He also has trapped air in his neck and upper torso following the surgery which they are trying to get rid of. This is again affecting his ability to breath. Increasing his ability to breath on his own is now their primary concern.
Hopefully later today they will sit him up in bed (as long as x rays come back to confirm the surgery has given sufficient support to his neck). Tomorrow they intend to put him in a wheelchair for at least 2 hours a day. This will be a big benefit to him as he wont be staring at the ceiling all the time and due to to gravity this will help to disperse some of the crap and prevent the build up in his lungs.
On a light hearted note, grotbags (paul roberts) saw him yesterday and asked him whether he should go to whistler for red bull elevation to commentate this weekend. Stephen was desperately trying to say something and when we finally figured out what he was saying, he told paul to "have fun". Amazing.
We have been getting lots of questions regarding how authentic or official the 'Stephen Murray Fund' is. This is something that Aaron Cooke has kindly set up to initially provide some help financially, and is at this time the official way to donate. Other people (in particular Steve Mateus and Kimarie that we know of) are busy trying to set up a non profit tax free charity so the donations received will be tax free. This should hopefully be set up by early next week and as we know, we'll let you know.
Kimarie (stephens friend from HB) has also put together an amazing myspace page for him @ www.myspace.com/murraystrong and is also in the process of setting up www.stephenmurraybmx.com.
As you can see there is so much going in the background we aren't even aware of. The support is unbelievable and very much appreciated.
One of stephens quotes from an interview he has done in the past is this:
"When you think there is nothing left, reach within and dig deeper", "Believe in Yourself".
This is what we are doing and we definitely believe in him. He is strong!
Murrays
Photo: Chris Woodage
Stephen came through his operation yesterday and the doctors were happy with the way it all went. Having ths operation was the next big step that needed to happen. It was a big un at 7 hours but during that time they managed to stabilise his neck some more by pinning and plating the posterior side of his 3,4 and 5th cervical vertebrae. During this op, they also found he has fractured his T4 (4th thoracic vertebrae) and decided the best way for this to heal was to use a body brace. There are a few further complications. He has a lot of crap on his lungs which is affecting his breathing. Because he is lying down his lungs are flat and this enables all the crap to build on his lungs and increase the risk of him catching pneumonia.
He also has a stomach infection cause by his body being immune to regular antibiotics, so he is now on IV antibiotics for the next 5 days which should clear it up.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.