Concert Accident Victim's Recovery Promising
May 5th, 2008
CHILLIWACK, BC — Debbie Helsloot, the 41-year-old woman who suffered severe spinal injuries after the floor collapsed at a Starfield concert in nearby Abbotsford on April 25, is showing promising signs of recovery.
Five days after the accident, it was reported that she had “movement in both arms and her upper body seems to be responding well.” At the time, tubes that had been keeping her airwaves open due to swelling were removed and she was able to breathe on her own.
Signs of healing have been even more encouraging of late. This past Saturday, Helsloot’s husband wrote in an e-mail that she found the massages relaxing and remarked, “When my feet are rubbed, I can still feel that they are there.”
Today, a physiotherapist is scheduled to evaluate Helsloot’s strength and movement levels.
Updates on Helsloot’s condition are regularly posted on the website of her home congregation, Promontory Community Church at http://app.razorplanet.com/acct/40173-1650/tmpl/index.php?nid=4378&s=hm&preview=true. On the home page, there is a “Debbie Helsloot Updates” link.
Helsloot was moved on the weekend from the Intensive Care Unit to the Spinal Ward at the Vancouver General Hospital. The facility is considered one of the top hospitals in the world for treating patients with spinal injuries.