A happy hospital visit in Xela

I can’t tell you how happy I was to see Renzo today, conscious and speaking with family and friends, especially after learning more details of the accident. Another centimeter and Renzo might not be here, certainly not without serious injury to his brain.

Brother Edgar, Viña Studio’s operations manager, invited me to join him this morning and go visit Renzo. We boarded a “Flor del Paisaje” bus at 6:30 a.m. for the two-hour-and-15-minute journey to “Xela” (pronounced SHAY-la) or Quetzaltenango.

The way our bus driver was driving, I was wondering how it would look if we wound up in the hospital, too. I often seem to find the most aggressive bus drivers, passing trucks, cars and other buses to fetch the most passengers.

After a quick breakfast in Xela, we found our way to La Democracia Hospital, a privately-run, three-story medical facility. We met his father there who invited us in to see Renzo.

I didn’t know what to expect, but it was such a relief to see him lift his head, look at me and say my name. His head has at least one large gash on the top and left side, which is stitched up with more than 30 stitches, plus a cut over his left eye.

I hesitate to say the latest version of the accident because it always seems to change the next time I hear it, but what I heard today was frightening and made me give thanks to God all the more that he is alive.

Apparently, Renzo had fallen asleep in the bus while it was driving through a construction zone. (Traffic here doesn’t pay much attention to construction zones. Cars and buses race to pass each other almost just as if there aren’t workers nearby.) Anyway, a large piece of machinery, a scoop of some kind, was working there — moving or stationary, I don’t know — and the scoop collided with the bus as it wove through the area, likely traveling faster than it should have been.

Apparently, that’s what hit the bus, tearing into it and hitting Renzo’s head. The collision caused a depression in the left side of his skull, on which doctors operated Saturday and Sunday, possibly to relieve pressure on the brain and to position the bones as they should be. His brain was not injured, doctors said, though it would have been if the depression had been even a slight bit more.

While visitors were in his room yesterday, Renzo tore loose from a restraint, binding his wrists and ripped the bandages off his head. They had to restrain him and call for help before a doctor came to administer a sedative.

Today, Renzo appeared a bit sluggish and in pain, but he was smiling faintly and greeting visitors, including his pastor and the pastor’s wife who prayed over him (pictured in photo) and brought a gift of money from the church to help cover any expenses.

So far, it appears the highway construction company is covering the costs for Renzo’s medical care. Lawyers representing the bus company and the construction company had argued over who is responsible, and Renzo’s father had to sign some papers under much pressure, but it appears most costs will be covered.

During our visit, Edgar and I and Renzo’s father prayed over Renzo, thanking God for sparing his life and for the good results from the surgeries. I’m not sure when he may be able to leave the hospital, but I imagine he will be there for at least several more days.

Please pray for Renzo’s healing and protection against any infections, and for God’s hand on his life. Obviously, God is at work in his life. Thank you.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope — Jeremiah 29:11

...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ — Philippians 1:6