SEATTLE — With so many broken bones that it might be easier to name the ones not broken, motorcyclist Thomas Paxton of Port Angeles remained in a coma Monday in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center.
His collision with a car on state Highway 112 west of Port Angeles on Dec. 3 is one of a coincidental string of tragedies befalling Paxton’s family since early November.
Paxton, 51, was riding his 2008 Yamaha motorcycle on Highway 112 on the way home from his mother’s house in Joyce when a car crossed the centerline and hit him.
His brother, Sam Paxton, said he suffered several fractures to the skull, a shattered eye socket, two broken arms, two shattered wrists, an impacted spine and many other internal injuries.
“The doctor compared his wrist to a glass light bulb that someone stepped on and then ground into the ground,” Sam Paxton said.
Tragedy has plagued his family for a month.
Sam and Thomas Paxton’s stepfather, Lawrence R. “Larry” Glebe, who they called “Dad,” died just last month.
Glebe, 71, was married to their mother, Claudia “Smoky” Glebe, for 30 years before his death Nov. 6.
“He was so good to us — we really loved him a lot,” Sam Paxton said.
Then earlier this month, the family’s longtime pet dog and Claudia’s 27-year-old horse died.
“For my mom, it has just been too much,” Sam Paxton said.
Thomas Paxton, who was wearing a helmet, was driving his motorcycle eastbound on Highway 112 near Nordstrom Road on Dec. 3 when his motorcycle was hit by a westbound 1999 Saturn SL2 driven by Harold Heagy, 40, of Port Angeles, the State Patrol said.
Charges are pending in the case.
While Paxton remains in the intensive care unit, visitors beyond immediate family members are not allowed, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said.
Sam Paxton, who has been appointed his brother’s power of attorney, gets three-times daily updates on his brother’s condition.
Because of hundreds of calls flooding his phone, his mother’s phone and Harborview, Sam Paxton posts regular updates on his brother’s Facebook page.
It is accessible at http://tinyurl.com/2bfjl6h.
“I had so many calls every day, I ended up buying a new phone and I’ll just look at the messages on the other one every once in a while,” he said.
On the day of the motorcycle collision, Thomas Paxton was helping his mother herd her half-dozen or so horses back into the pasture after they escaped onto Piedmont Road.
“He dug a few fence-post holes, and my mother gave him a kiss on the cheek and some money to help him out,” Sam Paxton said.
“Then some guy crosses the centerline and changes our lives forever.”
Sam Paxton said doctors have told him his brother will require about a half-million dollars in surgeries — not to mention the years of therapy to recover from the injuries.
“They said it will be at least a year before he can even use his hands again,” Sam Paxton said.
Because the doctors don’t want Thomas Paxton to become too dependent on the breathing machines, he is taken off of them for a little while every day.
“I went in the other day and he was arching and twisting and panting for breath,” Sam Paxton said.
“You could tell he was in extreme pain.
“I put my hand on his left shoulder — which is basically the only place that isn’t injured — I kissed his forehead above his left eyebrow in the middle of his wounds there and told him that I was taking care of things and to relax and get better.
“And wouldn’t you know: He calmed down right then — even the doctors noticed.”
Sam Paxton said that his brother’s brainwaves are good, but that the doctors are concerned about the pressure in his brain.
Thomas is still undergoing almost daily surgeries.
He was on disability because of a different car wreck in 1980, which was not his fault, his brother said.
Sam is keeping a journal of all the comments people have made and ways they have helped out.
He said that cards for Thomas can be dropped off at Hair Systems West, 1006 W. 12th St., Port Angeles, in care of Ricki Niehaus.
“I would love it if there was a huge amount of get-well and we-love-you cards so when he does come out of his coma, it can be a huge help,” Sam said.
People may also visit Harborview.org and send e-mail to Thomas Paxton in care of the website.
The e-mails are printed out daily and taken to the patient’s room, Gregg-Hanson said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
