Posted on Tue, Jun. 22,
2004
Newlywed coma patient making slow,
steady progress
3
WEEKS AFTER CRASH, CONDITION UPGRADED TO
STABLE
By
Chuck Carroll
Mercury
News
Josh Berendes has spent the past three
weeks at the bedside of his 20-year-old
bride, Tara Berendes, watching her gradual,
dogged fight to emerge from a coma she sank
into 10 days after the South Bay natives
were wed in Monte Sereno.
Last week, 23-year-old Josh Berendes
flashed on an idea that might speed her
recovery from injuries suffered in a fiery
highway crash June 1: He suggested to the
staff at University Hospital in Salt Lake
City that they tune the TV in to baseball
games whenever possible. If anything will
get her up and out of bed, he joked, it
would be her desire to shut off the TV.
Although Tara Berendes' condition is
anything but funny, her deeply religious
husband and family continue to use humor, a
determinedly sunny attitude and prayer to
help them cope with the struggle that has
enveloped them.
Josh and Tara (Eichinger) Berendes, both
grew up in the South Bay and fell in love
while involved in activities at the Calvary
Baptist Church in Los Gatos. They were
driving through Utah on Interstate 15 toward
their new home in Colorado with a car full
of wedding presents when another vehicle
traveling in the opposite direction crossed
over the median and crashed into them
head-on.
Tara Berendes suffered severe brain
injuries, internal bleeding and major burns
on her face before a Samaritan pushed a
burning vehicle off their vehicle, probably
saving her life. Josh Berendes is recovering
nicely from a broken clavicle and hand-bone
fractures.
The couple's loved ones' positive
attitude appears to have been rewarded in
recent days, according to accounts of her
progress, posted daily on www.tarajosh.com.
Tara Berendes is reportedly doing well today
following surgery Monday to repair a torn
diaphragm.
On Sunday, the families received some of
the best news so far. Berendes was upgraded
from critical condition to stable. She was
moved to another unit, where specialists are
able to work more intensively to bring her
around.
She remains on a respirator for now and
is unable to speak. Doctors don't know how
much Berendes is aware of, but there is
reason to hope because progress has been
steady, if slow.
Her pupils respond to light. Sometimes
Berendes opens her eyes for hours at a time,
and sometimes she is able to track objects
in her field of vision. When her care-givers
squeeze her shoulder to test for a pain
response, she sometimes moves her hand to
her shoulder.
Josh Berendes and other family members
are beginning to plan for the couple's
post-hospital life. Recently they began to
check out some transitional facilities that
provide therapy for coma patients who don't
need to be in the hospital treatments but
aren't yet ready for rehabilitation.
Today is the couple's one-month wedding
anniversary.
Josh and Tara
Berendes have no health insurance and
face a mountain of medical bills. Anyone
who interested in helping out is asked
to send checks payable to:
Tara
Eichinger-Berendes Recovery Fund
c/o
Wells Fargo Bank
299 South Main Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84111.
Contact Chuck
Carroll at ccarroll@mercurynews.com
or (408) 920-5206.
