Friends of Tony Update
This page was last updated on October 5
It goes without saying that Tony has a strong support system of family, friends, medical personnel and the paid professional care givers who have been on-hand to assist Tony now that he is a paraplegic and recovering burn patient. However, these past few weeks have been a very trying time for him. While Tony has been making good progress in healing the large and very painful burn wound on his right side, the pressure ulcer (bedsore) condition on his lower back has gotten worse. Tony now has a second bedsore. This deadly combination has required him to be readmitted to the hospital to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of his body. The seriousness of these two bedsores demand that Tony be under a doctor's direct supervision. Tony has gone back to St. Jude's Medical Center this week.
As Tony gets settled in at St. Jude's, one of the most important things that you can do for him is to make contact in some way. A hospital visit isn't the only way to show that you care, but visiting him right now would certainly lift his spirits. In addition, you can also send a card, write an email, call him on the phone, or pass on your message to Tony's family. The most important thing is to let Tony know that you're thinking of him. Please understand that while Tony checks his email regularly and he likes hearing from everyone who writes to him, he doesn't write back that often. If you would like to plan a visit while he's at St. Jude's, the best time should be in the afternoon and evening. Updated visitor information will be available soon.
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St. Jude Medical Center 101 E. Valencia Mesa Drive Fullerton, CA 92835 Harbor Blvd & Bastanchury Rd Tony is NOW in room 211 Call the nurse's station: (714) 992-3000, ext 2531 www.stjudemedicalcenter.org |
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Looking Back, One Year Ago
In retrospect, it was last September that the accident occurred at Fullerton Municipal airport. The three-engine airplane -- a 1986 replica of a 1920s-era Ford Tri-Motor aircraft -- veered off the runway during takeoff and crashed moments later. The pilot and his passenger, Tony Albanese, had taken the plane up on a post-maintenance test flight. Later that day, paying passengers would have been on-board the tri-motor Bushmaster Aircraft 2000 as it was scheduled to take as many as 12 people up into the air with the same pilot at the controls. Strangely, the pilot had filed no flight plan for that day. The National Transportation Safety Board is currently wrapping up their investigation of the incident. Final results will be released soon.The crash occurred in front of hundreds of people who were at the small Orange County airport for the weekend "Airport Day" event.
The crash was captured on videotape and broadcast on local and then National television stations; several newspapers were also on hand to cover the original story, but ended up reporting on Tony's progress when he was then taken to University of California Irvine's (UCI) Medical Center's Burn Intensive Care Unit that afternoon. For a chronological listing of past and ongoing news stories and web logs (blogs), check out the In the News section of the website.
Two of Tony's favorite UCI Burn Intensive Care Unit nurses, Polly Chela and Candy Cooper appear in the picture on the right.
Acknowledgements to Some Other Friends of Tony
It's been nearly a year now since the accident, and there are many friends who continue to do remarkable things for Tony and for his cause. Here are some of their stories.
Like many people who have been following Tony's story, Jim Pixley is a private pilot in Southern California. He flies out of Corona Municipal airport. Jim says that he knows "a ton of pilots and aircraft owners" and that he "initially knew of Tony before the crash," but he had never met him personally. According to Jim, many of his friends knew Tony, and his "heart just melted" when he found out about the accident. Jim said that he "initially got involved due to the tremendous hurt and suffering that Tony and his family must be going through." It seems that each time Jim read about Tony's condition in the latest (Friends of Tony) Update, he would get "quite anxious to share the information with everyone within the Corona airport community." According to Jim, he began to print out the Updates "in BIG letters" and then he would "post them at Bob's Chili and Chow Hall" (AKA the Airport Cafe in Corona). He did this with the hope that his efforts may have helped in some way. Jim is still somewhat surprised that he is doing this for someone he's never met!
Michael Gamboa's visit last month truly raised Tony's spirits. Mike is the President of the Association for Firefighters and Paramedics (AFP), Inc., a nonprofit organization that offers financial assistance for burn victims unable to fend for themselves. Mike said that he was compelled to help Tony after hearing about his accident from Anne Hutton with The Red Cross. Tony and Mike spent a couple of hours getting to know each other, and at the end of his visit, Mike donated $1000 to Tony's fund on behalf of AFP. For more information about Mike's organization, check out the website at: www.afpcares.org.
Tony's Prayer Circle
Many people say that prayer is the most precious gift that can be given to someone.
Tony has been blessed to have so many people offer such gifts, and he will need your prayers even more right now as he begins a new phase of healing. Please let us know if you would like to be part of Tony's Prayer Circle by clicking here and your name will be added to this very special list of friends. By adding your name to Tony's Prayer Circle, you will be sent expedited bulletins in email asking for your help in prayer on any given day that Tony may need it most. We can never thank enough the wonderful friends like the Jessee family, and so many friends from Yorba Linda Friends Church like Stephanie Stiles, Fred Murkle, Corey Taylor and Linda Bushong, who along with the rest of Tony's family are deeply committed to praying that God give Tony the strength to get through this ordeal. In addition, there are many other people like Karl Harder and Suzy Harder Olson who have never met Tony, and who have both been making regular prayer vigils on Tony's behalf since the day of the accident.
Other Ways to Help
- Give blood. As mentioned previously, the hugely successful blood drive that was done last year on Tony's behalf was not a Red Cross drive; it was a UCI Medical Center drive. They are totally separate entities and that's why we tried to distinguish UCI as a blood donation center in itself, especially since Tony is still an outpatient there. In any event, with the recent disaster of hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states, giving blood to any organization either locally or nationally is a worthy cause, and we encourage you to do so if you are able.
- Go visit Tony. Even a short visit is much appreciated. You can send email to the family if you have any questions or need more information.
- Volunteer to be one of Tony's meals-on-wheels team. Help him get the nutrition he needs to heal properly. Check out the favorite foods link.
- Consider a much-needed donation to Tony's recovery fund.
Looking Forward
We have a new feature to the Friends of Tony website – a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list. If you're not familiar with the acronym FAQ, it refers to a list of questions and answers about a specific subject. In this case, it would be about Tony.More Friends of Tony
Quite a few more names have been added to the friends page and to the Friends-of-Tony Update email list. They are:- Candy Cooper, RN
- Mike Gamboa
- Brian Gerdes
- Phil White
- Daniel Wotring
- Stephanie Wotring
- August 7, 2005 Friends Of Tony Update
- June 20, 2005 Friends Of Tony Update
- June 4, 2005 Friends Of Tony Update
- May 20, 2005 Friends Of Tony Update
Thank you,
Steve Albanese
FriendsOfTony.com
Calendar
September 2005
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October 2005
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September 12
Monday
Tony is readmitted to St. Jude Medical Center
September 25
Sunday
The one-year anniversary of the plane crash
Christopher Reeve's 53rd birthday