Granville weightlifter through first surgery.

A Granville man critically injured in a weightlifting accident Monday has successfully undergone a five-hour surgery to begin reconstructing his face, completing yet another small step on his journey toward recovery, his father said Thursday.

Chris Harmon, 20, dropped a 250-pound weight on his face Monday while on an incline press at the Advantage Club in Newark, where he had just broken his previous bench press record of more than 430 pounds.

The weight slipped from his hands and destroyed his cheekbones, nose and jaw, severing two arteries and resulting in a large amount of blood loss. Harmon faces several reconstructive surgeries in forthcoming days, his father said, but on Thursday afternoon had pulled through the first of those.

"He made it through five hours of surgery, and he's doing great. So now he's got to recover," Scott said.

Chris remains in critical but stable condition and on life support, and has not been conscious since the time of the accident, Scott said. Thursday's surgery had been delayed twice because of fluid filling his lungs.

And though he knows the road is long and the situation dire, Scott -- running on precious little sleep since Monday -- remains optimistic.

"We're not out of the woods yet, but we've gone through some serious, serious issues and we've pulled through," he said Thursday.

Thursday's surgery involved rebuilding Chris' right eye socket, the right side of his skull, jaw and both cheek bones. There is a high danger of infection, and Chris' face will continue to swell for the next few days before it begins to get better, Scott said.

The family is discouraging visitation at this point because of the high risk of infection and fragility of Chris' condition; however, a flood of support and prayers continues to come in through phone calls, e-mails and a Facebook page named "Pray for Chris Harmon," whose members reached nearly 2,000 Thursday afternoon.

A trust fund in Chris' name has been set up and is available at any Chase Bank to help with medical expenses.

1 comment:

  1. Kid is walking again, so things are looking a lot better.

    http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20100305/NEWS01/3050308/1002/Injured-weightlifter-takes-his-first-steps

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