6 comments:

Heather Holloway said...

Hello everyone. I am Holli's sister Heather. As you know Holli is fighting for her life in India.Ok so here is the story from the beginning... I got a call about 1am on Wednesday morning from Holli's friend Eliza asking me for Holli's blood type. She said Holli was in a motorcycle accident and needed blood. Of course I had to call and wake up mom for the answer to this question. Mom of course went into straight painic. After talking to Eliza again I found out that Holli had wrecked trying to avoid another wreck. I didn't know then, but found out recently that Holli had her helment on, full face helment with shield, and when she wrecked the handlebar of the bike went through the faceshield of the helment. The bar went between her head and the inside of the helment ripping through her ear. She immediately was unconscious. She was bleeding from her nose, mouth, and ear. Harrison, Holli's boyfriend, was ahead of her on another bike. By the time he arrived at her side, everyone around them had fled the scene. Harrison did CPR on Holli for 20 minutes, spitting out blood between breaths, until a German van of tourist stopped to help them. They threw her into the back of the van, the whole time Harrision was giving rescue breaths. The first hospital they arrived at turned them away and said that they could not help them. So they put her back in the van and proceeded to find another hospital. At the second hospital is where Holli recieved blood. They intubated her, sewed up her flesh wound, and prepared her for transport to the hospital she is at now. They didn't have a CT scanner at that hospital so they did not even know the extent of her injuries. That is where Mom and I come in to the story. We stayed in contact with Harrison the whole transport to Pondicherry. In the middle of this we started getting phone calls from the American Consulate in India. They were trying to assist us any way they could. They have been great thus far. They gave us resources to get emergency passports and visas. I give a big shout out to my now friend Ravi who took it upon himself to call the US Senate office in Washington DC and made them aware of our situation. In the mean time we had found out that Holli was in a deep coma and we were told she had a bleed in her brain stem. Mom knew she had to get to Holli and fast. We then started receiving calls from Brooke in Washington who made the passports and visas happen for my mom and aunt. While this was going on of course my mom had decided to fly to India and my aunt Joy was going with her. My aunt Joy, for those of you who don't know, has a son who had head trauma from and accident several years ago and is very knowledgeable about them. She was just the person to go with my Mom and not only be a rock for her, but help prepare her for what she would see. After my aunt arrived in Nashville Wednesday night, they took off for Chicago the next morning. They were able to get their emergency passports and visas there without any problem, thanks to Brooke. They took off for Dehli that night for a 13-14 hour flight. My aunt gave my mom a much needed sleeping pill and my mother was able to sleep for a solid 7 hours, which was much needed after 72 hours of no sleep. The stewardess' on their flight to Dehli had heard their story though another passenger and took great care of them. They even packed snack bags for them and put them under their seat while they were sleeping. They landed in New Dehli spent the night in a hotel and got up for a 6am flight to Chennai. At the Chennai airport they were met by the father of a Doctor collegue of mine at work. He was gracious enough to arrange transportation for them to Pondicherry. I talked to mom several times and she was expressing to me the conditions of the Indian roadways. No wonder they get into wrecks. I could often hear in the background the horn of the car.
To back up a little bit, Holli we thought a couple nights prior was going downhill. It was the night before my mom left for Chicago, while we were waiting on my aunt to arrive. Harrison had called me in tears telling me of how she was moaning on the vent, how her heart rate was 200, how her oxygen saturations were 80-90 on the vent. ( they should have been 95-100%) I was mortified! They were letting her die! I could hear her moans in the background and I lost it. It was the most awful sound. Harrison told me that they didn't believe in sedating unconscious patients. I knew this was wrong, she needed to rest and stay calm so her brain could heal.I called Jill my cousin to get her involved. We decided to call the American consulate to either move her or try to get her sedated. The Consulate advised us that moving her would be a death sentence. The ambulance services over there have no defib machine..nothing. You just throw them in the back of a van and go. The next closest hospital was 4 hours away. So they got the American Consulate Doctor involved with the Indian doctors to help consult with her care. We found out from Harrison about 4 hours later that they had sedated Holli, they had given her a tracheotomy, and as they pulled out her intubation tube it was filled with blood clots. No wonder her SAO2 was bad. But things were better now. Her vital signs had stabled out and she was resting peacefully. It was good news. That was the last time I talked to Harrison until for almost 36 hours. I couldn't get through to his phone. By the time I had talked with him again, my mom and aunt were only 2 hours away from being there. My mom and aunt arrived safe by Holli's side. Their luggage is lost, and American Airlines said they can't help because it is in the hands of the Indian government. They have gotten a hotel near the hospital. The hospital conditions are awful. Mom said they have to beg to use the bathroom facilities and still then she has to go in a hole in the ground. She has set up vigil next to Holli in the CCU. Her vital signs are stable right now. I will talk with her in the next few hours. Our next task is get Holli back to US soil. We have decided to transfer her to San Francisco as she can recieve free medical care there.
That is were we are now...waiting for Holli to become more stable so we can transfer her.
I want to thank everyone for all the prayer, love, and phone calls. It is been amazing God's work thus far. I continue to pray for faith, strengh, and guidence through this difficult time. Thank you again everyone. I will post soon with any updates.
With much Love....Heather

February 28, 2009 at 5:42 PM

Heather Holloway said...

Just talked to mom....it is about 9am there. She and aunt Joy are going to eat breakfast and head back to the hospital. They were able to get about 6 hours of sleep. Holli is status quo for the time being. She still has a fever, she is still posturing, and still resting peacefully. Mom wanted me to convey to everyone her deep appreciation for all to love, support, and prayers. She asked that you continue to pray for she knows that this is what is giving her and aunt Joy the strength they need to continue through this journey. Mom, today is getting Harrison to fax or email a copy of Holli's CT scan to Dr. Crossley ( a doctor friend of ours) and he is going to have some Neuro doctors take a look at it and help give a better idea of Holli's prognosis. I will post as soon as I know any details. Again...thank you so much to everyone for all the prayers for our family. Talk to you soon.
Much Love....Heather

February 28, 2009 at 7:56 PM

Deree said...

My neice, Holli Deree Hawthorne , is in a hospital in Pondacherry India and not receiving the type of critical care that she needs. My sisters, Diane Allison and Joy Willis, are there with her in a terrible environment and covet your prayers and donations to get Holli home. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for following and praying with us . Deree Webb

March 1, 2009 at 9:49 AM

Jill said...

Thank you everyone for your support. I spoke with my mom this morning and she said that Holli is stable. Running a fever, but otherwise vital signs are stable. The doctors in India keep telling them that Holli has a very "tiny" bleed. This gives us some hope. Please continue to pray for Holli as well as my mom and her mom, Diane. Thank you.

March 1, 2009 at 11:00 AM

Chakra Magic said...

Dearest Holli,

Sending you a million healing angels...

Love, Blessings and hugs,
Satish

March 4, 2009 at 9:42 PM

Gabby said...

Holli was a dear childhood friend of mine... I am praying for God's healing power to cover her body and for the peace of the Holy Spirit to be with her family.
Much Love,
Gabby

March 17, 2009 at 7:34 PM