A Heart At Peace - Part 3

So…here we are kneeling at the foot of the bed, praying for our son. Not knowing what was happening, but praying. Sometimes, that’s all you can do at a time like this, not knowing the future, but feeling it’s going to be mixed with fear, pain, and questions. Lots of questions! God, why did this happen? God, why didn’t You stop it? Suspended between life and death!

The sound of emergency vehicles started a chaotic chain of events. We knew it had to do with our son, but just how bad will it be? Throwing on some clothes, there was a knock at the door, a policeman was waiting for us to take us to the hospital. Being such a small town, everybody knew everybody, so we knew the policeman and his face told us to prepare ourselves. No words were needed for a few moments.

Then he told us all he knew. The ambulance was transporting our son to the hospital and we needed to get there soon! He filled us in on Jason falling off the bridge and was told his injuries were very serious. Arriving at the hospital, we walked through the halls of the emergency wing finding both sides of the hallways were lined with kids, parents, former coaches and players, really the whole town I guess. News travels fast in a small town. We found our son on a gurney, trying to get up! Surrounded by doctors, nurses, and paramedics, we could barely see him but could tell he was fighting them to get up.

After it seemed like a long period of time, with countless tests, the doctor told us he did not think it was too bad, a concussion, and an eye injury. However, he thought they should medi-flight him to a large hospital in Oklahoma City, 2½hours away. Having to go by car, we had to leave while they waited for the helicopter. It was so hard leaving him in that condition.

When we arrived at the Baptist Hospital in OKC, Jason was already in an MRI test, along with other xrays, etc. We found out later that during the flight to the hospital, his brain started swelling! He had slipped into a coma, and the doctor was not sure that he would even live!

The injuries were more intense than we had been told in Hobart! They did their best for a small-town hospital, but I’m so thankful that they decided to medi-flight him.

Hearing his injuries sent us to our knees! A “closed-fracture” head injury, crushing a third of his skull into his brain. A splintered bone fragment damaging the optic nerve to his right eye. Later, tests would reveal blindness in that eye. His heart shifted on impact, with broken ribs (one piercing through one of his lungs and a broken collar bone!

We are left with a decision. Doctors would go in and try to pull some of the crushed skull away from the brain in order to give it more room to swell. (Too much swelling would cause instant death!) Or…no surgery and wait and see if the brain will settle down with some meds to help reduce further swelling. However, either way, he could easily die during the dangerous surgery or from continued swelling.

It was a miracle how news got out about the accident. After much prayer, by people from all over the world through prayer chains, we felt that surgery was the answer. Several grueling hours of waiting – surgery finally over. He’s still alive. Several hours of recovery – still alive, but in a deep coma, with little hope of him coming out!

You may be wondering about the shifted heart, and the hole in his lung? We later learned that the doctors put that aside thinking he wasn’t going to live anyway! But God………! The heart ended up perfectly fine, and the lung? Well, it no longer had a hole! But God, yes indeed!

Stay with me. Come back next week and find out the conclusion of this miracle story! It’s gonna get really good!