Monday, July 13, 2009

A family tragedy

Say a prayer, please, or give a good thought for my niece, Maggie Lee Henson, who yesterday was in a terrible church bus accident in Mississippi and has been airlifted to Jackson with severe injuries. (See initial coverage.) My brother John is an assistant pastor at the Shreveport church whose bus rolled three times after a tire blew out while taking a youth group to Atlanta, killing one and injuring 27. At this time, Maggie is still not out of the woods and remains in critical condition.

If anyone needed a reminder that everything about your life can change in a heartbeat, here it is. Just devastating. Keep Maggie, John, and his family in your thoughts and prayers, as well as the family of the deceased and the other bus crash victims. They face a rough road in front of them.

UPDATE (July 14): As of this morning, Maggie Lee remains in a coma with a severe brain stem injury. She has nearly died several times and is fighting for her life. Thanks to everyone who's expressed their sympathy and good wishes. They are appreciated.

MORE: See AP coverage of a prayer vigil held for Maggie today in Shreveport.

AND MORE: (July 14, 3:30 p.m., via Caring Bridge): "Latest update on Maggie Lee....Tubes have been inserted to inflate her lungs. The tubes that were put on Sunday were temporary and have been removed. Maggie Lee is getting good air return from this procedure. Medicine has been turned down to ease her out of medically induced coma. Her heart is stable. We are still watching cranial pressure. It is creeping up to 30. Please pray for swelling to subside."