Chris was stationed at Ft Bragg North Carolina, with the 307th of the 82nd Airborne Division. I had been up to see him the last week of June 2000; I had towed his car to him and had a short visit. He called home quite frequently and he had called the day before he was leaving to go to France (July 6th) to tell me how broke he was, he had spent most of his paycheck on new uniforms to bring to France. Or so he said…..….. LOL
We talked of how wonderful it was going to be for him to see that part of the world and he was looking forward to the experience and getting his French Air Borne Wings. I told him I would put a little money in his account and that we loved him and of course, a parents last words, to be careful. He was only supposed to be over in France for a couple of weeks. Little did I know that this would be the last time I would hear his voice for months? 

It was Thursday July 13th 2000 that the phone rang, the voice asked to speak to Mr. Lynch, I told them he was out 
of town with work, they said Mrs. Lynch? (I was ready, expecting that this call was a solicitor, oh how I wish it had been.) “This is Captain Korth from the 307th, Chris has been in an accident.” I felt my knees get weak and my stomach churn, but knew it was just a broken leg or something.  “Chris is alive and in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit in Toulouse France.” “Mrs. Lynch, Chris is in a coma.” I barely knew what to say;  I didn't know what questions to ask! I now know that this is the state of shock they talk about. Captain Korth said he would let me settle down a bit and call me back in a little while. I got off the phone and all that kept running through my head was he's alive. I called Frank's work, as I said he was out of town on business and his local office would have to get a hold of him. The next call was a crazy one to my sister, Sandy, I don't remember much of that call, just that I had said Chris is alive but in a coma and I may need money. 

The whole next day the 307th and the U.S. Army were working on getting through the red tape to get me to France. Finally on Saturday July 15th I left home heading to France. Every hour of the flight felt like it was days. I arrived in Toulouse France and was met by three 82nd Airborne Soldiers and two French Airborne Soldiers, they took me right to the hospital to be with Chris. As I walked into Chris’ room I felt my knees give out and weaken from below me, I thought that I was prepared for the worst but nothing could have prepared me for this! His head was swollen so much; it was twice the normal size. He had every imaginable tube and probe hooked up to him. A respirator pumped life into him with a scary rhythm. It was hard to believe that this was my baby! We met with the Professor in charge of Chris and he told me, “we really don't know yet, the good news was he has made it this far.” 

There are many stories of this time in France I can't tell them all but, I feel that I must tell you about the care that he received. I was so worried that he would not receive the best care in France, but instead the opposite was true! They have socialized medicine in France; HMO's and insurance companies do not control them. The nurses and doctors care for patients and the administrators take care of the paperwork!  Chris had two nurses around the clock. My son was bathed twice a day from head to toe and clean-shaven each day. They even requested his favorite after shave so incase he could smell it may comfort him. He had the best medicine that is available! There are conflicts in neurological medicines that do not agree with the treatment of head injuries. I'm not too sure who is right but I will say that the outcome in my son's case seems to prove that, they did what was best for him.  No surgery was performed, he was kept in a drug induced coma, and his brain was monitored with an ICP and allowed to heal naturally. Since this happen in France there were special problems that made it extremely hard to deal with. The first, very few people spoke English; I was continually trying to communicate with doctors, nurses, and the other waiting family members. Speaking in broken sentences of part French, German, Spanish and English! I must have sounded like the United Nations!  Two of Chris’ nurses were going home each night and studying English so they could tell me what the different monitors were and Chris’ daily condition, but most important, talk to Chris in English. One day a nurse had insisted that he was totally unresponsive, she had been asking him to open his hand, but she was asking in FRENCH! The second problem was the fact that I was only allowed 2 hours a day with Chris, 3:30-4:30 and 6:00-7:00. This meant that I spent the other 22 hours wondering and waiting to see him again!  The last I’ll mention was all my family and friends were on the other side of the Earth, and I could only call home to the states once a day because of the time difference and the international calling charges! After I had been in France a week my sister, Sandy, could no longer take the fact that I was alone and flew over to be with me. She kept a book and wrote down all the times, I cussed her out. We are real close, she understood that I needed to vent, and her hugs were always there for me.  We all knew that this was going to be a long recovery process and the whole family took shifts on being a support net for  both Chris and me. 

A couple weeks had gone by and the doctors that at first were unsure weather Chris would survive this accident, became more optimistic. I also saw that he was going to fight to over come it. The day that I realized this was the day that Chris’ chaplain was flown in from Fort Bragg, he came into the room with the captain and myself, and I told Chris “The captain and chaplain are here to see you.” Chris pulled his restrained right arm up and made his hand in the motion to salute! I knew that my son had not lost his military barring and therefore he would be fine!
Chris was in the French hospital for 28 days, he was removed from the respirator after 26 days and he was still considered semi comatose but it was decided he could safely be air lifted out to Germany and hopefully back to the states.  The U.S. Air Force flew in with a med-a-vac plane to take us to US soil, I was so happy to be heading home! On the plane Chris was examined by the nurses and doctor, he at one time raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, my sister and I just looked at one another and said, “he's saying don't worry Mom, it's a snap!” We arrived in Germany; An American Army Neurosurgeon examined him, and quickly reported to me that I shouldn't expect much, Chris would be medically retired and would probably never be the same. (That's the nice way to put it, he told me Chris would most likely be a "vegetable" and would be retired immediately.) I sat with total shock! I still can't believe that he said that to me! He spent 15 minutes with him and doesn't know my son! The next morning we left Germany heading to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC the Army's best medical facility. The flight was on a C141 and hopefully I never have to make a trip like that again! Continued......PAGE 2