Injured Shepard remains serious

Sprint car driver Jeff Shepard, 37, of Upperco, Md., remains in serious but stable condition at the Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, car owner John Zemaitis said Wednesday.

Shepard suffered a serious head injury in a crash during the B-main at the Knoxville Nationals last Thursday night. Shepard's car flipped after climbing the wheel of another car. His car hit the fence and then was struck by oncoming cars.

"The last three CAT scans have been identical," Zemaitis said. "The brain is not bleeding anymore." "Except for the head injury, there is a bruise on his shoulder; he's not all banged up," Zemaitis said. "No bones broken, no injury to his back. There's a lot of hope when things clear up in the brain."

Shepard had been showing signs of improvement, but had a setback on Sunday when doctors discovered he had an infection. He has improved again since the doctors began treating the infection, Zemaitis said.

Shepard receives physical and massage therapy. Zemaitis said a speech therapist worked with him Wednesday and Shepard responded correctly to commands and questions by giving thumbs up or thumbs down.

"He gets exhausted quick," Zemaitis said.

John and his wife, PeeWee, along with the Shepard family are staying with friends in Des Moines.

"They're saying he could require therapy down the road or kind of snap out of it and recover in a short period of time," Zemaitis said. "Everybody is different and there is no way to determine what level he may come out of this."

"He was in great physical condition," Zemaitis said. "That's a real plus for him. It's uncertain what kind of challenges he has ahead of him."

The Shepard family has been providing nightly updates on his condition via the Steve King Foundation Web site. Well wishes may be sent to the Web site or to Shepard's Service Center, P.O. Box 830, Finksburg, Md., 21048.

Shepard won five features this season aboard the Zemco Speed Equipment sprinter.

http://www.pennlive.com/motorsports/index.ssf?/base/sports/1218676211288120.xml&coll=1

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

I will keep praying and hoping for a quick recovery! Get Well soon Jeff!!!

Hope you get better and recover soon Jeff. Get well Jeff and keep getting better. Thanks for the updates, 7a sprinter. Jeff is a terrific guy and great racer.

Get well Jeff!

It was amazing how many people were wearing Jeff Shepard shirts last night at the Grove. It seemed like every third person was wearing one. I even saw some shirts of Shepard in the Ron Pack No. 4A car, and I had not seen one of them in years.

I was kinda surprised the Grove didn't send the 410 drivers through the stands last night to collect for Shepard, especially with it being triple 20s and a big crowd on hand. Since time trials were run last night, fast timer Todd Shaffer was interviewed following his quick time. Shaffer used much of his interview time to talk about Shepard and the long road he has ahead of him. Many of the Sprint Car teams had containers along the fence in the infield for fans to make donation to Shepard. That was one of the things Shaffer talked about in his interview.

Even though Fred Rahmer is the most polarizing driver in PA, his Victory Lane interview following the first 20-lap feature last night was complete class. Rahmer sounded like he was starting to get choked up as he talked about Shepard and what a horrible situation it is for Shepard's family for him to get hurt so far from home.

Thanks for passing that along singlefile. Whenever I drive to the Grove or Lincoln, I stop at a little BBQ stand on MD 30, just south of Jeff's hometown, & chat with the folks workin' there about  Jeff's recent racing. ...not lookin' forward to that stop today. He's our guy in MD.

Get Well Jeff

yw

Any recent updates on Jeff's condition?

is there a site set up to help jeff and his family?

Many have asked how they can best contribute to Jeff's recovery. The Steve King Foundation is collecting donations and passing them along to the family. By doing this through the foundation, your contributions are tax deductible. There are two ways to contribute:

1. Donate online by going to the
www.SteveKingFoundation.org and clicking the donate button

2. Mailing a check to:
Steve King Foundation
24583 NW 208 Rd
Jetmore, KS 67854
Please put "Jeff Shepard" in the memo line to ensure properly processing of your contribution. Thank you.

Crash made cover of AARN...

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com