ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 20, 1996 TAG: 9607220065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
DOCTORS SAY Jason Rooker has suffered brain damage, and that his recovery will be a "long, uphill journey."
Jason Rooker's eyes follow people as they walk through his hospital room. He opens and shuts his eyes, and even blinks when his parents ask him to do so. But he remains in a semi-coma, his mother said.
These subtle changes in the 10-year-old boy who accidentally hanged himself five weeks ago Thursday are "almost imperceptible, but not to a mother," Fran Rooker said.
Rooker said Friday was her first time home on Claytor Lake in more than a month. Her husband, Greg, and their two daughters - Jennifer, who will be 16 in two weeks, and 14-year-old Stephanie - will spend this weekend with Jason, just as they do most weeks. Greg Rooker is owner and president of Family Community Newspapers, publisher of the Southwest Virginia Enterprise in Wytheville and other papers.
"I try not to think backwards, and I try not to think forwards," Rooker said. "You just take a couple of hours at a time ... a few minutes at a time."
Jason was moved to Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center in Charlottesville last month. His parents found him hanging by a rope from a backyard tree June 13. He was not breathing and had no pulse. Rooker and her husband performed CPR on their son and partially revived him, but doctors said Jason suffered significant brain damage.
No one will know how much Jason will recover for many months to come, Rooker said, but doctors have told the family it will be a "long, uphill journey."
More than 170 friends and family came to visit Jason when he was in Carilion Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley, and the list is growing at Kluge. Rooker said individuals and churches from all over Southwest Virginia sent hundreds of cards and letters.
"It's shown what wonderful people we have here," Rooker said.
Rooker said she and her family greatly appreciate all the support - and request that people continue to include Jason in their prayers.
"I'm sure they've helped Jason," she said.
Cards should be addressed to: Jason Rooker - inpatient, Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, 2270 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, Va., 22903.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB