Summer NOT SO Fun

It was August 5, 2014 and Brent was taking four missionaries home after having a discussion here with a lady and her 3 daughter who were planning on being baptized.  I was outside talking to her when sirens drove by one street away.  There were so many!  Alivia brought me my phone and said, "it's an emergency".  It was my friend in another ward telling me not to be too alarmed, but the "kids had been in a rollover and Raegan's back was hurting and her hand and she said she couldn't breathe very well...."

WHAAAAAAAAT??  All I remember was running down the street towards the sound of the sirens, then realizing I didn't know where I was going and I needed to get Brent home so we could drive up 5th street to the unpaved road and find Raegan.  My mind was racing.  I ran in the house and gathered the kids together and we immediately knelt and said a prayer.  I couldn't help by sob as I begged Heavenly Father to help Raegan and her friends to be okay, especially until we could get to her.  The kids were so worried and Hartman kept saying, "We can't say a prayer because we're not ALL here!"  I said that's why we were praying, for Raegan to be able to be here and be okay.

 It was so scary to get to the scene of the rollover and see the car on it's side and all the kids (7 total) laying in the dirt with paramedics all around them.

 Raegan doesn't like these pictures at all, but I wanted to remember how hard this night was so we all remember to BUCKLE UP.

 We spent HOURS in the emergency room here in Elko waiting for them to take Raegan back for x-rays.  She was the last of the seven kids to get examined.  After waiting hours more, and after releasing 4 of the other friends, they told us we needed to get her to Primary Children's hospital because she had bleeding into her thorax and some crushed vertebrae, which means a broken back.

It was so hard to hear!  She had been in the back seat behind the passenger seat, and had landed with 2 other kids on top of her.  The only kids out of the 7 who were buckled were the driver and his date.  There were two boys in the very back sitting indian style and they had both been ejected from the car and were being life-flighted to Primary's with a punctured lung and bleeding on the brain.

Since the helicopter was full with the two boys, I followed the ambulance to Salt Lake.  I ran home first to pack a bag for me and Raegan.  I woke up Brent and Romney to help me with Raegan's stuff, and the three of us stood in the garage and said a prayer that Raegan would be okay.  We were so scared!  As I started to follow the ambulance to the freeway at about 4am, I realized I hadn't slept for a long time--I was so tired and hoped I could make it all the way.

It turned out to be a fast trip, I have never prayed so hard for so long!  I had to stop for gas, and got to the hospital after the ambulance and went in to see the doctors had already looked at Raegan and had her in an ER room there.  Their prognosis gave me hope!  In Elko they made it sound like Raegan would never dance again, but these doctors said she most likely would not need surgery and would recover in time.

 Still, it was a hard week!  I was so grateful to Garn Christensen and his brother who had been there waiting at the hospital for us to arrive.  Garn gave the most beautiful blessing--he and I both sobbed through the whole thing.  That priesthood blessing gave me so much comfort!  I knew Raegan would be okay.  She was not concious to hear the beautiful words he said, but I'll never forget.

 We were in the hospital for five days, and after wearing an "off the shelf" back brace for the first couple of days, the doctors decided Raegan needed more support and made her a custom brace.  It was fascinating the way he rolled plaster across the front of her, let it dry for 10 minutes, then rolled her onto her stomach and did her back.  He came back the next morning with a hard plastic brace that fit her perfectly.  She had to wear it 24/7 and could only take it off if she was laying flat on the floor.

So many people came to visit, we were so grateful!  I only have pictures of Abby and Katrina and her friends--Raegan was feeling pretty sick the whole time we were at Primarys and didn't feel up to smiling for photos too often so I kept forgetting to snap them.

We got used to Raegan looking like this...shake and all...

We got used to the brace, but Raegan was counting the days until it came off.  There was still a risk of surgery if she had ligament damage, but when the doctor said she would be okay and didn't have to wear the plastic anymore, she was thrilled!

The first day of school, Sophie getting some muscles

 This was months later, but the happy day finally arrived that she was able to take this thing off!  Good riddance, is what she said. What a miracle.

Even though we would never want to re-live this accident, I can't but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for all the blessings we received.  All seven kids are making a full recovery!  Raegan's injuries could have been so much worse, and even sounded worse before she received a blessing and we were told thing were better than they originally thought.  People have rallied around us, and family and friends have shown so much love and support.  I have seen the Lord's hand in our lives every single day since the accident and Raegan and Brent and I have talked many times about how grateful we are that everything turned out as it did.  The Lord has blessed us immeasureably.  We keep saying that he knows those kids need to serve missions and that's why he spared their lives.  They are more committed than ever!

 And one more miracle: back in the spring, I had purchased tickets to Wicked for Brent and I for his birthday.  We were to go to on August 9th.  While we were in the hospital, I wondered how we would attend the play, with Raegan still needing so much care and fresh out of the hospital.  I called the theater, explained our situation, and asked for help.  Miraculously, the theater let us change our non-moveable, non-refundable tickets on the balcony to the only place that still had 3 seats together, in the wheelchair row.  Perfect!  Primary's was so great, and they arranged for me to borrow a wheelchair.  The three of us had a GREAT time at Wicked.  It was a happy end to a hard week.

There was one other hard part of this week.  We woke up at Tami and Scott's house the morning of the 9th after being released from the hospital the night before to hear that Ann had passed away sometime before 3am the night before.  We cried.  I'll post about Ann next.