Possum Bourne - RIP

[SteveJ]

RIP Poss.

[Sturmovik]

RIP Possom

Condolences to all his family and friends

[Billzilla]

Errr, guys, you do know that he's not actually deceased yet?
The life support is turned off, and he is not expected to live.
But he's still fighting.

[QIK180]

Whoever you pray to now is the time.

[SteveJ]

Bill
on the previous page someone posted from the Vicrally site, that at 12:37 NZ time, Possum passed away.

[Raynman]

Actually Steve he hasn't passed away yet. The post says he is still with us.

That said his chances are still very slim, and I believe even if he recovers he will not be the same.


It is all really sad

[SteveJ]

For once i'm glad i was wrong.

[BALISTC]

So many people have said he has passed away, but until I hear it from official channels I am not going to believe it...lets hope he pulls through!!

[SteveJ]

ditto

[Spac]

Latest was that they were with him and were not going to release anything more until "his condition changes significantly".

I respect that - while we're interested, his family is at an extrodinarly difficult time right now, and they should be allowed some peace.

[Billzilla]

I suspect that he will not pull through, but if he does then he will not be the same.
Humans are pretty tough to kill in modern times, with modern medicine.
When John Kennedy got shot through the head in Dallas in 1963, a fair chunk of his head was missing. He was still alive when they got him to hospital, but died shortly after.
Chris Iwrin was a very good F1 driver in the 60's, but crashed and smashed the front of his left brain hemisphere in. The doctors replaced the bone with a fibreglass replacement and he lived.
But he lost his sense of smell and was more agro all the time.
Possum may well live, but I doubt very much that he will be the Possum Bourne we knew.

[The Porko]

My thoughts are with his family and friends, hopefully he makes a full recovery. Like most of us have said he well be a great loss to Rally.

[08RUT]

well, if there is a heaven, when we get there, he and Barry Sheene will make it all the better place to be.


we'll miss ya poss

[pp]

Originally posted by Spac
Latest was that they were with him and were not going to release anything more until "his condition changes significantly".

Latest bulletin released today

Bulletin No. 46 | TUESDAY 29TH APRIL 2003 (GMT+12:00)



Location: Dunedin





Peggy and Possum's family remain by Possum's bedside in Dunedin Hospital.


Possum has now been removed from all life support equipment but is getting the best possible care from the hospital staff.


The family continues to take strength from Possum's courage to the end, as well as the messages of support from throughout New Zealand, Australia and around the world.


No further statements will be made until there is a significant change in Possum's condition.

[Andrew Bolt]

[Begin speculation]
It sounds like he has sustained a massive head injury (primary brain injury). This usually results in a lot of brain swelling increasing the pressure within the cranial vault, further compromising the function and viability of other parts of the brain (secondary brain injury).

The manouevres the intensivists were actively engaged in over the last 10 or so days were most likely aimed at reducing the secondary brain injury. It seems as though there was some operation performed to 'reduce pressure on the brain' early in the piece, which may have been aimed at reducing swelling or it may have been for definitive treatment of a bleeding inside the skull. Controlled ventilation, the "drug induced coma" (most likely barbituate) and a variety of other treatments act in various ways to reduce brain activity and swelling.

It sounds like there was an attempt to wean such treatments over the weekend, which resulted in a failure to thrive and re-establishment of full support. Further investigation (scans, etc) revealed that his head injury was very significant indeed and there was little chance of any meaningful recovery despite continuation of full active therapy.
[end speculation]

A result like the chap that Bill described would be a very good outcome. Frontal lobe injury often results in markedly altered behaviour like irritability, labile moods, inappropriate behaviour, lack of dynamism, which thereby results in a multitude of social problems (mainly employment and relationship issues).

It sounds like Possum's injuries are far more grave than this.