Full Blast Engineering

Information may not be reliable

Sorry it took so long to update the website.
Leo is now at home. We converted a main floor room into a bedroom, complete with hospital bed and all.
He had a surgery last week to remove the pins in his left leg/foot and all went well.
The surgery on his knee is planned for early March 2009.
Leo is getting stronger each day and transferring to the wheel chair is getting smoother every try. His legs still have to be in a straight position and one leg is still in a cast. But if all goes well in a couple months he will be able to go to Physical Therapy at the Rehab Center every day to start weight bearing exercises on his legs (after the Snow Flies).
Thanks again for all your thoughts, emails and cards.

Leo is now back in Sioux Falls, Yahoo. He made it back a week ago on a United airline flight from Salt Lake City. It was very exhausting and a long trip, but we are glad to be back home.

Leo is now in the Avera Hospital in Sioux Falls. They are keeping a eye on a infection on his left ankle. The plan is to be here in the hospital for a few more days and then transfer to a Rehab Center.

Keep checking this website for updates and also for information regarding a Benefit Raffle that we will be putting on for Leo. We plan on selling raffle tickets for chance to win a Motorcycle built by Leo.

Good News......Leo's condition is improving. If everything goes according to plan he will be back in Sioux Falls on Friday 10/31.

Once back in Sioux FallsLeo will be staying at a rehab facility for a short time. We will post details on that soon.

We spent some time tonight reading to and catching Leo up on all the emails. Leo wants to thank everyone for all the emails and says tothank you all very much.

Please stay tuned to the website for details on an upcoming "Leo Day" at the shop.

Thanks everyone and please keep sending Leo emails they are truly the highlight of his day.

Leo finally got out of the hospital. His new, temporary home is Aspen Ridge Transitional Rehab in Murray, UT. This was a much needed move for Leo. A month in the hospital was starting to get to him. The transitional center is much more like home. It has carpet in the rooms and home cooked food. The goal here is to get him into and out of his wheel chair on his own. He started with his trainer yesterday. Not sure who long Leo is going to be in this facility probably a couple of weeks. He will than be moved back to Sioux Falls and into a transitional rehab facility there.

Forgive me for waxing so eloquently but I want to give a special thank you to Pam Leos wife. She has not left his bed since he went into the hospital almost a month ago. Spending every day and night with him in his room. Mom you are amazing!!!!

We are still here. They were thinking about letting Leo out to go to a Rehab Facility this weekend, but one of the surgeons saw him on Thursday and wanted to do another surgery on his right foot today.

The surgery is now done, he was in the operating room for about an hour. The surgeon did some "corrections" to his right foot and now that also has a cast on it.

Leo woke up only long enough today to only say " I can't take any more surgeries".

We hope to spend most of the weekend trying to get back on track and hopefully get to the Rehab Center here in Salt Lake early next week.

The progress on Leo is very slow at the best. The right knee surgery on Tuesday still has him in a lot of pain.

The physical therapist tried to puthim in a wheel chair today butsince he can not bend hisknees it was impossible andallLeocould keep yelling was this is Bull **** and we had to put him back in the bed.

Thelast surgery for now will be on Sunday to repair thebones in his feet. The surgeon saidhe will take pieces of bone from his knee anduse this to fuse together the bones in his feet.He will also have a castput on his left legfrom his ankleto below the knee because his foot is bending/growing down instead of up.Wow,we are so glad we are in oneof the USbest hospitals that has access to the top Sports-Orthopedic surgeons, it is all so technical for us. So we put our trust in them.

He has a lot going on next week. The brace on his rightkneewill be adjusted so he can move it at a 40 then60 degree angle. And if he gets his pain under control and no complications from last surgery, he will go to a Rehab center here in Salt Lake for a week or so, it just depends how fast he can learn to move and bend to sit in a wheel chair.

This has taken quitea toll on us and we are both pretty exhausted to say the least for Leo. But there is light at the end of the tunnel since the surgeries will be done on Sunday and he can come home in a couple weeks from now. Yahoo.

A Special Thanks goes out to Shelly Shields (pams boss) she has been exceptional and has showed over the top kindness for Pam to be able to be away from work so long and not have to stress out about her job.

Leo and Pam.
10/10/08The progress on Leo is very slow at the best. The right knee surgery on Tuesday still has him in a lot of pain.The physical therapist tried to puthim in a wheel chair today butsince he can not bend hisknees it was impossible andallLeocould keep yelling was this is Bull **** and we had to put him back in the bed.Thelast surgery for now will be on Sunday to repair thebones in his feet. The surgeon saidhe will take pieces of bone from his knee anduse this to fuse together the bones in his feet.He will also have a castput on his left legfrom his ankleto below the knee because his foot is bending/growing down instead of up.Wow,we are so glad we are in oneof the USbest hospitals that has access to the top Sports-Orthopedic surgeons, it is all so technical for us. So we put our trust in them.He has alot going on next week. The brace on his rightkneewill be adjusted so he can move it at a 40 then60 degree angle. And if he gets his pain under control and no complications from last surgery, he will go to a Rehab center here in Salt Lake for a week or so, it just depends how fast he can learn to move and bend to sit in a wheel chair.This has taken quitea toll on us and we are both pretty exhausted to say the least for Leo. But there is light at the end of the tunnel since the surgeries will be done on Sunday and he can come home in a couple weeks from now. Yahoo.A Special Thanks goes out to Shelly Shields (pams boss) she has been exceptional and has showed over the top kindness for Pam to be able to be away from work so long and not have to stress out about her job.Thanks again to everyone for all your emails, cards, flowers and prayers.Leo and Pam.

Whew another surgery down. Leo was in surgery for about 5 hours. His right knee is taped up with a metal bar on each side with a compass in the middle on both sides.

The surgery went well, and the sports medicine doctor wants to start moving his knee in a couple days so it does not freeze up.

It will be a long night as Leo is way too tolerant to all the drugs they are giving him as he is still in much pain.

He needs to get the swelling down so that they can do the bone reconstruction on his right foot on Friday.

Leo just woke up from a dose of morphine and said he is in a shit load of pain and that catheters are no fun. Nothing knocks this guy out, Leo go to sleep.

The surgery on Leos right knee will be on Tuesday morning (tomorrow), it should be about a 4 hour surgery, repairing tendons and ligaments on both sides of his knee.

The physical therapist had Leo up in his flat bed for 25 minutes. It seemed like hours for him.

We had to have come to the room today 3 of the Life Flight helicopter guys to find Leos veins for another IV, the nurses on the floor could not find his veins he looks like a little pin cushion.

Well we are off for a long night with buzzers beeping and blood pressure machines going all night long.

Family in Garmisch and Munich thanks for your support. Leo is aware of your thoughts and prayers, thank you. Paul is here with Leo, his bigger but younger brother

Last night was a rough night for Leo. We had trouble getting his pain under control and he has had trouble with his breathing. The swelling is getting worse in both legs and feet. The surgeon allowed him to remove his splints for a few hours in hopes to relieve some of the uncomfortable pressure. He is not sleeping much due to the extreme pain.

I am checking Leos email periodically and he really enjoys hearing from friends and family. It takes his mind off what is happing if only for a few moments. So please keep them coming. Thank you so much for all of the support.
Sioux Falls Practical Shooters will have a three gun match on Sunday Oct 5th. Set-up starts at 8:00am and shooting at 10:00am. Expect two stages of Rifle/Pistol, two stages of Shotgun/Pistol and one stage of pistol only. Round count is approximately 100 rds of pistol, 50 of rifle and 50 of shotgun. Match fee is $15.
The match fees from this match will be donated to Leo Hess to help with medical expenses. Leo is one of our shooters and was attempting to set a new land speed record in Bonneville last week when his bike went airborne. Leo has suffered extensive injuries to his legs and will be undergoing a lot of operations in the future. Come out to enjoy the match and in dedication to Leo.

Leos condition has not changed much from the last update. He is still in a lot of pain and is scheduled to have his knee surgery some time early next week. The surgeons have not given an exact time or day.
Yesterday Leo sat up for 30 minutes in his flat bed. Way to go Leo!!

His bandages were removed and replaced for the first time since surgery. They repositioned the stints and the sutures look good.

The best part of Leos day yesterday was getting a sponge bath from a hot little blonde nurse!! We got a couple of laughs!!

Today was along day for Leo. The pain specialist hada lot of trouble getting the high intense pain under control, it appears this extreme type of pain comes with having extensive damage to the nerves in his legs. He has a strong pulse in both legs so that's Great!

The physical therapist came intoday and got him out of bed for the first time and laid him on a Flat Bed (suspends your body with out putting your legs on the ground), Leolasted 13 minutes.

It was a long day and hehad to deal with a lot of pain but his tolerance level is awesome, way to go Leo.

Leo's surgery on Tueday lasted 7 hours. The surgeonplaced a titanium rod on his left leg from the knee to the ankle; andon his right lega metal plate was installed from the knee to the ankle and surgery was also done on this ankle to reconstruct with bolts.He also had surgery on hisright hand and pins were installed at the knuckles. The surgeon was very pleased and positive with the surgery.

There are more surgeries scheduled for next week to rebuild his right knee and rebuild the right foot.

Dear friends and family of Leo Hess,
As many of you know Leo underwent a motorcycle accident at the Bonneville Salt Flats on September 25th
We will use be using this page to update friends and family on Leo's condition. On Leo's right leg, he has a severely sprained knee as well as a compoundfracture tiba/fibea that extended through his ankle. Leo also suffered a compound fracture on his lower left leg tibea/fibea. Fortunately, this did not extend into his ankle or knee. He also suffered a fracture to his index finger on his right hand. Due to the high volume of calls and the affect they was having on Leo's rest, we have had to disconnect the phone in his room.
Until yesterday mid-morning we had not heard any information from the surgeons. After meeting with the team of surgeons, here is what we know: Today at 11 a.m. Leo will go in for the first of many surgeries. First, they will fix the fracture/break in the knuckle on his right hand. The next surgery will concentrate on his shins. There will be a combination of titanium rods and pins put into both shins to repair the compound tib/fib fractures. If all goes well with todays work, the next surgery will be sometime next week. At that time, they will go into his ankle on his right leg and rebuild that area. Next step (about three weeks from now) will be the first of a series of surgeries on his right knee.
We ask that everyone please respect Leo's condition and privacy and be sensitive during this time of healing.
We will post updates to the web site daily.
If you would like to send Leo an email please do so at: leo@fullblastengineering.com
There is an online forum at: www.landracing.com with more information as well.