2Bennett Audimotive

Current Status of Ken Bennett
Updated April 14, 2008

CONTACT INFO

Please send mail to Ken through 2Bennett.

UPDATE QUICK LINKS
8/31/2007 | 9/19/2007 | 10/11/2007 | 11/12/2007 | 12/06/2007 | 1/18/2008 | 4/11/2008

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 4/11/2008

The REALLY good news is that Ken is out of the hospital and back home with Kristine. He is getting around in a power wheel chair. He has usage of his left arm, but is not doing so well with the right side. He continues to work on it through ongoing physical therapy.

Now is the time to help, if you can, through contributions to the Ken Bennett Recovery Fund. He will be needing equipment and therapy that will not be covered by insurance. Checks should be made to the Ken Bennett Recovery Fund and mailed to:

2Bennett Audimotive
946 Olive Drive, #1
Davis CA 95616

It is being kept in an account at Bank of America, Davis CA branch. We'll keep you posted.

Thanks for your ongoing concern for Ken's progress.

The Bennett Family

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 1/18/2008

Ken continues to improve slowly but surely. He is now officially in physical therapy at UC Davis Medical Center. He is working out under therapists' care twice a day and is getting around well sitting up in a power chair.

Kristine's loving support is a major factor as she continues to be
with him in the hospital every day except when she is at work in the veterinary hospital and shelter.

Thanks to all of you for your concern, and for continuing
contributions to the Ken Bennett Recovery Fund. No withdrawals have
been made from the Bank of America account where they are kept,
awaiting just the right use to help in Ken's recovery.

The Bennett Family

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 12/06/2007

Very good news from Ken: he is completely off the ventilator, breathing on his own with no mechanical help. This is a HUGE step forward, once again astounding the doctors. It was initially thought that Ken would be on a ventilator for the rest of his life.

Ken's use of his left arm is now almost the same as before the accident at Watkins Glen.

Please send mail to Ken through 2Bennett from now on rather than through the hospital.

The Bennett Family

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 11/12/2007

Ken continues to show remarkable improvement, far more than doctors had anticipated when he was injured at Watkins Glen on August 27, 2007. He has close to full use of his left arm, and is able to bend his right arm at the elbow. Therapists continue to work with him on the right arm and they are greatly encouaged by his progress.

He is now breathing with the help of a ventilator only when he is sleeping. It is turned off as soon as he awakens. He talks quite naturally, sounding like the good ol' Ken we all know, with the same sense of humor and optimistic outlook.
Thanks to all who have expressed concern for Ken!

The Bennett Family

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 10/11/2007

Ken continues down the long, slow road to recovery. Big steps forward include that all tubes are out of his nose and mouth now, and he is able to use his voice to talk for short periods of time. He is also now eating solid food rather than getting nutrition only intravenously. He can move his left arm up to his face, and is gaining movement in his right arm.

Ken's fiancee, Kristine, continues to be with him, providing incalculable morale support. She was there in Watkins Glen watching when the accident happened, stayed with him in the intensive care room in Elmira, and flew with him on the light jet that moved him to Sacramento.

Ken continues with physical therapy at the UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento.

Thank you for the many contributions to the Ken Bennett Recovery Fund (on deposit at the Bank of America branch in Davis, California), and words of support for Ken that have come in cards, letters and visits!

The Bennett Family

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 9/19/2007

Ken Bennett was flown back to his home in northern California after his accident in upstate New York last week. He went through neurosurgery on Thursday September 6, 2007, at the University of California at Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The goals of the surgery were to: 1) stabilize the bones in his neck so that he can move forward with rehab, and 2) to get the breathing tube out of his throat so he can communicate better and be more comfortable. Some more damage to his vertabrae was found than had been expected, so they ended up having to fuse the bones from the second vertebral level to the fifth. The main down side of the fusion is that Ken will have a stiffer neck - bummer but unavoidable.

Other good news is that they were able to remove the "halo" brace that had been preventing him from moving his head at all. He is much happier about that and the tracheostomy that he has now means he doesn't need to have the breathing tube going through his mouth. The tracheostomy works by letting the machine breathing for him reach his lungs through his throat, rather than through a tube in his mouth. Ken is able to express himself with less frustration now, although temporarily he can't talk. The very best news is that on Friday September 7 ken was able to breath on his own for two hours which is the first step to getting rid of the breathing machines completely.

We'll keep you posted on Ken's further progress!

Bennett Family's Report on Ken Bennett, 8/31/2007

Ken Bennett of 2Bennett Audimotive was seriously injured while instructing at a track event in upstate New York on Monday 8/27/2007. He suffered a cervical spine injury at the level of c2-c3 after losing control of the car during an instruction run and hitting a barrier on the side of the track. Because the injury happened high up on his neck Ken lost the ability to breath on his own. Thanks to the quick thinking of the passenger in the car, Marc van Loon, who made sure that he immediately received oxygen and inflated his lungs externally, Ken didnt suffer any deprivation of oxygen to his brain and in fact never lost consciousness. The 2Bennett crew helped heroically as well.

Ken was taken to a nearby medical center in Elmira, New York, where he was stabilized and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit. While the bones in Kens neck didnt break, the ligaments holding the bones together tore, which allowed the spinal cord to get pinched. Initially Ken had no movement of his arms, but he started to move muscles in both arms within twelve hours of the accident. He also has feeling in parts of both arms. Currently he continues to need to have a machine breath for him. He is also receiving antibiotics to fight a pneumonia that started after fluid from his stomach got down into the lungs before his breathing tube was inserted.

Ken will be flown by light jet to Sacramento as soon as a bed opens up at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where he will receive further treatment.

Anyone who knows Ken will appreciate the fact that he is very frustrated not being able to speak because of the tube in his throat. The need for the tube is temporary, however, until after he gets surgery to stabilize his vertebral bones. Ken should be back to commenting on the world within the next couple of weeks.

He has full control of his head, shoulder, and facial muscles and is telling us what he needs to by using these. He has already started physical therapy and was doing reps with his wrists to start building up those muscles.

In case you did not know, Ken had an injury from a bicycle accident thirteen years ago that left him paralyzed from below the upper chest, including his hands and parts of his arm muscles. We are all hoping that he will regain a good portion of the function that he had before this second accident.

A fund is being established to assist with Kens recovery. If you wish to contribute, make your check payable to the Ken Bennett Recovery Fund and send it to 2Bennett Audimotive, 946 Olive Drive, #1, Davis CA 95616.

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