So for those of you who haven't heard, my husband Jd was in a very bad ATV accident on Fourth of July. We were up at our family cabin in Forest Lakes which is right outside of Payson at the Rim. It was a freak accident and the quad he was riding somehow rolled in the middle of the dirt road. My brother-in-law Drew, our family friend Joe, and Jd rode down to the restaurant up there to play some pool around 8 at night. They didn't have helmets on because it's just a short ride down a dirt road from the cabin to get there. When they were on their way back an hour later the accident happened out of nowhere. They were only going at the most 20 MPH and neither of the other guys saw what happened because there was nothing in the road. Joe was riding in the lead, then Jd, then Drew who was a little bit back because of the dust from Jd's quad in front of him. When Drew pulled up right in front of the cabin he saw Jd laying on the ground, under the quad, unconscious. He called for Joe who turned around and they were able to get the quad off of him. They got him to the porch where my dad went out to help and called 911. I had just put Asher down about 2 minutes before and I heard the dogs barking and freaking out. I ran out to quiet them down so they wouldn't wake Asher up and saw that everyone was out on the porch. When I walked outside I thought I was sleeping and in a nightmare. Jd was lying on the porch with Drew holding his head so he couldn't move and blood all over his face. At this time he was conscious but didn't know anything that was going on and because of his head injury couldn't remember anything. {Did I mention the quad rolled onto Jd's head?} Yeah it was super serious. His ear had been partial ripped off on the top, his eye was swollen to the size of a baseball and all black and blue, his head on the right side where his other injuries were was completely swollen, and he had road rash all over the side of his face. I couldn't believe that a simple ride down to the local restaurant to play pool would end up with my husband bleeding all over with him not being able to see out of his eye.
When the paramedics arrived and saw his head they immediately decided he had to be air-vacked down to Scottsdale Osborn hospital because the Payson hospital didn't have the big equipment and neurologists the Scottsdale one had. My mom, dad, and I drove down to the valley because there wasn't any room in the helicopter for us. They had to get a special one that was for trauma with a whole trauma team because of his head injury. They ambulance drove him 30 minutes down to Payson airport. Then the helicopter was brought from Globe the Payson where they picked Jd up and then flown down to Scottsdale. When they finally let us see him the doctor informed me he had a sheer tear in his brain which caused swelling and bleeding in his brain, he would be able to stitch up his ear {thank goodness}, and had multiple occipital bone fractures and would probably need eye surgery. All of the fractures were extremely close to his occipital nerve which is what attaches your eye to your brain. My heart sank and I feared the worst. Jd's dad told me that the sheer tear wasn't too bad and most people recover fine from them.
After a little while in the hospital the doctors had to put Jd under with medication and on a breathing machine because his head injury was causing him to fight and try to get up over and over again. He didn't know where he was because of the head injury and just thought people were trying to hold him down. They needed him calm so they could do the CAT scans and the more he moved the worse it could be for his head trauma. He was immediately put into ICU and over the next day they kept doing head scans and watching the swelling and bleeding and were then able to take him off the breathing machine and wake him up.
He started to recovery extremely fast after that. The nurses and doctors couldn't believe that with his accident and all the trauma he had to his head, he was doing so good. He stayed strong and kept getting better and better. His eye doctor even decided that as long as he didn't move too much and none of the fractured bones around his eye moved, he wouldn't need surgery. He was admitted late Wednesday night and was released Saturday afternoon so that he could rest and finish his recovery at home. I am in complete shock still and so grateful that he is young and healthy and was able to come home so soon. We still have a lot of doctor appointments and CAT scans ahead of us over the next month but all his doctors think he should make a full recovery!
Everyday the swelling around his eye keeps going down and the bruising is getting better. Jd has really bad pressure and ringing in his ears because of the swelling in his brain but it should go away soon, it will just take time. I think that's the worst part about the whole thing.....the waiting. I waited for hours in the hospital to find out if he was ok, then to get off the breathing machine, then to get out of the hospital, and now to finish healing. I just wish I could do something the make to it all better. All I can do is pray which is what I have been doing since the second I saw him lying there on the ground hurt. We have such amazing family and friends that have supported us both through this hard time. We can't thank you guys enough for all that you have done. And thank you Lord for saving my husband and Asher's daddy, the accident could have been so much worse. God really does answer prayers and is there in your darkest hour.
