Henry has left the building....

Great News! Henry has moved to a new facility, Select Specialty Hospital. Select Specialty is a smaller hospital where he will begin the next phase off his recovery. The hospital is located at 252 West 11th St in Erie. Henry is in room 208, please sign in at the front desk before going up.

Barb has been taking good care of Henry and has seen his leg wound where all th skin grafts were done and says it looks great. His pelvis still has 3 to 4 more weeks of healing. He is starting baby steps with physical therapy to help rebuild his muscles.

All in All this is just miraculous how Henry survived and healing so well. Thank you to everyone for the constant support love and prayers. I hope to meet you all at the Benefit on the 28th.

I just wanted to share something Brenda had posted on her Facebook page! Thanks for being such a good friend and great supporter of Henry his family and friends




Henry Rafferty, a friend of mine who I work with at Johnston's, was hit by a car last week.
He sustained major injuries, and has a long, hard road ahead of him!
Some of you may know him from Union City School, others may know him from work.
He is known as the "Tree Man", or the "Tree Doctor", and others call him "Poncho" (as in the chief)
He is a landscape designer, who taught classes in the past, which I had the pleasure of attending. (and it was for free, he wouldn't take money from any of us at work who took the class )
He mainly works in the Wholesale office, but also helps us out at the Garden Center.
I swear, Henry knows every plant there is (and of course, by the latin name)!

Henry is, first & formost, a family man.
He has a lovely wife, (first year anniversary coming up!) and two beautiful children.
He is active in his church and the community, and is a very important part of the family buisness, you might have heard of it... Johnston's Evergreen Nursery.
He is also a talented guitar player, who has a wonderful singing voice.
He is a poet, an artist', and an all around good guy!
I have grown quite fond of this man, and his family, over the years!

Henry was at Sarah Reeds retirement home looking at a tree for a customer.
A woman lost control of her car, jumped a curb, and hit the tree, pinning Henry, and it to the building.
He will have to undergo many surgeries, and a long, and extensive recovery period.
As you can imagine, his family and friends are exhausted with worry!
Please keep the Rafferty's & Johnston's in your thoughts!
Please pray for Henry!

And also, this may sound absurd, but please pray for the woman who hit him.
From what I understand, the accident was caused by her being angry.
I don't think she did it on purpose, most likely she never even saw Henry. Her anger took over, she lost control, and devastation followed!
I guess if there is anything to be learned from this, it is:
It's ok to be angry, just don't let rage take over!!!!
It can ruin your life, and the lives of many others, a ripple effect of consequences.....

If you don't have is address, and you want to send cards of encouragement to Henry, mail them to the nursery.
His family will make sure he gets them.

Johnston't Evergreen Nursery
9865 Wales Rd.
Erie, Pa. 16510-5427

Love,
-Brenda

..........................................
"UPDATE" August 4th 2010

Henry playing guitar at a work picnic

I look forward to hearing you play again Henry!!!


Henry has had over 12 surgeries now,
on Monday, they took out the wound vacs from his leg & elbow.
(I think those were the tubes they had in for drainage)
His left leg & right elbow were the areas where his skin was de-gloved.
The skin grafts are all done, they took them from his right leg, and hopefully they all take!
He has a stablizing bar connected to his pelvis in the front, so he still can't sit up very much.
(I think his pelvis was broke in four places, and they had to screw plates in the back)
(can you imagine, not just the pain, but having to lay in one position for over a month?)

He still has room on his walls for more cards!!!! So, keep them coming please!
(he says he is not worthy of all the attention, but we know better!!)

His family & friends are having a benefit in his honor;

"Save The Date, August 28th"
go to this website for more details & ticket information.

Henry's Recovery: Benefit
landscaperrecovery.blogspot.com

Henry's brother Dan started this blog site to keep everyone updated on his progress.

Thank you all for your prayers, kindness & support!!
Love,
-Brenda

A Father's Love

The love of a father can be...

quiet, strong, determined and soft.

When his child is hurt, helpless and in pain...

the protector (like that of a bear) comes out to fight. Watch Out!!

Quiet no longer, his strength will carry you with an unyielding determination,

and the soft touch of his big heart will leave you shivering...

Love emerges & shines for all to see!

Let me show you what I mean with just two pictures:

Hank, carving at the Garden Center

This is the Angel Hank carved for his son.

She sits in Henry's room, watching over him.

2 Aug

Henry had another cleaning today that went great and they have removed all the wound vacs from his wounds. They also put his in a special chair and let his sit and look out the window for a while. I know he liked that.

The Benefit

I just wanted to take a minute and thank Brian, Mark, Mike, Troy, Todd, Jamie and their families for all the hard work they are doing for the benefit. They came up with the idea to host this benefit and are scrambling to make it happen.
I'm just the web advertiser and my wife Mechelle does most of that. Anyway, thanks to all of you and thanks for taking such good care of Henry.

1 August

Henry had a good weekend. It was really nice to be there for his best weekend yet. He looks so much better now and his mind is a lot sharper. Henry has never been much of a computer person but Mark and I have asked him to start thinking about using a computer more while he is recovering. We showed him all that has been posted and he is very thankful for all the support.
I look forward to seeing him again in a month, this weekend was too short.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Benefit

We are visiting Henry as I write this Post. He is doing amazing we are so excited to see him talking and eating. Dan and I had not seen him for 1 month and this is awesome. We love Henry very much and are so Happy to see he is healing.

Henry wanted to tell everyone THANKS so much for the love and support. He said he does not feel worthy. but we all know he is very worthy.

Henry will also be making an live Skype appearance at the benefit......more details to come.

Great News we now have a PO Box set up for donations to be sent for Henry's Recovery fund.

Henry Rafferty Benefit
PO Box 505
Union City, PA 16438

Also we are needing any volunteers to help work the benefit, donations for auction and for food. We are expecting to have 800 or more people throughout the day of the benefit. We will need alot of food donated to feed people. Please contact Brian Mark or Mike.

Tickets are available in advance or at the door please contact
Brian 814-440-1528
Mark 814-572-3771
Mike 814- 438-3501