This is one of the brothers in Outpost One. He is the commander for Trail Blazers and challengers. Please keep him in prayer. I know from Ski Patrol that a broken femur is a serious brake, especially when it starts to contract. Praise God it wasn't worse. Also, we are short on leaders a similar malady of other outposts. He is the only Commander we have for the older boys.�
Hello... to those who are friends and aquaintainces of Mark Matus (my husband), I wanted to share recent news with you on his behalf, as it may be a while before some of you would have direct contact with him... I found your e-mail addresses stored in his computer address book. This morning, as he was on his way to work, Mark was in a car accident... He has a broken femur on his right leg and this evening, he went under surgery to have a titanium rod placed into the bone marrow of the broken bone, as the two parts of the bone were quite a bit separated from each other. Mark will be in the hospital for a few days, and will be out of work for several weeks until the broken bone heals to the point where he will be able to resume his normal daily routine. Mark's car, as far as I know, was totaled... the accident was caused by an oncoming car that spun out of control and entered into his lane about half a car's length away from where Mark was... not enough time to stop, he hit the car head on... the driver of the other car was treated and released with the possibility of whiplash... her car was also totaled in the accident. Mark's right leg was on the brake pedal when the impact took place, which caused the steering wheel to collide with Mark's upper leg, which caused the break. Also, Mark could have easily been injured far worse... but it seems that his electronic organizer, which was in his shirt pocket, prevented the steering wheel from also colliding with his ribcage... the electronic organizer, needless to say, was destroyed, but it saved Mark from the possibility of broken ribs, as well as other injuries to his inner organs... Both Mark and I are just thanking God that he is alive and that only his leg was broken... it would have been a terrible Christmas time for me, had I lost Mark... I thank God so much for protecting Mark and allowing him to escape with injuries that were minor in comparison to what could have been. Mark told me that the impact of the collision was so strong, that a cassette tape that was sitting in the tape player was pushed into place and began playing it's songs. Also, his glasses flew off his face, and were later found on the floor... amazingly, Mark called me from the scene of the accident on his cell phone, and his first words to me were "hi Sweetie, how are you??" which struck me as odd, as he had just seen me at home when he left an hour earlier... when I replied with "I'm fine... how are you??" He very calmly said "I think my leg is broken"... needless to say, I couldn't believe how calm he remained through the whole ordeal, and he said there was no pain... he just had a weird sensation that he never felt before, and he couldn't move his leg when he tried to get out of the car. Even the paramedics were amazed that he wasn't screaming in excruciating pain... especially when they got the X-ray's back and saw the extent of the injury. Anyway, if you do not hear from Mark for a while, this is what has happened... I would like to ask if you would keep Mark in your prayers that he would be able to come home for Christmas, and that he would heal quickly and with as little pain as possible... if you would like more information or updates as to how Mark is doing, you can e-mail me , <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, or you can try to call our home. Mark is staying in Glen Oaks Hospital, in Glendale Heights, IL. I know that it would cheer Mark up to hear from friends and help him to get his mind off the frustrations he will be having for a while as he mends his broken leg... I can even print out e-mail on the computer, and bring it to Mark at the hospital, if you wish for me to pass your e-mail along. He was begging me for reading material this afternoon, as daytime television provided little in the way of interesting viewing. Wish I had better news :( Sincerely, Karen Matus (Mark's wife)
