Tom Rowley benefit supper has strong attendance

    Last Tuesday, the Imperial Auction Market hosted a benefit supper for Tom Rowley, who was injured in a ranch accident.
    Tom’s wife, Lori, said it was a good turnout. About 200 people attended.
    The people responsible for putting the benefit together were Chase and Jamie Nichols, Dale and Kelli Richardson, Kenny, Barb and Marissa Smith and Marissa Preston, she said.
    Terry and Deb Koehn furnished all the pies and desserts, and Jack and John Maddux provided the beef, said Rowley.
    “We are very grateful for the support and prayers. The proceeds from the benefit will help with medical expenses and the  cost of traveling back and forth to Denver to see Tom’s doctors,” she said.
    The accident happened on March 2 as they were trying to pull a pickup out of the mud in a corn field.
    Rowley said the chain broke and came through the back window of the pickup Tom was in.
    “He just happened to turn to look out the back at the same moment the chain came through, and it struck him in the right eye,” said Rowley.
    Once arriving at Chase County Hospital, he was immediately flown to a Denver hospital and had surgery that evening to repair what they could and stitch the eye shut.         Two doctors, a retina and a cornea specialist, explained to them what they were going to do, said Rowley.
    “On April 4, they performed a cornea transplant, and on April 6, the doctors removed his lens which is located behind the iris,” she explained.
    The trips to and from Denver are to monitor the pressure in the eye and how the healing is progressing, said Rowley.
    “The next three to four months are critical. This is when the body could reject the transplant,” she said.
    Once they pass that time frame successfully, they will perform another surgery to implant an artificial lens.
    “So far, the doctors have been amazed at how well he is healing, so we are feeling pretty positive,”said Rowley.
    She explained that it will be up to a year before the doctors will know how much vision he will have, if any.
    “There’s a lot of unknowns,” she said.
    He was very fortunate he didn’t have a severe head injury or even death, Rowley said.
    “We are just hoping and praying for the best. We are so fortunate to live in such a caring community,” she added.

 

The Imperial Republican

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622 Broadway St

PO Box 727

Imperial, NE 69033