‘God, just let him wake up.’ Georgia trooper in coma after heat stroke during training
A state trooper in Georgia was hospitalized Friday for a heat stroke he suffered during training, authorities said.
Now he’s reportedly in a coma.
Caleb Terry, who the Burke County Sheriff’s Office referred to as State Trooper T. Caleb, is in intensive care at a Columbus hospital, authorities said in a Facebook post Sunday. He’s been put in a medically-induced coma to stop seizures.
A fever delayed the process of waking him up, according to the post.
“Hold the line GSP #117!” the sheriff’s office said. “We stand with you brother.”
Temperatures in Georgia were at record-breaking highs last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, climbing to 97 degrees in Atlanta on Friday.
Burke County is just south of Augusta on the South Carolina border, where temperatures reached 95 degrees on Friday, according to AccuWeather.
Terry’s wife, Regan Burch, posted an update late Saturday clarifying a neurologist had not seen any seizures on his tests measuring brain activity .
Hospital staff was cleared to “wean Caleb off the sedation” at that time, but Burch said his fever spiked as they did.
Nurses reportedly told her an infection — possibly pneumonia — was starting up.
Burch said they needed his fever to go back down for his heart rate to follow, adding they were also considering removing his ventilator.
“Basically we are waiting for him to tell us when he is ready. Please continue to pray,” she said. “My prayer tonight is that his fever breaks. I told the nurse to look after my hunny bunny and to see that he has a good night.”
Terry’s medical bills will be covered by worker’s compensation, but an account has been set up under “The Caleb Terry Fund” at the Justice Federal Credit Union to help with other expenses, according to a Facebook post from his sister-in-law Sarah Burch Stevens.
Stevens said the hospital is four hours from home and Regan can only stay in ICU with him for certain hours of the day.
Terry’s sister, Christina Michael Terry, said in a Facebook post early Sunday she hopes he wakes up to see all the love and support surrounding him.
“God just let him wake up and come back to me!” she said.
