 |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||
|
Updates On Kellen
(May 9, 2008) New Shirts Coming
Soon Welcome to the website of Kellen Chadwick. In 2008, Kellen was planning to run the full schedule of the Lucas Oil Late Model Series Events, touring around the country. He began the 2008 Lucas Oil season at Speedweeks in Tampa Bay, FL. His plans changed on Feb. 22nd while racing in a dirt Modified at Central Arizona Raceway during the off time from the Lucas Oil Series. Kellen was severely injured in a racing accident. He suffered broken bones in his neck and back, and minor burns. The initial diagnosis was not good for Kellen, as doctors thought they would have to fuse together his neck bones (making side-to-side and up-and-down movement impossible). As the days passed after the accident, the doctors began to rethink their plan. They could see that each of his top seven vertebrae in his heck each had at least three fractures, but it looked like the bones remained mostly aligned. To the amazement of the team of doctors, Kellen still had movement in all of his extremities. The doctors commented to the family that they had never seen these types of injuries on a patient without some type of paralysis. They believed that Kellen would walk again someday. As the days went by, with Kellen remaining in a Phoenix area hospital Intensive Care Unit, the doctors decided their best plan would be to hold off on any surgeries and give the 23 year-old a chance to let his body try to heal on its' own. Kellen remained under heavy sedation for the first eight days after the accident, requiring breathing and feeding tubes at times to help stabilize him. Doctors decided to put a "halo" on him to immobilize his head and neck. After the initial crisis phase of Kellen's treatment began to wind down, Kellen's health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, wanted to get Kellen back to a local Kaiser facility closer to home. The doctor's who had been treating him in Phoenix had Kellen transported to a Kaiser hospital in California, 13 days after the accident. Kellen spent a handful of days in that hospital, being re-examined by his new treating doctors. At a crossroads in his recovery, Kellen had the option of being sent to a rehab center or going home. Kellen chose to go home and work on his rehab from the comforts of home. Two and one-half weeks after leaving, Kellen was finally home. His life changed forever. In the following days and weeks after coming home, Kellen has been working on his physical therapy. They started their focus on getting him to walk. At first, he needed the assistance of a walker or cane. Soon, young, stubborn Kellen was walking without the aid of any devices. The focus of rehab shifted to the hands and arms. He has full use of his hands and arms but they he has not yet regained full strength in them (as of Apr. 15th). On Apr. 11th doctors re-examined his neck. They have noted tremendous progress. They recommended that he remain outfitted with a halo for approx. six more weeks, at which time they will re-examine him and his progress. There is still more healing that needs to happen and rehab to continue for Kellen. Kellen remains optimistic that he will someday again strap into the seat of a racecar and compete, like he has done nearly all of his life. At such a young age, you can easily describe Kellen Chadwick......he is a racer! The impact of the accident on Kellen's life has been tremendous. Kellen earned his living primarily as a race car fabricator in the family business, Pro Motorosports. Kellen will likely not be able to return to work for eight or more months. During this time, he no income. As a father to a one year-old son, Kellen will need the support of those around him to continue his rehab and be a great parent to his son. He has already begun to amass medical bills and has the obligation to be a provider to his son. He is happy to spend time with his son, as it provides much inspiration to him during the difficult time of rehabilitation. Since the first day of news of this accident, Kellen has received tremendous support from the racing community. There have been several fund raising activities to raise funds for Kellen, and his family, to utilize while he is unable to work. We ask that the racing community continue to help Kellen in this difficult time. There are fund raisers still occurring. If you cannot attend one, we have a few ways donations can be sent to Kellen. We wish to extend
a special thank you to the many tracks who have conducted fund raising to
support Kellen: Upcoming Fundraisers July 20th - Hot
Antioch Nights Car Show We have setup a
page where donations can be made to Kellen through PayPal A trust fund for
Kellen is available.
Donations to Kellen can be Cards & Letters Can Be
Sent To: WHO IS KELLEN
CHADWICK?
TShirts Leave Your Message
For Kellen The Story Behind The Racing Accident
Here is an excerpt from a story regarding the accident: The scheduled
30-laps feature was shortened to 20 after a lap two crash involved California’s
Kellen Chadwick, New Mexico’s Bumper Jones and Jay Rosales, and North Dakota’s
Marlyn Seidler. Rosales made contact in turn two with Jeff Stafford causing him
to spin down the backstretch blocking the speedway as full speed traffic
approached. Chadwick was collected by Rosales and began flipping as Jones came
upon the incident. Unable to slow his car in time, Jones hit the roof of the
upside-down Chadwick who would come to rest on all four wheels on top of
Seidler’s right front. I have decided to remove the
pictures of the accident from the home page. If you are interested in
seeing them, they are available at
Pics.htm |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
