Sunday, July 19, 2009

Help for a Friend of Parrots

I try my best to keep my posts fun, entertaining and hopefully educational. This one is a bit tougher to write. Those of you who have attended my parrot training workshops get to see lots of video clips. Many of them feature a good friend of mine named Terry Debrow. I met Terry years ago through a parrot sanctuary called Parrots and People. Terry is good people and over the years I have had the pleasure of getting to know her family well, including her amazing grandson Colton. Colton even did some office work for Good Bird Inc a few summers ago. He has always been a very responsible young man and a support to his family.

I was devastated to hear he is the victim of a great injustice. He recently joined the air force and moved to California to pursue what was for him a dream career of analyzing photos taken by planes.

He was admitted to the VA hospital for routine gall bladder surgery. Apparently a resident was allowed to perform the surgery and nicked his aortic valve. There was attempt to fix it, but follow up was not sufficient. The end result is that Colton has had both of his legs amputated due to lack of blood flow. To top it off there is serious talk of discharge from the military due to his condition. The family is beside themselves. Not only has Colton’s legs been taken away from him, they fear his career will be too. And at this point this young man has been powerless to do anything about his circumstances.

I am sharing this story as I think it is important for people to know what happened to Colton. He is still in ICU and the future is very uncertain for him at this point. I do hope people send some positive energy his way. Here is a link to a news story done by a local television station.

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright 2009

5 comments:

Annie Binns said...

This story is equally horrifying and heartbreaking. Thank you for letting us know about it and if there is anything we can do for this young man or Terry's family, I know your loyal bird-lovin' fans can help. My prayers are with them.

Anonymous said...

Is there an update on Colton's status?

Barbara Heidenreich said...

Yes! Colton has really bounced back from horrible circumstances with a positive attitude. He is also about to become a father! Here is a link to his blog that explains what he has been up to lately. http://www.coltonread.com/coltons-blog.html

shelli said...

what to do? I have a friend that has a green wing macaw and its not friendly it bites its owner who had the bird since baby its now 10 and I am scared to get bit its a big bird and its not scared of me. what to do do I take bird or pass. I have a blue and gold that's great but what to know if this other bird would work and what I would need to do.help please

Barbara Heidenreich said...

please visit my FAQ page for parrot behavior problems. I have tons of resources to help you there ; ) http://www.goodbirdinc.com/parrot-behavior-problems.html