Jim Guyer injured

[Jimmy P]

Hey everyone,
I have permission from Heidi, Jim Guyer's daughter to post this. He is in surgery right now in Salt Lake City. He was giving thumbs up when asked to and was aware and giving one word answers when asked prior to being put under anesthesia. He has facial bone damage which is putting pressure on his brain. They are now trying to repair this damage. As soon as Heidi learns more, she will contact me and I will post it immediately. His pelvis is apparently broken, but that is secondary at this point.
On Saturday of the Turkey Boogie, Jim went with us up to Black Dragon wash, just West of Green River, which is about an hour from Moab. There were about 15-20 of us on this adventure. Several people had jumped already. Jim had a less than perfect exit which contributed to a 180. His body was turned a bit after opening and by the time he was ready to turn the canopy around, he struck the wall. He struck the wall again lower down and then struck the talus quite hard. I was near the Suburban and luckily within cell phone range(very uncommon in the canyons) at the time and drove immediately to within 150 feet of the talus while someone else called in an ambulance. Jim was near the wall and when I got the backboard and medical kit to him, Spence and others were already working on him. Spence is a respiratory therapist and was extremely effective and calm. Jim was breathing and apparently unconscious for a short while. He came to before I arrived with the board and kit. We got him on the board, into a cervical collar and out of there within about 15 minutes. We loaded him into the Suburban and met the ambulance on the way out towards the I-70. They took him the rest of the way to Price, where he was airlifted to Salt Lake City.
Heidi, his daughter, has asked that everyone not contact the family at this time, as they don't know much until he gets out of surgery, and obviously things are a bit hectic. Our prayers go out to Jim and his family and we ask that everyone send out the healing vibes to him!
Jimmy and Marta

[Pauly]

Jim we wish you well from North Carolina.... Ruth and I are sending good vibes and prayers as we type! Love you brother and when you get up and out email us it has been way too long!

love you brother........


Ruth and Pauly

[Jimmy P]

Jim's wife Judy is with him at the Latter Day Saints hospital in Salt Lake City. He underwent surgery and is expected to regain consciousness sometime on Tuesday. I will update as anything changes.
Jimmy

[base311]

Jimmy,

Thanks for the information and the update(s). Sorry to hear about Jim.

Jim,

Get well! ...sending good vibes from Atlanta.

Gardner

[GazK]

Kudos to all you guys on what sounds like a pretty effective rescue - Good luck to Jim in recovery.

Gazk

[BW]

We just received an email from Judy Guyer, Jim's wife, and I wanted to share the following excerpts with you all here.
Take care
Blair


"He has had all of the needed surgeries and the prognosis is very good."

"I have received the messages that have been sent and have relayed your good wishes to Jim. Today he nodded his head so I know he has heard."


"Jim's fellow jumpers attended to him so quickly and so well they they have helped tremendously in the good results Jim is experiencing now.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your caring concern."

[huckleberry]

Although I was not there, I did happen to see video of this jump half a dozen times. Just curious if Jim was using a deep brake setting or a shallow?
The forward surge on this opening was, in my opinion, unbelieveable!
Heal soon Jim!
Hucklberry

[Jimmy P]

>Although I was not there, I did happen to see video of this
>jump half a dozen times. Just curious if Jim was using a deep
>brake setting or a shallow?
> The forward surge on this opening was, in my opinion,
>unbelieveable!
> Heal soon Jim!
>Hucklberry
I never even thought to check. I still have his parachute, I just went and checked and sure enough, both brakes are still set in the shallow position. No idea why.
Jimmy P.

[lowpuller]

I just got the news about Jim. I wish him a rapid recovery. Jim and Judy your in my prayers and thoughts. Please call when you get a chance.

David from NC

[Jimmy P]

Marta and I went to see Jim yesterday at LDS hospital in Salt Lake City. He is doing really great considering the severity of the accident. They have fixed his hip and facial bones. He looks very much the same with a bit of bruising still evident. He was on his way to physical therapy when we arrived. He is getting up and hand walking down the parallel bars, without putting weight on his injured left hip. He doesn't remember being at the Turkey boogie or the accident, which is quite normal with a brain injury of this nature to have lost the recent short term. He is still confused as to why he is in Salt Lake and what happened. He recognized us and wanted to talk but he has had a breathing tube down his throat for so long that it was quite difficult for him, more of a whisper. His wife Judy is amazing. She is being sooooo strong through this. She understands that Jim may still want to jump and she will be ok with that if he is mentally still sharp. There are good signs of this as when she was cruising him around the hospital in the wheelchair he looked back conspiratorially at her and said, get me out of here! She is living in a residence adjacent to the hospital and is constantly with him. As anyone who has ever been in the hospital or been to see someone, this is very difficult for the visitor and so important for the patient. Your morale suffers and time drags on as you wish for your normal life back. Anyone who would like to help with this situation or has been a friend to Jim, PLEASE take the time to send a get well card or flowers or call the hospital to talk to Judy, she needs the support, although you would never guess it to see her or to talk to her.
Thanks,
Jimmy P.
Contact information for Jim:
LDS hospital
8th Ave & C St.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84532
Phone: 801-408-1100
He will be there for at least a couple more weeks.

[JoYo03]

Good vibes coming from the Cincinnati Crew! Thanks for being there: Jason, Jimmy, Marta, Spence, and everyone else that was there and helping!

[pull_low]

Has anybody heard from or about Jim? I was wondering how is doing.
Hopefully no news is good news.

[QuickDraw]

I just posted this on dizzy too.

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Posted on Thu, Jan. 29, 2004

Accident puts extreme senior on the shelf
By ERIN FITZGERALD The Kansas City Star


JOHN SLEEZER/The Kansas City Star
Badly injured in a BASE jumping accident last year, Jim Guyer, 75, worked in an upper body exercise class Wednesday at Mid-America Rehabilitation Hospital in Overland Park.


CHRIS OBERHOLTZ/ The Kansas City Star
Guyer let go of an airplane wing strut and headed for the drop zone 9,000 feet below during a skydiving adventure last year over an area between Lexington and Henrietta, Mo.

Last year, Jim Guyer was leaping from airplanes and floating down under a brightly colored canopy.

Now the Overland Park skydiver and BASE jumper is unable to walk without assistance.

The 75-year-old's most recent BASE jump (building, antenna tower, span and earth) was supposed to be a 350-foot leap onto a dirt road from a canyon wall at Black Dragon Wash, near Green River, Utah.

Guyer made it only 300 feet. A dip of a shoulder as he hurled himself from the edge probably caused his canopy to open backward, facing the wall. Twice, his body slammed into the smooth rock of the canyon.

He landed in an area filled with car-sized boulders, about 50 feet above the road.

Guyer can't recall the accident in November or the days afterward. But witnesses haven't forgotten.

Jimmy Pouchert, a fellow jumper, drove as close as he could and then hurried up the slope, praying Guyer was still alive.

“When somebody is in this kind of an accident, there is a fine line between living and dying,” said Pouchert, 37. “And I've seen both sides.”

BASE jumpers know the risk, said Johnny Woodie, 55, another witness.

“Like I heard one other guy say, ‘It's suicide without the commitment,' ” Woodie said. “Once you jump off of a bridge, or cliff or building, you've got to save yourself. No one else can do it once you leave that object. It's just you then.”

Judy Guyer learned about her husband's accident from a voice on her answering machine in Overland Park.

“It was horrible,” she said. “From the time he started jumping, I was always afraid I was going to get a call like that. And to have it happen, it was just awful.”

Jim Guyer is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and former paratrooper, a former stockbroker and Miller Brewing Co. executive. He ran marathons in his 40s and 50s, and completed triathlons in his 60s.

He took up skydiving in his 70s and later started BASE jumping. He holds a Guinness World Record for oldest BASE jumper and has about 50 jumps and more than 1,100 skydives.

He's no stranger to injuries. Last year, he broke his left leg while jumping off a bridge.

But he has never endured injuries as severe as these: a fractured skull, multiple fractures in his face, a broken hip, broken bones in his ankle, a broken leg and a brain injury.

Guyer lost his long- and short-term memory.

“You just have to laugh,” his wife said, “because at one point, he didn't remember who he was.”

Guyer thought he was a colonel in the Army in Fort Worth, Texas, there to train troops. Then he thought he was in France, speaking French to those in the room.

I said ‘Jim, we're not in France,' ” Judy Guyer said. “He said ‘Are we in Italy? I don't know how to speak Italian.' ''

Guyer spent about six weeks at a hospital in Salt Lake City before returning home to Overland Park this month. He has regained his long-term memory and is working on the short-term.

Now he's at Mid-America Rehabilitation Hospital in Overland Park, undergoing physical and occupational rehabilitation and speech therapy.

On Wednesday, Guyer performed upper body exercises in a class with about 10 others, also in wheelchairs.

Guyer is expected to walk eventually, but his doctors don't think he'll be able to jump again, Judy Guyer said. His hip and brain injuries make it too risky.

Still, Jim Guyer holds out hope. It's that hope that seems to help him through the recovery process.

“A lot of people play bridge, some play chess and some go on marathon races,” Guyer said. “It's just what you seem to enjoy, what you like. What I'm doing is kind of reaching for the limits, and it's fun.”

To reach Erin Fitzgerald, call

(816) 234-7722 or send e-mail to efitzgerald@kcstar.com.

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