UPDATE: Judah Campbell, Son of RevivalNow! Founders Wes & Stacey Campbell, Recovering from Surgery after Spinal Injury

Aimee Herd : Oct 14, 2013
Judah Campbell Recovery page

Check back and refresh this page for any new updates on Judah.

LATEST UPDATE-POSTED 10/14/2013-Today is the official Canadian Thanksgiving Monday, and we are so thankful. What a great day yesterday and today have been. As everyone knows, just ten days ago Judah broke his neck and severely injured his spinal cord. The news has gone out far and wide, through the worldwide Rugby community as well as through the HIM network (Harvest International Ministry of Churches – which Wesley and Stacey are a part of) The Bethel Church – “Legacy of Churches”, Kansas City IHOP (International House of Prayer), and scores of networks worldwide. Multitude thousands of community’s worldwide know about this and say that they are praying everywhere. Thank-you all...

After church we went to visit Judah. He was in the best spirits we have seen him in since the accident. Happy, strong, positive, an encouraged! The physio people got Judah up into a special handicapped walker with arm rests and actually had him begin walking down the hallway. What a great victory. Judah can lift his arms. He has no pneumonia and almost all the phlegm is out of his lungs. He can blow into this little apparatus that tests his lung capacity and now he is able to make all the balls move to the top. Everyone is so encouraged with his progress...

Click Here to read the full report from Wesley and Stacey Campbell.

Previous Report: Posted Oct. 13th--We are thankful. Just one week ago right now Judah broke his neck and severely injured his spinal cord. A week ago, Judah could not move anything from the neck down with the exception of the toes of his left foot. The doctors did not give us any hope. All they could say with assurance was that we would have to wait and see. Today one week later, Judah’s recovery is no less than astounding. Thank-you to the hundreds of thousands of you who are telling us that you are praying. It’s working!

Today was the second great day in a row! At 11:00 am a real rugby gentleman came to pay Judah a visit. He was none other than Gareth Rees the one and only Canadian International Rugby Board ‘hall of famer’ (see picture). Gareth flew in from Victoria BC with video clips and well wishes from many of the top leaders, organizers, and players of Canadian Rugby. After a great connection Gareth presented Judah with a Team Canadian international jersey as well as a whole bag of rugby goodies. The message was clear – get well so you can put on the jersey and came to a training and rehabilitation week with the professional players in Victoria. Judah was so encouraged.

After the gifts Gareth asked Judah to show him the improvement. Judah moved his arms and legs with more strength than we have seen since the accident. Then Judah gave greetings to everyone who has been thinking and praying for him (see video).

We were informed that the Surrey Beavers – the team Judah played last Saturday when the accident occurred, held a fundraiser on the weekend and raised $2,100 dollars. The Kelowna Crows raised $2,800 on Thursday night. The Kelowna Firefighters raised $500. Gareth brought news of fundraising events starting to happen everywhere.

This outpouring of love and unity is a tremendous demonstration to everyone of the power of brotherly kindness and it’s ability to change the even the darkest of trials to something in which we can give thanks!

Wednesday 8:00 pm, October 9th – Day 5

Written by Wesley and Stacey Campbell

Greetings to everyone.

Again Judah and all of us want to thank you all for your love and concern. It has now been 4 full days since the accident and we are into Day 5.

So far this has been the most difficult day for Judah. Coming out of the night of the operation Judah developed a severe chest infection. Coupled with the debilitation due to the spinal cord damage it has made his breathing very difficult. Judah cannot cough or clear his chest. Today he was continually struggling to clear his air passages and just have the ability to breathe. He was making low gurgling noises that we have never heard before. It was a full time job to continue to suck off the mucus with the yonker (a saliva sucker). To quote an old adage – we were busier than a one-armed coat hanger.

On top of that, the chest nervous system is not really functioning well and so Judah does not breathe normal. It’s like the chest muscles do not respond to brain command in the same way that his hands do not move when the brain tells them to move. This is an area of concern, and one that must see improvement. We pray that the mucus cold does not turn into pneumonia.

At about 11:00 am one of the doctors who did the surgery came in to check on Judah. He said the operation was a success and went well. They repaired the two broken vertebrae and inserted a titanium implant to repair the shattered disc. In the operation they fused the C-4 (vertebrae) to the C-5 (vertebrae) with metal plates and screws. They were able to operate through the front of the neck as well as the back of the neck in this one operation. This will allow for a solid corridor for the repairing of the spinal cord. Coming out of the operation Judah did not lose any extra mobility and it seems that he is even stronger in some areas.

The heavy stuff was that the doctor said that there is irreparable damage to the spinal cord. Medically speaking there are parts of the spinal cord that are now dead and will not recover. At the same time we do not know the extent of this damage. We do not know how much mobility Judah will recover. So it is a question of how much has been permanently damaged and how much will come back.

The wild card of this problem is that the human body has the ability to compensate and find new ways of doing what it now cannot do. What that means is that the spinal cord can rewrite itself and compensate for it’s own permanent damage. Sooo, it is possible for full recovery to walk, to run, to write, and to live. We just don’t know at this time.

The exciting news was what Judah was able to do after just four days. Both a physiotherapist and a medical doctor, who specializes in physiotherapy, came to examine Judah. They were both extremely encouraged with what they saw. They sat Judah up with help. Then they told him to sit by himself. Judah was able to sit unassisted for some minutes. They placed his feet off the side of bed while he sat. Then they told him to lift his knees like he were marching. Judah was able to lift one leg and then the other in a marching fashion. One, two, three times in a row. To be sure it looked as if Judah were trying to lift a thousand pounds. But with focus and concentration he did it. Honestly, we gasped as we watched this.

His shoulder movements were good, and the arms are responding. He has feeling all over his body. Unfortunately his hands do not respond, and there is no co-ordination of the arms.

Judah is determined and focused. The physiotherapist said, “tell your fingers to move, command them from your brain to your hand. And, even if they do not move . . . you keep saying it. Soon they will move!”

So all in all, it was tough day. But also . . . a day of hope.

The doctors and nurses already love Judah. He is always polite and a total gentleman. He often seems more concerned for them, than he is for himself. Excusing himself for this or that. They even commented on his deep blue eyes.

Thanks to everyone for not coming in today . . . he honestly could not have handled it. We will bring more news tomorrow.

Keep praying, keep loving, and have faith.

Much love, Wesley and Stacey Campbell

EARLIER: (British Columbia)—Wesley and Stacey Campbell are requesting ongoing prayer for the complete healing of their son, Judah, who was seriously injured on Saturday during a game of rugby.

The Campbells sent a message via social media that Judah had “hit his head during a rugby game and broke his neck. His spinal cord is also severely injured, and immediately after the accident he had no ability to move from the neck down,” according to a Charisma News report.

Since that time, Judah has reportedly regained some movement in his toes, ankles and legs, and later in at least one of his arms.

On Tuesday, Judah underwent surgery, which apparently went well according to posts on Stacey’s Facebook page, as well as the Facebook page set up to provide updates on Judah’s recovery. Click here, for Judah Campbell’s Recovery page.

Wednesday morning the following was posted:

Good Morning Everyone,

This is Wednesday Morning, October 9th.

Many have been calling to know how Judah is after the night of the surgery. We are happy to announce that Judah is still good! We have not had an official doctor’s report, and so we are going on nothing but how he feels. Still, it has been 12 hours since the surgery and Judah has as much . . . or slightly more mobility than he had going into the operation. That means nothing bad happened.

He is now laid on the bed in a sitting position, which is good because this will begin to deal with the mucus and phlegm build up.

As I called Alex—Judah’s girlfriend, she said that Judah did have the worst night he has had so far, and that he was hardly able to sleep. It is important today that there be no visitors as Judah needs to rest and get stronger. We are asking that no one drop by today—Wednesday.

We will write an official report from the doctors when we hear it.

But for now, be encouraged . . . it is morning and Judah is good!

Love you all, Wesley and Stacey