[pct-l] FW: Zero pack weight

[Donna Saufley]

I am certain that all of you, like us, will be stunned to learn this tragic
news.  Our hearts are aching for the Van Peski family.  

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
From: Glen Van Peski [mailto:glen at gossamergear.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 8:02 PM
To: Donna Saufley
Subject: Zero pack weight

Our son Derek achieved a base pack weight of zero just before midnight last
Sunday, Mother's Day.  He was a couple of months short of his 20th birthday.

Derek was admitted to an Orange County hospital April 30 for seizures that
they could not stop at Fairview.  The Hoag Hospital ER stabilized him, and
he went to their intensive care unit.  He was heavily sedated and on a
ventilator for breathing.  Over the next week the staff took down the
sedative levels, but he was unable to breathe on his own.  We authorized a
tracheotomy, with the hope that would allow him to breathe for himself.  He
was getting better, breathed on his own for 8 hrs one day, then only 2 the
next.  Early Sunday morning he coded (no pulse).  They inserted two chest
tubes to allow air to escape that was leaking out of holes in his lungs into
his chest cavity, and did CPR for 20 - 30 minutes, to no avail.  They called
us and told us he was gone, so we drove up to make arrangements.  When we
got there, Derek was back in ICU, his heart having started on its own.   But
due to being flatlined for some time and the efforts taken to save him,
Derek was in pretty poor shape.  After spending all day up there, talking to
nurses, doctors, and seeing if he could be an organ donor (which he was not
a candidate for), we authorized staff to remove the life support systems and
make him comfortable, and drove back home.  We got a call just before
midnight that Derek had passed away.

So, I've got a scout in heaven, checking out the best trips in the heavenly
ranges...

--Glen



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