NPR's Alan Cheuse in Coma After Auto Accident

Alan Cheuse

Author and NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse remains in a coma after having been seriously injured in a car accident as he was driving from the annual conference of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley to Santa Cruz, Calif., last week. He was transported to the hospital with broken ribs and a broken vertebrate in his neck. On Friday, however, he suffered an acute subdural hematoma, had emergency brain surgery, "and is now in an intense and critical recovery period. This will likely be a long period of time," according to the Caring Bridge page Cheuse's family created to share updates about his condition.

In a Monday post titled "Day 3 after the surgery," the family said that Cheuse "was taken off full sedation about 48 hours ago. He's still in a coma but appears very peaceful and as if in a deep sleep that is important for his brain to be able to heal. We are pleased to say that he's had some improvement in his response tests which the nurses conduct every hour and also even in his current state he's been moving his arms and legs on both sides which is good. Also one of the tests they do is lifting his eyelids to see how his eyes react to light. His right eye seems to have gone from a 'sluggish' reaction to tracking the light to 'brisk,' which is an improvement. He is stable and the doctor says that Dad is where he needs to be to have a reasonable chance of recovery. We are still in a critical period. A long road ahead of course but even still we are feeling as good as can be with this morning's report."

On Facebook, Amy Tan wrote: "Prayers for the Living is the latest novel of NPR book commentator Alan Cheuse. And right now Alan needs many of your prayers.... We know there are many friends, colleagues, fans, and NPR listeners who want to join in sending healing thoughts, prayers, and love."

Powered by: Xtenit