The Accident

December 31st 2011 will be a day that started off great but turns into one that will be remembered as a day that changed our lives forever for a different reason.  It was a beautiful New Years Eve day and we decided to spend the day with Darwin and Betty and the VanDyck family. We all had planned to visit the visitors center at the temple and see the exhibit that was leaving with in the next few days. It was the same exhibit Chris and I saw in the Washington DC temple visitor center. It was the ministry of Christ in bronze statues. Even though we had already seen it, we were more than willing to go and experience it again. We spent about an hour and a half there then decided to grab something to eat quickly since I wasn't feeling the best and was starting to get a headache. The plan was to meet at John and Tracie's house before heading up to Rexburg to play at Fat Catz (it is a movie theater, bowling, laser tag, mini golf plus pizza place all rolled up into one building) Well we didn't make it to Tracie's or to Fat Catz. We ended up spending the next few days in the hospital. This is not how we thought we were going to spend the holiday weekend.

After we left the temple Chris, myself and Johnnie went to Burger King to grab something really fast before we headed off to Tracie's. Following Burger King, Chris stopped at a local gas station to grab me some Tylenol to help ward off my headache. I didn't want to be the cause of Chris and I not going to Rexburg or just being miserable while we were up there. While we were stopped I had mentioned to Chris that the car was making a weird sound and it was caused by it being in 4 wheel drive. We rationally thought it would be safe to take it out since our road and most of the roads we had been on were free and clear of ice. This was the mistake that we wish we could take back. 

As we drove to Tracie's house we had just turned on to the main road of her house and from what I have been told Chris started to slip and could not gain control of the car. We were sliding all over the road and the next thing we know, we hit a  F-350 pick up head on at 45 miles per hour. I don't remember any of this but Chris remembers the whole thing. From the accounts of the accident both from Chris and the other car, I guess our car hit the truck and was thrown around again and my side (the passenger side) was struck a second time.  I was unconscious during the whole thing, I hit my head pretty hard on the airbags and then when the truck hit us the second time. Chris was alert and tried to get out of the car but fell as he tried to step out of the car because he had injured his leg. Johnnie, who was in the backseat the whole time was completely fine and we attribute it to not being aware of what was coming for us because he was playing Angry Birds on the phone and didn't tense up. He thought the whole time that we just hit a mailbox. He did mention that he had to duck because the cast iron weather vain I had in the very back of the truck came at him. I think he was protected by more than just ducking at the right time. I know we all were being protected from up above. When the help arrived they had to use the jaws of life to extract me from the crushed car. The EMTs were really worried that I had a head and neck injury and attended to me while another ambulance came and took Johnnie and Chris to the hospital. Chris and Johnnie was first to arrive at the hospital were they were met with John, Tracie and their family and Darwin and Betty. They looked over Johnnie but found nothing to be wrong with him. Chris on the other hand had to go in for some CAT scans and Xrays. This is where they found that Chris' tibia was completely shattered. He had a tibial plateau fracture grade 3.  I came to the hospital 10 minutes after Chris and went right in for CAT scans and MRIs because I still wasn't responding correctly to the questions being ask. Though I was conscious during this time, I have no memory of it at all. I was answering that I still worked at Kingston and didn't know a few more questions. My short-term memory was completely gone.

We spent the next several hours in the emergency room, during which we were given a priesthood blessing that all would be well. After all was done in the emergency room Chris and I headed up to the 3rd floor where we would be spending the next few days. Chris was in one room and I was in another. I at this point was still in and out of consciousness. I really don't remember anything until about 10:30 that night. That is when I woke up in excruciating pain from being on a flat board and having to get my Xrays done again. They all came up negative but I had pains in my tailbone and they suspected that it was fractured. I also had back pain in between my shoulders. It was very painful to sleep on my back.

Chris was in his room talking to his family and was alone after midnight. He was scheduled for surgery the next morning at 9 am but he wasn't actually wheeled in until 11:30.

The Scene of the Accident

You can still see where both vehicles ended up even a few days after the accident. The cops didn't cite anyone. They came to our house a few days later and told us that they even slid as they came to the scene, so how can the give a ticket out when they did the same thing and was going 1/3 the speed.

 The Car

This car really protected us. I am really missing this car.
 This is why I love Nissans and the fact that they are not being of plastic.

All of the airbags went off and gave us the added protection.

The passenger side of the car.
The door had to be tied with twine to keep it closed after the jaws of life tore it open.





 

After Johnnie ducked the weather vain, it flew out the back window
and was found days later at the scene of the accident.



Chris' side looks pretty good considering and I am so grateful it wasn't worse.

Hospital Stay

This was taken right after I was brought into my room.
As you can tell I was still out of it.

Chris as he was first wheeled in his room. We were on the opposite sides of the hall and I was a few doors down.
 But very grateful to be put on the same floor.
  
The Injuries



I took these picture a few days after the accident. They used them as part of the insurance claim.

Chris as he is being wheeled back from surgery.

Chris became the bionic man after surgery.
They put in a titanium plate with 9 screws.

The Dr. all had a good laugh at Chris's expense.
I guess they typically see this injury on osteoporosis prone women, meaning old ladies.
Also, when they were screwing in the screws they had a really hard time, the bone was extremely strong and as they screwed them it the bone and drill would squeak. The Dr's thought it was pretty funny.

One Month After the Accident 

A look at the nasty but cool looking scar he will have for the rest of his life.

After a month of not putting any weight on his injured leg,
it is very noticeable that he has lost all muscle in that leg.

While this accident was horrible, many great things came from it. We have been truly blessed by the love and support of our dear family. Maggie, Ron, Kelle and Gene came up Sunday to get our house ready for our coming home and took care of our animals while we were away. They even went grocery shopping for us. They were such great help. I love them more then you will ever know. Ron and Gene are incredible brother-in-laws and helped in every which way the could. Poor Ron was ran to death helping Chris with his medications and all the little things he did to help our recovery be more smooth. My sisters married incredible people and I am so grateful for them.

Betty and Chris's family stepped in and help after my family left to go back to work and school. Betty bought Chris a giant recliner which has faithfully sat for the past 5 weeks. They have brought us groceries and helped when I wasn't feeling well or when I went back to work. Bruklin has come over a couple of times to keep him company since he has been stuck in the house for so long and done our dishes.

Chris's dad and sister Deet have taken over the chores of the cows. They have fed and strawed them daily. Chris's dad also administered along with John the priesthood blessing we received during the hospital stay.

Our ward has out done themselves. They brought in so much food and made sure we had sacrament brought to us so we could still keep our covenants.

Mom and Dad came up for the weekend and did little stuff around the house that we could not do. Mom even cleaned out my catch all room, that I had been putting off all summer. Dad made sure that it would be easy to get around outside easily by shortening the railing on the deck.

From this accident we have seen a true acts of service from all that have been in our lives. We have always known that people loved and cared for us, but it was amazing to see how many stepped in and helped us out at this time. We have been truly blessed and it took this accident to really see it.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.