Granville man still critical after accident, awaiting surgery
Family is encouraged by flood of support
BY ABBEY ROY • Advocate Reporter • February 25, 2010
NEWARK -- Nearly two days after a weightlifting accident left Chris Harmon on life support at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, a Facebook group called "Pray for Chris Harmon" had more than 1,400 members.
Support and calls have been flooding in, said Chris' father, Scott Harmon, and so many visitors have been coming that the family is asking that visitation be restricted to other close family members so the doctors can do their work.
Still, the Harmons are overwhelmingly appreciative of the support -- and they are confident that Chris will be, too, Scott said Wednesday afternoon.
"I think when he recovers and sees all this community support, he's going to be real humbled by it," he said. "It really helps me and my wife through a difficult time."
Chris was admitted to Grant late Monday after a 250-pound weight slipped from his hands and fell on his face while he was on an incline press at The Advantage Club in Newark. He had just set a personal record for the bench press, maxing out at 420 or 430 pounds, his father said.
He was carried face-down to an ambulance by Advantage Club staff, a move Scott was told likely saved Chris' life by preventing blood from draining into his lungs.
Chris was given an emergency tracheotomy at Licking Memorial Hospital, then taken by ambulance to Grant with a shattered nose, displaced jawbone and smashed cheekbones, Scott said. Chris will need to have titanium plates put in his jaw and both cheeks, and his eye socket will need to be rebuilt.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chris remained on life support and had been given a feeding tube. Until the fluid that has filled his lungs drains, a surgery to begin rebuilding his face cannot go forward, Scott said.
Chris lost a large amount of blood and is in the process of receiving more.
Through it all, Scott has been keeping friends and family updated via Facebook -- an outlet for expressing everything his family has been going through.
"I found it a therapeutic way to vent my grief. To be able to put in my layman clinical terms what was going on," he said.
To help with Chris' medical expenses, the Chris Harmon Trust Fund has been established and is accessible at any Chase Bank, Scott said.
