It’s about 5 olclock. Im in room 330 at the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.  My mom called me around 7 this morning to tell me that uncle Kim was out of control.  I immediately jumped out of bed and threw on some cloths. I jumped in a my car and took the 3 minute trip to my mothers.  My uncle Kim is a 57 year man with down syndrome.  He is the kindest man I’ve ever known, and he taught me what it really meant to be compassionate.  My mother has taken care of him for 36 years.  We never had any clue how he would turn out the older he got.  But, we were all dedicated to making sure he had a great life.  When I got to my mothers I raced from my car towards the front door.  I could see her standing by the door on the phone.  As I walked in I could see Kim upstairs.  Mom looked at me and said be careful he is violent today.  So I ran upstairs immediately try to restrain him.  He had been throwing things and trying to hit my mother.  I quickly grabbed him and helped him to the ground.  It’s so hard for me to see him this way.  Kim and I have been like brothers my whole life. For half my life I shared a room with him, and he will always be my best friend.  Kim was screaming as loud as he could.   He had no clue that it was me sitting with him trying to make him feel better.  My heart sank with every punch he threw.   I could see my mother crying downstairs.  She was still on the phone. By this time she was on the phone with 911.  I held him for about 30 minutes until my mom yelled the deputy is here.

When the deputy got there I was relieved and also I thought to myself, what the hell is a deputy going to do?  But none the less I was glad he was there.  My mom pointed to where we were and he started his way up the stairs.  When the deputy walked in I couldn’t believe.  It was a friend from high school.  I said ” Hey Kyle, I think we got a problem here.” He said ” Hey Jeremy, I’m sorry to see you under these circumstances.”  At this point I notice he is putting his taser away.  It was hard to imagine that the situation with uncle Kim had come to this.  The whole time Kim is still screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing punches and kicks.  Kyle Kept asking me what he could do.  I kept saying, I don’t know man.  They went through their normal routine of asking all kinds of questions about his past/medical history/shit like that.   By this time the whole medical parade was there, EMS, Fire Department, Cops, other people I don’t even know.   They kept asking him questions realizing that he was not capable of giving an answer.  Finally they said “we have to get him out of here.” So we proceed to go through one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.  We had to restrain him and carry him to the ambulance.  He is crying and shouting like I’ve never heard anyone shout or cry before.  They asked me to ride with him, with hopes that it would make it better.  But he had no clue who I was.  It’s sad when someone you have known your whole live stares into your eyes and you can see that they don’t know you, and worst yet that they hate you.  The EMS assistant was actually kind of freaked, and said helped me hold his legs down. So I did.  It’s hard to believe this frail old man can be so strong.   Luckily my mother lives about 2 minutes from the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, I could see that medical professionals were ready for us.  We opened the door and they immediately realized this situation was serious.  Kim was kicking and screaming and completely out of his mind.  They rushed him in the ER sort of blindly.  They don’t really know what to do with a man like Kim.   They roll him in and put him in a room and of course it takes about 2 hrs to see a doctor.  The doctor finally comes in and says I’m calling his doctor we don’t know what to do with him.   So by this time Uncle Kim has calmed down and is relaxing.   We are all relived that he is finally out of his so called funk.   We wait in the ER for most of the day and finally they move Kim up to a room.  We we get into the room, kim still feels good.  Having fun and joking around in his own way.  The relief is great at this point.  We are all exhausted from the mornings events.  A little while goes by and we notice Kim is getting aggravated.  Kim fell right back into his hell.  It lasted for another 2 hrs.  They finally gave him some Valium thinking that it would help.  It didn’t.  It was so hard to get him to calm down.

And now….. as I sit here…. waiting for him to lose it again.  I can’t help but think that this is it for the Kim I once knew.  His dementia has taken over.  Im so thankful for being raised with him.  He taught my sister and I  so much.  It was such a gift.  I don’t know what is going to happen from this point on.   Im sure it will get worse.  Im sure it will be hard.  But I will be here as long as I can.  I love my uncle kim….. Im sad it had to end this way.  I just cant talk about it anymore.