SEATTLE, WA (April 24, 2006) –Today photojournalist Dean Rutz of The Seattle Times, on his first full day home from hospitalization, dictated an eMail about what happened when he was hit on the head with a fast-moving baseball Thursday. He asked that his mesage be sent to friends and concerned coworkers, and it's reproduced here with his permission:
“I want to express my most sincere appreciation to everyone for their concern, prayers, offers of help and encouragement these past couple of days. I am moved to tears by all the good wishes of all of you. If you don’t think it makes any difference, you need only look at the differences in me Thursday to Saturday.
“From John Boyle (a Times sports reporter) who did everything right in Ferndale, to Ron Judd (a Times sports columnist) who pushed his way into the emergency room, to Rod Mar (a Times photojournalist) and Barry Fitzsimmons (the new director of photography at the Times) and Kari Shaw (from the newspaper's online news staff) who were all there at my bedside, to Karen Ducey (a photojournalist at the Post-Intelligencer) who made the nurses put a cot in my bedroom so she would never have to leave, to all the eMails that flooded my Blackberry – I cannot possibly begin to repay the love and kindness shown by you remarkable people. I hope I can tell you all in person some time soon how much it means to me, and I hope to be able to somehow repay your kindness.
“I know there are some questions as to just what happened. I think I now have a pretty good sense of exactly what happened: On Thursday I was assigned to photograph Ferndale star Jake Locker, the Huskies’ top recruit, and a potential minor league baseball prospect. He was pitching at Ferndale against Anacortes.
“The game had not begun, and Anacortes was taking fielding practice. I wasn’t even the on the field. I was a good 30 feet off the foul line, behind two fences – one a four-foot fence that runs the foul line, and the other that surrounds the Ferndale dugout. I was photographing Locker in the bullpen, and standing with coaches and other pro scouts.
“According to John Mann, the sports editor at the Ferndale newspaper who saw everything, an Anacortes outfielder overthrew third base high and hard. The ball missed the fence, the scouts and coaches, missed Locker, but struck me square in the right temple. According to Mann, I took the full force of the ball, which didn’t bounce off my head but rather went dead stop, and fell to my side. My skull was fractured above my right ear.
“I knew what happened, and I knew instantly I was in trouble. I knew I was going to black out. One of the pro scouts caught me as I fell. Apparently, that’s when I suffered my first seizure.
“I remember laying on the ground, and joking that the circle of people above me looked like the last scene from the Wizard of Oz. I remember asking for a beer. I remember being paralyzed on my right side slightly.
“Fortunately for me, two assistant coaches on the next diamond were a volunteer firefighter and a paramedic, and they were with me quickly. Someone noted blood on my hand and in my ear, and said I needed to go in. I remember the siren, and the paramedics. They asked me my name, day, where I was, and I could answer without hesitation. When he asked me what time it was I glanced at my watch. He laughed and said, ‘you’re not supposed to do that.’”
“They loaded me into the ambulance, and at some point I remember having a violent seizure the medics say lasted three minutes. I remember reaching for the paramedic’s arm hoping to steady myself, and then everything goes black until I wake up in the Intensive Care Unit of St. Joseph’s on a ventilator.
“According to the medics I was struggling with them in the ambulance, and then all of a sudden I stopped breathing. They made a decision to pull over and intubate me. And because I was pulling at the tubes, they decided to shoot me with enough sedative to ‘drop a horse.’”
“Ron Judd arrived in the emergency room shortly after my first CT scan, and describes a frightening scene as doctors tried to stabilize me. He also says an argument between the radiologist and the neurologist took place because the former was certain the CT showed a broken artery in my head. A second scan was authorized, this time infusing me with dye to see if that was the case.
“Thankfully for me, it was not.
“From there it was on to the ICU. Ron says I was in and out of consciousness. I remember waking up and seeing the doctors left, and Ron right, and the ventilator coming out of my throat. About that time Karen showed up, Ron met with her in the hall, and the doctors decided to pull the ventilator. That became complicated when I began vomiting into the tubes. I had a hard time finding enough air to assist in the tube’s removal, and I began to choke. It seemed like quite some time before it was removed.
“The swelling in my head put pressure on my optic nerve, and I could not open my right eye for a very long time.
“Leaving the option open for surgery later, I wasn’t given food or water – just ice chips, which Karen stayed up all night doing. I was off the ventilator, but I had anklets that inflated every five minutes to protect against blood clots. And a blood pressure machine that inflated at the top of every hour. IV’s in both arms, and an EKG on my chest. Rod and Carrie showed up and went into command mode. And of course Ron was just a calming influence of himself. Messages poured in on my Blackberry which if I didn’t read, Karen read to me. The doctor thought it was great I even knew how to use my Blackberry at that point.
“All of these things contributed greatly to taking the fear of the moment away, something I will always be grateful for.
“The second day saw some improvement. The athletic director from Ferndale paid a visit with an autographed ball from Locker. (If he plays football, I intend to tell Tyrone Willingham he owes me for taking one for the team. Should at least get me some Husky gear…). Barry and Rod came in and rescued my car and gear. Ron was there, and so was Karen – with a vanilla milkshake that made me extremely happy. I can never repay her for her kindness.
“My neurosurgeon came in and did an assessment, and said there was some swelling and blood in my brain, but in a quadrant of the brain that could handle it. It was the first I heard that full recovery was possible.
“However, he said there would be considerable pain for some time to come. He banned me from driving for two weeks, and said recovery could take up to eight. Although I suffered two seizures, he believes the risk is minimal because I did not show signs of epileptic seizure. Because I could remember one, and could reach for the paramedic, he thought was a good sign. Even so, he says I need to stay on anti-seizure medicine for six months just to be safe.
“It’s going to be a daunting recovery, but all the well-wishes and offers of help will make it possible.
“I am home now, using a cane to move around. I’m not terribly ambulatory, but I am getting better. I can't hear very well, there's swelling in my jaw that makes hard food intolerable, and still considerable swelling against my eye. I can't be vertical very long, but that I can be vertical at all is pretty freakin' awesome.
“Because of where the injury was sustained, the doctor wants me to use my brain. He said specifically the computer and Blackberry is okay but I’m moving slowly because of the strain.
“But I appreciate everything from everyone. Calls and visitors are wonderful. Don’t feel you have to announce yourself. We’ve left a cookie jar on the front porch to feed the dogs should you arrive. That’ll get you in the front door.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone. It’s going to be okay.
Cheers, Dean
