Injured man's recovery exceeds expectations

After being comatose for 10 days, Dustin Frost woke up to a world of recovery that has been progressing ever since, his father said on Friday.

Frost, the state director for Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., was the most seriously injured in an Aug. 27 boating accident on Flathead Lake that sent five people to the hospital, including Rehberg and the boat's driver, state Sen. Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell.

"When he got out of the coma he was able to talk right away," Rod Frost said in a teleconference from Community Medical Center in Missoula, where Dustin, 27, was moved to Thursday from Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

"He was talking right away and he recognized all of us. He was in a huge state of confusion, which was understandable."

Frost's injury impacted a part of the brain that controls speech and memory and he has some nerve damage on the left side of his face. He is undergoing a three-hour daily regimen of speech, occupational and physical therapy, which is enough to wear him out, his father said.

"He jokes, he kids, he can complete sentences and thoughts. And he's able to read," Rod Frost said, adding that his son's progress has exceeded expectations.

He said Dustin's memory of the days before the accident has been impaired.

"He's forgotten quite a few things," Rod Frost said. "Some things he does remember, some things he doesn't."

Frost said the family has no animosity toward Barkus, who suffered a broken pelvis that required surgery in Seattle.

"I don't believe in lawsuits," Frost said. "I don't have any anger … This was an accident. That's why we have the word in the dictionary. We have accidents."

Frost said the families involved supported each other at the Kalispell hospital. He said Barkus and his wife, Kathy, who also was injured in the crash, visited with the Frost family the night before Dustin left for Missoula.

"They are supporting us and we are supporting them," he said.

Frost had high praise for Dr. Rob Hollis, the Kalispell neurosurgeon who cared for his son, as well as the staff at Kalispell Regional.

He said Hollis refrained from invasive procedures.

"He actually hasn't had any surgeries," Frost said of his son. "The brain swelling never got to the point where they needed to take any corrective action on that."

Frost said he had reservations about moving Dustin to Missoula because of the quality of care he received in Kalispell. He was moved to Missoula primarily because that is where his father, sister and brother-in-law live.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com