Fiancee Tells Outpouring of Support for Trail Blazer

Well wishers have sent letters, flowers and stuffed animals to the comatose Ramon Ramos of the Portland Trail Blazers, his fiancee said.

Carmen Padial, Ramos’ fiancee, said Tuesday that she and family members visit the Trail Blazer rookie every day and spend hours at his bedside talking to him, playing music and praying for his recovery.

“We’re really thankful for everything everybody has done,” said Padial, a literature student from Puerto Rico. “We’ve felt a lot of warmth.”

Ramos, 22, suffered serious head injuries on Dec. 16 when the car he was driving veered out of control and crashed on Interstate 5 south of Portland.

He has been in a coma at Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital since the accident.

Marcia Williams, a hospital spokeswoman, said physicians believe that Ramos, a Puerto Rico native who played for Seton Hall, will remain comatose for at least several weeks.

Padial called a news conference Tuesday to discuss the situation.

Ramos’ parents have avoided the media since arriving from Puerto Rico shortly after the accident, but his father, Ramon Ramos Sr., was present at the news conference.

“We want to ask everybody to keep praying for Ramon, for his recovery,” Padial said. “And we just really thank everybody who’s been really good to us.”

Padial said she and Ramos’ family were with him on Christmas but “we didn’t even remember it was Christmas Day. It was just like any other day.”

She praised the efforts of the Trail Blazers to help the family.

“They have been very good,” she said. “They have helped us with everything that we needed. . . . If we needed a place to stay, they made it available to us.”

Padial said she has shaped her plans around Ramos’ recovery.

“My future plans are to be here with him until he gets well,” she said. “School is always going to be there.”