Folsom grad making progress from severe head trauma

"Dad, it's bad. Dad, it's bad." It's a phone call no parent wants to get. Paul Richard listening to his older son, Matthew, telling him about an accident his younger son, Dylan, had. "All he kept saying was 'Dad, it's bad,'" Richard said. Dylan Richard, 18, was a little more than two weeks away from drive-through graduation ceremonies at Folsom High School. Strong and athletic, Dylan was a two-year starter at linebacker for the Bulldog varsity football team and grew up playing in the Jr. Bulldogs youth football program. He has been a Folsom resident since he was 3 years old. Late the night of May 12, Dylan jumped on a long board and went down a steep street in El Dorado Hills. He lost control and fell; the left side of his head hit the black top. That night at UC Davis Medical Center, he had surgery. "He was diagnosed with severe head trauma," Richard said. "Before going into surgery, the doctor told us the injury was life threatening. At that point, we were just hoping they'd save his life." Dylan had the left side of his skull removed to relieve pressure from his swelling brain. Two days later, he had the right side of his skull removed. He was in a coma for three weeks at UC Davis before being moved to Kaiser on Morse Avenue, where he stayed for seven more weeks. On June 22, the family received some good news. "He had made slight movements but hadn't woken up yet," Richard said. "On that Monday, he opened his eyes, looked at me and then looked at the nurse. She said something and walked across the room and he followed her with his eyes, which is called tracking. That changed everything, because we didn't know if we'd ever see that. The nurse went and got the other nurses and they all came in and cheered for him." Dylan was recently moved to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, a world-renowned facility for its work in helping patients rehabilitate from spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Dylan is undergoing intensive therapy. He will have a good day where he makes some progress and then a bad day. There are no answers with brain injuries. "He's got a specialized team and has the same nurses every day," Richard said. "He's undergoing physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and he's got a psychiatrist on top of his neurosurgeon and medical doctors. His schedule is constant and it's all geared toward him. "He will say words here and there and some phrases but speaking is an effort for him so he doesn't do a lot of it. There is no conversation." No matter what his daily or weekly progress is, it's going to be a long road to recovery. "If things go well, he is scheduled to have his skull plates put back in Aug. 27," Richard said. "Just like when we were in the hospital originally and the doctors told us to take it hour by hour, now they're telling us to take it day by day. It's a long process. A year from now, he'll still be recovering from this. Him being so young, brain re-growth can happen so our hopes are high. The highest amount of success with these injuries is from teens and young adults, so we're hoping for the best." Dylan had planned to play football in college, as he had scholarship offers from several schools. The football coaches who had talked to Dylan have continued to show concern. "I have three coaches who get in touch with me regularly to check up on Dylan," Richard said. "Clarke University in Iowa, the coach there told me if Dylan can ever get to college that he still has his scholarship." The outpouring of generosity from friends and people in the Folsom community has been amazing. Richard said for the first 10 weeks, his family didn't have to make a meal. "His mom and I were taking 12-hour shifts with him in the hospital, keeping a 24-hour vigil so someone would be there if he woke up," Richard said. "We didn't have to do anything or worry about anything at home because of the support of friends and people in the community." Dylan's siblings started a GoFundMe page with the initial goal of raising $50,000 for the enormous medical bills, and within a week, that goal was met. Just last week, Kiki's Chicken Place off Iron Point Road in Folsom opened. Owner Santiago Gonzalez, who Richard said he doesn't know, donated all sales of their first day to the Richard family. "It's amazing the support we've received," Richard said. "It's not just the financial support either. We haven't had to do anything except concentrate on Dylan. It's humbling. You don't ever want to be in a situation where you have to accept things and a lot of this is from strangers we don't even know. We just want to thank everyone. "Every day is a gift. Take nothing for granted," he added. Jake Reithmeier and Lucas Springer, two longtime friends of Dylan, were with him when the accident happened. They are pulling for their friend to recover. "I hope he keeps his motivation up," Reithmeier said. "I know he can do this. The very little he can do now, it can turn into something big down the road." Added Springer, "It was tough seeing my buddy in the hospital; seeing someone I love like that was really hard. Dylan has always been the strongest kid I've known and I'm fully confident he will make the best of this situation. We all believe in him." Anyone wishing to make a donation for the enormous medical bills can do so at https://www.gofundme.com/f/dylan039s-medical-treatment-fund.