Update on my buddy Andrew Childers!

[Ben E Lou]

Perhaps some of you remember, the story of Andrew Childers, the kid from Tucker High School who nearly died from a ruptured spleen after a football game this fall. The original thread recounting his story, beginning the morning after, can be found HERE. A few days after his injury, the family asked me to begin posting updates on his condition on the Young Life web space. Here’s a recap of those posts:

HISTORY/PAST UPDATES
In the third quarter of the Tucker vs. St. Pius football game on Friday night, September 6th, Andrew, playing tight end, dove to make a great catch of a pass, and had severe abdominal pain afterward. He collapsed on this sideline and was taken to the hospital after the game. He was suffering substantial internal bleeding, and the doctors performed emergency surgery that night, saving his life. The surgery revealed that his spleen had been swollen to three times its normal size, and had ruptured upon contact. They removed his spleen, and he was in ICU and on a ventilator. The ventilator was turned off and removed by Tuesday. He ran a fever as high as 104 degrees at times in the aftermath of the surgery.

Updated: Thursday, September 12th, 4:15PM
Andrew had a very difficult night Wednesday night, having trouble breathing and getting comfortable, and his fever returning. The doctors elected to do exploratory abdominal surgery this morning to determine the cause of the fever and deal with any other problems. He is now out of surgery. They determined that the problem has to do with fluid buildup in one of his lungs. He is in ICU and back on the ventilator, and will be until the lung improves.
Updated Friday, September 13th, 8:30AM
Andrew continues to recover from his second surgery. He remains heavily sedated this morning. He has had what the doctors are saying is an acceptable and expected level of fever following the surgery, and his blood pressure has returned to normal. His breathing continues to be assisted by the ventilator. However, the good news is that the ventilator is set to breathe for him 10 to 12 times per minute, but he is getting 20-24 breaths per minute, meaning he is breathing on his own 10-14 times every minute.
(Updated Saturday, September 14th at 11:00AM)
Last night, the doctors did a bronchio-scope to take a look at the lungs, and found nothing unusual, but the lung is still uncooperative. He is still sedated today, and they've turned him so that he's laying on his belly now, in order to help reduce the stress to his lungs and his back. His fever stayed down throughout the night, and continues to be at 101.5 degrees this morning. His blood pressure is still high as well. The reasons for all of these anomalies still remain unknown as far as any particular viral infection or disease goes. At this point it appears to the doctors that these things may be simply the results of the major body trauma Andrew underwent, that essentially throwing things a bit out of whack. An important thing to stress is that they are still saying that a full recovery and a normal life are still very, very likely. Lets all continue to pray for that end.
(Updated Sunday, September 15th at 1:40PM)
The latest news on Andrew is quite good. His lungs have had a remarkable improvement in the last 24 hours, and appear to be completely clear of extraneous fluid. His blood pressure is in better shape today as well. The fever is down to 101 degrees, which is considered to be a low-grade fever. They’ll take him off some sedation later today. At this point it looks like he’ll go off the ventilator on Monday or Tuesday.

(Updated 2:00 PM on Monday, September 16)
Andrew continues to improve overall. The doctors have scaled down the ventilator some, letting his lungs do most of the work themselves. His fever has come down a little more as well. Today the doctors will scale back the sedatives some, allowing him to wake a bit. Pray that Andrew will be a good patient and not try to do too much too quickly as he becomes alert.

(updated 2:00pm on Tuesday, September 17)
Great news! Andrew is off the ventilator and is winking at all the cute nurses! Please pray for a continued recovery!

(updated 4:00pm on Wednesday, September 18)
Andrew is getting better and better everyday! He is still in ICU, but it looks like he might get out of there in a couple of days. Please pray that Andrew will recover mentally and physically from this trauma.

(UPDATED 4:35PM ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH)
After nearly two weeks, Andrew is OUT OF ICU today!!! He has been moved to a patient room and has gotten out of bed and walked around the nurses' station. The Childers continue to thank everyone for your many expressions of love, and wanted us to communicate that details about visiting them and him are still being worked out, but will be posted here in a day or two. For now, continue to pray that Andrew would get a proper balance of loving support and good ol' bed-rest, and don't forget to offer prayers of Thanksgiving that God has brought Andrew this far!

(Updated 3:50PM, Friday, September 20)
Andrew continues to strengthen slowly but surely. He did another lap around the nurses' station again today. He is still struggling to keep solid food down. Pray that he'd be able to take that next step and come off of the intravenous feeding. For those wondering, a blood test has come back and officially confirmed that he had mono, which is what caused the spleen to enlarge.

UPDATED 3:10PM, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND
Andrew's condition continues to improve as time goes by. He's still struggling a little to keep solid food down, and would appreciate prayers for that in particular. Right now, things are looking positive for him to be discharged from the hospital early this week! Pray that all continues to go well and he'd be able to enjoy a change of venues. This is his 16th day in the hospital.

UPDATED TUESDAY, 9/24 AT 11:45AM
ANDREW IS NOW HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL!!! Make sure to praise and thank God for that. He still has a good bit of recovering to do, as he remains quite weak and is just beginning to be able to keep solid food down. Pray for his continued safe recovery.

The newspaper carried several small updates and blurbs on Andrew’s situation, but a very nice article appeared on the day he was released from the hospital.

The following Monday, Andrew was at Young Life, still weak, but on his feet:


A couple of weeks later, he was named Homecoming King at THS:


During the depths of the ordeal, there was little hope that he’d return this season. However, never discount the recuperative powers of a 17-year-old body, particularly when the kid is in as great a shape as Andrew. A little under six weeks after coming home from the hospital, Andrew was cleared to return to practice, and he played (and started) his first game back in the first round of the state playoffs on November 22nd. The following week, he had a key sack that caused a fumble—a real momentum-builder for the Tigers, who were eliminated the following week

Well, this all brings us to now. I’ve know about this for a few weeks now, but it was announced to the public yesterday in a this article: Andrew has gotten a partial scholarship to play college football at Samford! It is a neat story, about a neat kid.

I’ll get to spend a week with Andrew early this summer on our big trip up to a camp in Minnesota. (We’re catching the Cubs in Wrigley on the way. Fun!) It’ll be a fun time to reflect and celebrate.

Just thought I’d share….

--Ben

[GrantDawg]

Great news. He was in my mind in prayers throughout that ordeal. Glad he'll get to play on a somewhat higher level.

[FrogMan]

Hey SD, great story.

I wasn't around when this all first happened but I just read everything about it in the old thread. Quite amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us...

FrogMan

[tucker342]

I'm glad he's doing better now

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Thank goodness he is fine .

[JeeberD]

OK now CS, he's a nice looking kid, but calling him fine is going a bit too far...

[STK]

A couple of weeks later, he was named Homecoming King at THS:


I'm not a doctor, but he appears to have some sort of tumor growing out of his neck.

Can we go back to your barely legal high school girls gallery now?

[Ben E Lou]

Mega-bump:


Childers returns home against Tech

By Michelle Hiskey And Al Levine

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday, August 31, 2004, 07:18 PM

Andrew Childers of Tucker grew up going to Georgia Tech football games, dreaming of playing at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

On Saturday, he’ll finally get his chance — although not as he imagined as a kid. He plays for Samford, an NCAA Division I-AA team from Birmingham, that will play at Tech on Saturday.

Samford has 26 players from Georgia — 16 from metro Atlanta — who have found a niche a notch below the top level in college football.

Samford may not be what they all dreamed of during their youth football days. For many, their bodies didn’t grow enough and their personal values kicked in to lead them to this Baptist-affiliated school of roughly 3,000 students.

Childers’ hopes barely survived his near-death experience two years ago. His spleen ruptured in a Tucker High School game and he nearly bled to death waiting for an ambulance.

He returned for the state playoffs, but recruiters backed off because of his physical decline. The 6-foot-3 Childers had dropped to 180 pounds.

Two months after signing day, Childers accepted a $3,000 scholarship from Samford, about one-seventh of a year’s cost. Not quite the stuff of dreams. Today he and his family appreciate the brush with death for placing him in a school that matches him so well.

“I’m happy. I love it,” said Childers, 19, a sophomore starter at defensive end and long snapper who has played well enough to earn a half-scholarship. “The guys here are awesome. All have good morals and just wonderful guys to be around. At a state school, I don’t think you get that quality of people.”

Tucker principal Scott Butler helped steer Childers to Samford, where Butler’s son had thrived on the “very structured, high-class” campus.

“What Andrew had to overcome changed his goals a little bit, and rightfully so,” Butler said. “I don’t know if he’d get that at a Division I school, but Samford gave him that chance. Last year was a year of growing and he still has mountains to grow.”

Values weren’t the first priority for Andrew, the son of a Baptist music minister. “When things happened to his spleen, we wanted him to go wherever he could to play ball,” his mom, Marcia Childers, said. “Samford entered the picture, and we hadn’t given it consideration before. . . . I just feel like God worked through that.”

Samford hospitality extends year round. During the summer, Childers lived near campus with the family of receiver Freddy Young, his campus roommate. Childers bulked up to 245 pounds, though after a recent dinner at his position coach’s house, that may be higher. He said they feasted on “barbecue ribs and cookies and stuff” and watched “Ultimate Fighting.”

The family-oriented team has taken chances on other players who were passed over by better-known teams.

Samford coaches saw past the slim build of Efrem Hill. No Division I-A school recruited the North Springs quarterback, and Samford turned him into an ace receiver. He led Division I-AA last year, and in this season’s opener against West Alabama, Hill had nine receptions for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including a school-record tying 84-yarder.

“The Christian background of it appealed to me,” the 6-2, 185-pound senior said. Morality starts at the top. Coach Bill Gray allows no cursing, and if he says a bad word, his players get a chance to say one, too.

The players return the school’s risk with loyalty and heart. Picked to finish near last in the Ohio Valley Conference last year, they wound up third. They tied last season’s I-A opponent, San Diego State, in the third quarter before losing 37-17. Against Georgia Tech, “I would never count us out”, Childers said. “I don’t think there’s anybody we don’t have a chance to beat.”

Like Childers, offensive guard Eddie Mason of South Cobb experienced an unexpected, fortuitous turn en route to Samford.

“I was in the middle of going to Georgia Southern and they backed out at the last second. And I’m glad they did because this is a better opportunity for me,” he said. “It’s a Christian university and there are a lot of good people around to lead me in the right direction.”

More than anything, Samford players relish a chance to play. Philip Hyde of Sandy Creek carried 12 times for 54 yards against West Alabama.

“Not a lot of true freshman get to play their first college game, so it’s everything and more that I wanted it to be here,” he said.

[KWhit]

Now I have an even bigger reason to root for Samford this weekend.

Thanks for reminding me about this.

[Cringer]

Excellent. 'nuff said.

[GrantDawg]

Go ? Isn't it Bulldogs?

[Ben E Lou]

Story and interview with Childers. He's working NASCAR pit crews these days:

Former High 5 star lands in NASCAR pits - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

[Ben E Lou]

Oh...and a WH visit: SaportaReport | From CHOA to the White House, via NASCAR