more, please...

My brother has a lead foot. My dad estimates he was probably going 40+ mph, down a bumpy-as-hell dirt road, in a truck with no shocks. He lost control, spun and rolled it.

There was some speculation of alcohol.. My brother's friend, who was also in the truck but was able to walk back to the house to alert my other brother about the accident, said he thought he had two beers. But my dad thinks it was maybe only 1 beer, since he & mom had left their house to go visit my sister about 20-30 minutes prior to when my other brother let the one who crashed take his truck. But either way, I don't believe it really had much of an effect on him, as he tends to drink often, so his tolerance level is probably a little high.

At any rate, he's in the ICU. No broken bones (amazingly), but one of the lower lobes of one of his lungs is partially collapsed, and his brain was injured... The CatScan they did revealed some blood in his brain, so he will be getting a visit from a neurosurgeon some time in the morning to gauge the damage and determine whether surgery will be needed.

They flew him to a trauma unit in Phoenix because the hospital in Prescott isn't equipped to handle trauma emergencies. So, since I am the only one in my immediate family who lives in Phoenix, my parents asked me to go to the hospital to be there to answer any questions the medical staff may have for us and to act as a relay on the status of my brother to my parents, while they drove down from Chino Valley.

This is the brother of mine who is an absolute pain in the ass. He is a drug addict, alcoholic, manic-depressive, has ADHD, is border-line bi-polar, probably schizophrenic(sp?)... Basically he's fucked up in a big way.

My parents are hoping that this accident, should he survive with all of his facilities intact, will finally knock some sense into him. Not to be crass, but depending on the damage to his brain, maybe it will, finally.

He's a pain in the ass, but he's still my brother. Although I tend to avoid him most of the time (he is an expert button pusher, knows just how to annoy and piss someone off), I still love him. When my mom called to tell me about the accident and to ask me to go to the hospital until they could get there, and before I got a full "first glance assessment" from her from the paramedics, I started to cry. I knew that it was serious since he had been flown into Phoenix, but not yet knowing just how serious, it was unnerving.

But, for now he's stable. He's sedated, and is on a breathing machine (due to the lung AND the brain injury.. the hospital staff tell us that with a brain injury it can be difficult for a person to regulate their own breathing, which makes sense).

I've asked my parents to call my cell phone to leave voice mail later today after they hear from the neurosurgeon on his prognosis.

Now to go color some easter eggs... as it was what I was preparing to do when my mom called with the news.
That's all, folks...