Shannon Getsit

As most of you already know on February 16th, Adult Star Shannon Getsit was very seriously injured. Shannon was cooking dinner on Monday afternoon when she had an epileptic seizure. The sweater she was wearing caught on fire. Her husband Dave smelled smoke and ran to the kitchen where he got Shannon to the ground and put out the fire. Shannon was medi-vacted to a hospital’s burn center in Allentown Pennsylvania. Shannon has suffered 4th degrees burns over 40% of her body. Dave tells me that right now Shannon is in an induced coma and medically paralyzed. She has a tracheotomy and is on a ventilator. She will be kept in this condition for 20-30 days to give her body a chance to begin recovery. Once Shannon is brought out of the coma the prognosis is that she will spend several months in intensive care and at least a year in physical therapy. Dave was also injured in that he has 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his hands and arms, which he received while saving Shannon.

3-31-04 I talked to Dave today to update you on their situation.

Dave’s burns on his hands and arms are mostly healed. He will be left with scars. Mentally Dave seems to be upbeat, but tells me he is now taking Prozac to help with his stress level. He is also taking medication to sleep and has bouts of high blood pressure. He has a lot of ups and downs but his friends and children as well as Shannon’s progress keep him optimistic.

Financially Dave is keeping his head above water and is able to pay the house bills because of the generous support of both the amateur and professional sides of the adult industry. He wants to make sure I tell everyone Thank you for that. Shannon and Dave were doing fine with their income before this tragedy. Shannon worked as an adult actress and Dave did her camera work and ran her site ShannonGetsit.com. Unfortunately that income is gone.

Dave says it is hard for him to get out of bed in the morning but he has to. He has to keep up the house. Things like vacuuming, taking care of the cats and grocery shopping feel strange to do, because Shannon always took care of those. Dave says now that he knows Shannon will be coming back he has to keep up with everything because he wants Shannon to have a great place to come back to.

Dave’s day consists of getting up in the morning, taking care of chores around the house and then driving one and a half hours to the hospital to see Shannon. Many days Dave sits at the hospital on pins and needles while Shannon is in the operating room. She’s had 12 major surgeries so far. Dave leaves the hospital around 6 or 7 pm and drives home. He calls the hospital at 8:30 and midnight to check on Shannon. Then he goes to sleep. He wakes up the next day and starts it all over again. I tell Dave that he is such a strong positive person. He answers, “ Cindi, I don’t really have any other option.”

Dave says that Shannon is the strong one. During her first week in the hospital a severe infection ravished her body and the doctors didn’t expect her to make it. But she pulled through. And now six weeks later that infection is still there but under control.

Shannon has been in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator since she was first injured. Recently the doctors began weaning her off the heavy medications and on March 23rd she started to wake up. She is also starting to breath on her own for a few minutes at a time. Although she is still medicated and cannot speak, when Shannon wakes up for a minute or two she does understand what is going on around her. She can blink her eyes when asked. She holds Dave’s hand. She recognizes her family and she can shake her head yes or no when asked if she is in pain.

Shannon doesn’t yet understand the gravity of her injuries. The bandages have been removed from the right side of her face. I asked Dave how she looked. He said “Truthfully, it looks pretty bad, but I love Shannon for the beauty on the inside. And the fact that I am going to get to have her back with me is all that matters.” Dave tells me that he is very fearful of what Shannon’s mental state is going to be when she is finally fully awake. She was very proud of her girl next-door looks and her natural breasts. Tragically her face is damaged and she has had to have a double mastectomy.

Dave has a lot of confidence in Shannon’s plastic surgeons. Although it will take a long time, the doctors think they can get Shannon almost back to what she used to look like. Dave says he doesn’t care what Shannon looks like, she’s getting a little better everyday and that’s all he can ask for right now.

To keep up on Shannon’s condition and for information on how you can help, go to HelpShannon.net

Edited by - Asmodeus on Apr 3 2004

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