On Saturday afternoon, Kent, Tracy and Garrett were going up a steep mountain on the back of a Polaris Ranger with 4 other adults, when the elevated 3rd row bench they were sitting on came loose. They landed on the ground, which was full of boulders. Tracy sustained a minor injury, Garrett landed on Kent and did not get hurt, however [Kent] sustained multiple injuries. Kent was flown to a hospital in Odessa Saturday night, then on to Parkland in Dallas. Kent has 22 broken ribs, (5 broken in 2 places) a lacerated kidney and a complete fracture of his T7 with multiple other vertebrae fractures. He does have some fluid build up in his lungs, so they are waiting for that to clear before they do surgery. He is scheduled for spinal surgery tomorrow, November 8th at Zale Lipshy Hospital. As long as there are no complications, it will be a long recovery, but will work out fine.
He is in good spirits and his lung capacity is increasing. The family asks to check for updates on CaringBridge instead of phone calls. Kent and Tracy thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts.
D Magazine reports that, despite his injuries, Rathbun is staying positive. "Despite the severity of his condition, Kent seems to be in good spirits," D writes. "This morning he said 'Oh my god, I have a big catering event next week,' (Lynae) Fearing says."
Update: Rathbun posted a short video on his Facebook page this afternoon:
