day!