Please Pray

This is a sweet couple from our church. Mark was in a snowboarding accident on Friday. Below is a detailed account of the events of the accident and what has happened since. I know many of you are praying for him already! The letter below was written by one of Marks friends...I will update as I hear! Thanks so much for your prayers!

Dear Friends and Family of
Mark and Sarah Hilde,

Many of you have been praying for Mark in these past days, and others have heard a few brief details of what has happened. Mark and Sarah have asked me to write up the details of the past days so that everyone can have a clear picture of what has happened and also for us to know how to best pray for our beloved friends. Truly the Lord has powerfully protected this family through the trauma and fears in the past days. Please forward this onto others who’s email address I have missed.

Two days ago on Friday February 8th Mark planned and organized a trip to Cascade, a ski and snowboard mountain in Wisconsin. The trip was for a small group of Edward Jones financial professionals. Mark had rallied together several co-workers and friends including his father in law Matt Myer to take a three-hour trip north and spend Friday on the slopes.

Mark and his group arrived to Cascade around 9am and they had a wonderful morning. The snow was great and everyone was grateful that Mark had single handedly planned and organized the trip. At 11:45 Mark told some of the guys that he was going to go meet up with Matt and Roger who had stopped to get something to eat. Mark decided to ride through the terrain park (the part of the ski run where large jumps have been built). Mark took his first jump and like always flew through the air causing many recreational skiers and snowboards to stop as he elegantly glided and perfectly landed. Without hesitation Mark approached the second jump, however this jump threw Mark off balance and caused him to rotate backwards. He landed directly on his upper back. Meanwhile, after a three and half hour drive from down town Chicago I had parked and gotten out of my car at the exact minute Mark fell. While walking up to the lift I saw a gathering of people in the terrain park. Matt Myre and I found each other and ran up the slope to get to Mark.

When we got to him the paramedics had just put a c-collar around his neck and we helped get him on the backboard and on the gurney. From the first instant I saw Mark he was talking about his precious son Joshua and his beautiful wife Sarah. His very first words were not of worry or fear for himself, but of desire to take care of his family. Initially after Mark’s fall, he could not move his legs. By the time we got him to the bottom of the run and into the ambulance Mark could move his right arm and right leg; however he had almost complete loss of movement of his left arm and leg. He was able to slightly move his left fingers and toes.

After two ambulance rides and five hours of taking and waiting for MRI, X-ray, and CT scans Mark was brought to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He received excellent care from several doctors, nurses, and medical staff. It was determined from the imaging that two vertebrae in Mark’s neck (C-4 and C-5) were severely fractured. The trauma surgeon described the C-4 injury as a burst fracture from high pinpoint compression pressure that caused the vertebrae to shatter into multiple pieces. C-5 was not as severely fractured, but was in multiple pieces.

After several tear filled cell phone conversations with family in both Illinois and Minnesota, Sarah and Joshua, and members of the Myer family arrived at the UW emergency room. After hours of prayer, the best medicine Mark received was when he first saw his 10-month-old son Joshua around 6:00pm. Below are a few pictures:
Mark went into surgery with a specialized neurosurgical team around 8pm. He underwent a long and extensive procedure with until 2:30am. During the procedure they completely removed all the broken fragments of his C-4 vertebrae and placed a titanium hardware replacement as well as a bone graft (cadaver bone) and two small plates connecting the C-3 and C-5 vertebrae.

The surgeons were careful to not make any promises of Mark’s path to recovery or potential mobility after surgery, yet the family remained hopeful and prayerful. On Saturday morning, after coming out from surgery and a few hours of resting Mark was able to move his left leg more than the night before.

The surgeons were very surprised by Mark’s progression and on Saturday Mark was able to stand and bear his own weight with minimal assistance. By the grace of the Lord and his provision through exceptional medical care Mark was able to walk three separate times before the end of the night. With a little help of some valium Mark was able to sleep for six hours last night and continued to progress today.

Today Mark had significantly increased dexterity in his right arm and was able to sit up and eat. Today Mark walked multiple times and has been told that he should be able to return to Illinois by this Wednesday (Feb 13th) and perhaps by Tuesday.

Mark and Sarah want everyone to know that they are so grateful for the support and love that they have received from family and friends. Brian and Amy stayed in Madison all weekend and both of their families have surrounded them with prayer and love. They are so grateful for their pastors and friends who have driven up from DeKalb to serve and support them.

Mark and his family would appreciate prayer for Mark's full functional recovery, for decreased pain, freedom from infection or complications, and that he would have the STRENGTH to carry out a the process of rehabilitation in the next weeks. Today Mark was able to move his left index and middle finger, which was an improvement and big praise. Please pray for his increased mobility in his left arm and increased strength in his left leg.

Please pray for Sarah as well, who has been by Mark’s side through long days and nights. Sarah was feeding Mark his first meals on Saturday and has been mediating most of the phone calls and dialogue between Mark and the rest of the world while continually serving her husband. Please pray for their day tomorrow (Monday 2/11). Monday will be a significant day because the rehab specialists that have not been present over the weekend will see Mark and help to make an assessment of when he will be returning to Illinois and what his rehab program will look like. Details of Mark’s recovery cannot be determined until the first weeks of Rehab have taken place. Mark has been told he will have 2 to 6 weeks of inpatient intensive Rehab, which will take place closer to home near Dekalb Illinois, most likely in Wheaton.

We praise God for his incredible protection of Mark’s spinal cord despite the severe trauma and damage to the bones of his spine. Mark and Sarah have said multiple times how grateful they are for the support, prayers and love of each of you and they want you all to know that they love you deeply.

“By Faith in the name of Jesus,
this man whom you see and know
was made strong. It is Jesus’ name
and the faith that comes through
him that has given this COMPLETE
healing to him, as you can all see.”ACTS 3:16