Many of you may have heard of him. Others maybe not. Gil is an MMR (with an impressively early member number!) and his Stoney Creek and Western HO layout has been featured in magazines many times over it’s nearly 50 year existence. Like all truly great railroads it is never complete as Gil is always changing things around or adding something new. Gil is a living legend among Model Railroaders and his layout is truly a site to behold for anyone in the Houston area.
Saturday night at about 10:30 Gil had a severe stroke. He was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital in the medical center. Doctors were successful in administering a clot busting drug which broke up the clot. Next he experienced some blood seepage which caused pressure on the brain. He was given plasma to alleviate this condition. Damage appears to be to the left side of the brain. The Sunday 8:00 PM cat scan indicated no further deterioration. His condition was described as critical, but stable.
Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
I just got word of Gil’s condition. I hope all of you do some real hard praying for him and his family. He’s one of the best modeler’s I’ve ever seen and we all owe him a debt of graditude for his talent and the wonderful virtues he has brought to this hobby.
His Stony Creek & Western RR is featured in Volume 19 of the Dream, Plan, Build DVD series in a vintage short put out by Allen Keller a few years ago…chuck
I recieved the following earlier today on a NMRA AP forum that has been formed:
“.…Gil Freitag of Houston TX, suffered a stroke Saturday. Virginia said he recieved stroke medications but his condition was critical until this morning when doctors say he will recover. Well known for his superb modeling and warm personality, Gil has never been a person who sought personal attention. D…uring this critical recovery time, Virginia asked only that we keep Gil in our thoughts and prayers”
Hopefully he will recover as said above! BTW he is MMR #91
I’ve been a long time fan of Gil’s work. His work has been a great source of inspiration for me… To hear that he’s had a stroke is terrible news. I wish him a speedy and full recovery.
As you know, Saturday night, March 6th, around 10:30 p.m., Gilbert had a stroke at the house. An ambulance was there almost immediately ready to take action. We arrived at St. Luke’s Hospital here in Houston Saturday night. The emergency room had been alerted to be ready to run a CT Scan upon his arrival and the stroke team was set in place. After that, since we were within the small window of administering the clot buster IV needed to break up the clot which had caused the stroke, this was quickly administered. A later CT Scan showed that it was successful. It also showed that some blood leakage remains on the left side of his brain and that there was also swelling there causing pressure.
After this morning’s CT scan (Monday), we got an encouraging report from the neurovascular doctor, who is head of the Critical Care Neurology Team there. We were told that although he is definitely not “out of the woods,” he is stable. The doctors are encouraged and feel that he will have a significant recovery.
Due to the stroke, his right side is very weak and the left side is strong. He is unable to speak at this time. We pray that this and control of his right side extremities will come back in due t
I met Gil at a number of NMRA national conventions. I just sat there and listened to him talk. He asked what I was doing there and when I replied that I learned a lot just quietly listening, he laughed and said it was a lesson more people should learn. I told him that a former Chief of mine said" the art of learning is listening" He always had a smile and time for a few words.
The report from Fred is as encouraging as it can get when it comes to stroke. Kudos to the medical team in Houston for having all the pieces in place to administer the clot buster in a timely fashion. Time=Brain, remember that if you are ever faced with this situation, you have 3 hours from attack to get the drug administered. Remarkably few benefit from treatment within this window of time and suffer terrible debilitation as a result. My prayers are with Gil for a timely and full recovery.
I have known Gil for over 20+ years. He has done alot for the railroad community in Houston. Always willing to be open to the public or open his home for a special event. For open house, the minute you walk in he hands you a throttle if available no matter the age! You should see the look on the little kids faces when they are handed a throttle and told to have fun. I would say most modelers would not do this. The best is to get the invitation to operate on the Stoney Creek And Western. These can last for 4 to 5 hours and are always a blast. I remember just my second visit I remarked at his real CTC panel and mentioned my interest in operating, well next thing I now I’m sitting in front of the huge panel and I’m the dispatcher!! We should all learn to be like this and we would have alot more young modelers, to continue this great hobby. I have even over the last couple of years allowed some young Engineers run a train at my open house! I also like to the the expression on the parents face when I hand a throttle to a 5 year old. What can they hurt that I can not fix? (Okay maybe not my $400 Steam engines) We are all praying for his speedy recovery.
Gil is wiggling his toes and moving his right leg up and down. The Doctor had predicted that by day 4-5 the swelling should be going down and we would see improvement, so we are right on track.
Virginia has been encouraged by all of your well wishes and asked that we "keep those prayers going, they areworking."
Fred, that´s good to hear! On the way to the train station to pick up my son, I went into our little church and put up a candle for Gil - my [angel] continue!
Here’s another update on Gil’s condition copied and pasted from his wife Virginia:
Moving forward again (Tuesday, 3/16).
After a postponed feeding tube procedure, we started to get back on track yesterday morning around 10:30am. That procedure went very well but he couldn’t use it until today around 6 pm. About 7am this morning, the tracheostomy team from the OR came to put the trachea in at his bedside in his room. This was about an hour long procedure and again, went very well. The doctors described these two procedures as “uneventful.” It sure is good to see him without that feeding tube in his nose and the ventilator tub down his throat.
All of the doctors who have been in today are pleased with his condition in their areas. They even reported to us that his lungs are clear.
We have been putting copies of the many Well Wishes in a 2’” binder and it is almost full! Visitors who look through them are impressed with how many parts of the country, and even Canada , the emails are coming from. Thanks again for all of the support. We are extremely touched.