Paralyzed Bend snowboarder's house ransacked

BEND, Ore. (AP) - Burglars ransacked the Bend home of 14-year-old paralyzed snowboarder Tyler Eklund this weekend while the family was with the teenager at the hospital.

A family friend who was housesitting was away temporarily when the burglars broke in.

"It's just totally torn apart," said Marty Michelson, who's been housesitting and had gone for a daytime run and bike ride with the family dog. "Clothes all over the place, dressers trashed. ... They opened the cupboards, pulled everything out - they went through everything."

Michelson said he couldn't be certain, since it isn't his house, but nothing seemed to be missing.

"I assume they saw all the stuff in the paper and said, 'There's nobody here - let's go see what we can get,' " he said. 

It's a tough blow for the family of Eklund.

He is recuperating in an intensive care unit at a Reno hospital but remains paralyzed from the neck down after falling during a practice run at the USASA Nationals near Lake Tahoe two weeks ago and breaking a vertebra in his neck. 

Eklund is unlikely to regain function of his arms and legs. But he can speak again - so softly that he relies on a clicking sound with his tongue when he needs something.

A ventilator in a surgical incision in his throat keeps him breathing. A feeding tube in his abdomen keeps his body nourished.

"He will ask to walk or stand up, and we tell him, 'No, your injury is pretty severe, you can't do that right now,' " his father, Mike Eklund, told the Bend Bulletin. "Then he'll ask, 'Can I move my arm?' and then he starts crying."

During surgery, two of Eklund's vertebrae were removed, one of which had been pushed into his spinal cord during the accident. The span was bridged by a hipbone graft and two titanium plates.

Dr. Dante Vacca, a neurosurgeon at the Reno hospital, said he does not expect Eklund's condition to improve.

"His prognosis for functional recovery is poor, less than 5 percent that he will gain function in his arms or legs," Vacca said.

His mother, Sue Eklund said, "Right away the doctor told us he'll never breathe on his own, and he'll never move his arms."

The Eklunds own a small janitorial business and said they don't have health insurance, only a medical savings account that they weren't able to put much money in.

They estimate medical bills are running at $30,000 to $40,000 a day. They hope to get care for their son at a facility such as the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Sacramento, Calif.

The Central Oregon community has rallied behind the family, raising thousands for his medical expenses and care.