I was sitting at the computer working on something…now I can’t even remember what it was. Whatever it was, it was important. The phone rang and I saw that it was Jim.
He was running later than he had been for the end of the day but that’s not unusual when he starts his “real job” during the winter months. When I answered the phone, I expected him to tell me he was held up somewhere and then explain why he was later than usual.
What I didn’t expect was an unfamiliar voice on the other end trying to explain to me who he was and why this foreign voice was using my husband’s phone. I don’t remember his name or who he was with but my brain was able to retain the words, “personal injury accident”. I could hear Jim in the background telling him what to tell me. “Tell her I might be there a couple of days”, he says after I ask the EMT if I should just meet him at the hospital. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I really wasn’t. We’d never dealt with anything like this before. I didn’t know how bad the accident was. In the back of my mind I guess I was thinking no big deal. The EMT was just calling to tell me Jim was going to be even later getting home…silly me. It was 6:23 p.m.
I got off the phone and was still trying to process what had just happened. Now what? Taylor sensed that something was wrong and asked. “Dad was in a car accident”, I said. The tears began. I got up from the computer, grabbed my purse and headed out the door. Nothing felt quite so important at this point except getting to the hospital.
I stopped by Curt and Jamie’s house and picked up Jenna. Jamie was in class but she was leaving and would meet us on the way and we’d drive to the hospital together. Taylor and Callie would ride up with Curt when Callie got home from basketball practice.
It was about 7:15 when we arrived at the emergency room. The ambulance was still there. When I asked about Jim at the window, the gal told me two patients had just arrived but Jim wasn’t either one of them. This doesn’t make sense. The EMT said they were bringing him here. “Well”, the receptionist says, “maybe he just hasn’t arrived yet”. So I went outside to wait. The receptionist follows me out and tells me she thinks she may have found him. He was the one they had named “KK Doe” due to lack of identity – I guess. It doesn’t make sense to me because he had his wallet with him and he was able to tell them his name, etc.
Joyce, the receptionist, tells me he’s having a CT scan. “Please have a seat in the waiting room and someone will be with you soon. If 20 minutes pass and you haven’t heard from anyone, let me know and I’ll try to find out for you what’s going on”.
While I’m waiting, I thought I need to call Jim’s boss and see if he can tell me what’s going on. We have no idea what happened and absolutely no idea what condition he’s in. I find Andy’s phone number and call. No one answers. All we can do is wait – and pray. I know one thing…there were lots of prayers being said between all of us sitting there in that waiting room!
20+ minutes pass and I go ask Joyce if she could find something out for us. She got up and walked through the double doors. No sooner had I gone back over to where the kids were when two familiar faces walk through the ER entrance. Andy’s boss and his wife. It was so good to see them! AND he had information. Not much, but some. Jim and Andy were together in the pickup. The details are fuzzy. Now I know why Andy didn’t answer his phone. By now, it’s nearly 2 hours later than the initial phone call and I still haven’t a clue how Jim is.
Joyce returns with a room number and instructions on how to get to it. But first I’m able to check on Andy. Andy’s daughter was with him. When he saw me, tears began flowing and he says in a quiet voice, “I’m sorry. How’s my friend”? (referring to Jim) “I don’t know, Andy, I haven’t got to see him yet”. I leaned over and kissed his forehead before I left the room to gather the troops. Andy’s daughter was with him and I felt confident that he was in good hands. My heart hurt when I saw how much pain he was in.
We got to Jim’s room just as they were moving him from one bed to the other. All I wanted to do was see what shape he was in and be reassured that he was ok. As I headed in the door, the nurse looks up at me and tells me to leave the room and shut the door. “But I’m his wife”. That didn’t matter to her-they were trying to do their job. How dare she tell me to leave and shut the door! But I did.
I’m finally told I can go in and the nurse who sternly told me to leave is the same one telling me the extent of his injuries. He’s got a broken collar bone (which Taylor can relate to), a pocket of air between his lungs and chest cavity and fluid somewhere. All I see is he’s alive – and in A LOT of pain.
He begins to relive the accident (what he can remember). He remembers the collision and that he was laying on the ground. He remembers that Andy was on the ground too. He remembers getting up and helping Andy off the road and then he remembers being in the ambulance. Neither one of them were wearing their seat belts.
I don’t know the condition of the driver who hit them. I pray he’s no worse than Jim and Andy.
Sitting in a hospital chair trying to be helpful and out of the way is NOT what I intended to be doing tonight. This is clearly an example of just how fast a persons life can change – in a split second!
Jim’s trying to rest through the intense pain but it’s not working so well. I can’t imagine the trauma his body went through on impact. It certainly could have been a different outcome. I know the girls suffered just as much as I did with the unknown. I think this was a wake up call for all of us. Life is so very precious and shouldn’t be taken for granted! Our little family has been so blessed with good health. Who would have known that when we said our goodbyes in the morning that our evening would be so full of emotion and unknowns. Life is fragile. Tonight we experienced how fast it can take a different turn – in a split second.
One last detail to the story that’s worth sharing. Jenna was going to drop something off at a friend’s home after work. The route she would have taken would have taken her through the exact intersection at about the exact time of her dad’s wreck. At the last minute, she changed her mind. God is good!
Wow. So glad he is safe and alive. Much love and many prayers for his recovery. Love you all!
Thanks, Amber! We are also very glad he’s alive. Looking back at the entire experience, it is very reassuring seeing how God was taking care of him through this whole deal. Things could have been so much worse in so many ways! I’m pretty sure we ALL have learned something from this. Love you too!
All my love and patience to you and prayers to Jim on a speedy recovery. Will be thinking of all of you.
Thanks, Karen! He’s resting well right now. We’re planning on being able to leave after 5 today. It’ll be good to be back home.
That is good news to read, saw the picture. Showed it to Doug. Are so glad he is able to be home with his family this evening and still praying for a speedy recovery for Jim. Do let him know we are thinking of him.
Thanks Karen! Looking back over the past series of events that took place since last night, I just can’t believe how very lucky he and Andy were. They were both thrown out of a vehicle and dumped into a usually very busy intersection. At the time this was happening, no traffic was going through the intersection – four lane…end of the day traffic. The bed will feel good tonight!
Sorry to learn about Jim`s accident. Know that our gracious, loving God has His arms around ALL of you. Our love & prayers,
Ross & Judeen
Thanks, Judeen!! I can honestly say that I can feel those prayers have been and continue to be answered the way we hoped! Too many “coincidences” not to be God things. Thank you so much! We will be back home this evening. I’m anxious to take a nap. 🙂
So sorry this happened to you guys. I hope Jim recovers quickly! I’ll be thinking of you often. Thanks for sharing, kind of makes me realize I’ve been taking too much for granted because you just never know…..
Absolutely! You don’t know! Another thing I hope you take from this is to wear your seat belt! Thank you, Doug, for your thoughts and prayers. I have felt them!! The Ag community is a wonderful group of people to have on your side.
Sending prayers for Jim and your whole family from ND!!
Thank you for keeping us in prayer and in your thoughts. I believe the things that have happened have happened for a reason. Now, we have to figure out what that is. Well…other than not having to deal with a more serious outcome!
I enjoy so much following this blog. Never expected to be sharing such news. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.
Sure glad you enjoy visiting my blog! Jim is doing much better today with the pain. I’m sure the meds are doing what they’re supposed to. It’ll be good to get him back home this evening. The healing will now take priority. Take care and make sure you wear your seat belt!
Oh my goodness! That’s awful! Good to hear he’s doing better though. It could have so much worse, but thankfully was not. You are all in our prayers. Not taking life for granted becaues you never no how much longer you have on this earth is one lesson to be learned from this. I, as well as my family, learned this and I learned oh so much more on November 3, 2011 when (and I hope I don’t scare you by this since you drive bus) my brother and I were in a school bus wreck. It is still unknow whether the bus or the driver was at fault, but anyway, we were approaching the dead end of a road and normaly would turn right, but went straight through the dead end because we could not/were not slowed down enough to make the turn. Thankfully there were only 4 kids on the bus at the time. I was hurt the worst, having three compression fractures in my lower back. I ended up not going back to school until it started back up January, only doing half days until February though. It is not all bad though because I have learned many things and look at life in a different way now. I still have pain at times, but in some ways it is a blessing because that pain is a constant reminder of the valuable lesson I learned a little more than a year ago. You will realize the reason for the accident at some point, believe me, it will come.
Oh my gosh, Ethan! You are a miracle! You are so fortunate to already know what sometimes takes a lifetime to figure out! God certainly has a plan for you! Thank you for your words of encouragement. We’re home now so that feels so good. Maybe tonight I can actually get a little bit of sleep. 🙂
Oh my, my heart sank when I first saw this. Thank God he’s alright, for whatever that means right now. He’s able to hug you, smile and recognize pain. Pain is a sign of healing, remember that, pain is a sign we’re alive. So pain is a sign of hope. My prayers are with you and all your family. Take some deep breaths, close your eyes and know God is with you all. Love Dawn
Thanks, Dawn! God is and was and always will be in control! I saw his hands in this experience and it has been a reassurance to me that he’s there and he’s taking care of every detail in our lives. Thanks for the prayers! I’ve felt every one of them.
So very glad that your Jim is ok. Do hope and pray that he has a speedy recovery! Will say a prayer for you too in that you will need strengh to help him get better.
Thanks, Laurie! It’s a very scary thing to have to go through something like that. Even worse when you don’t have any idea what you’ll find once you get to the ER. I really hope we don’t ever have to go through something like that again. God is so good! Thank you for the prayers. I’ve felt every one of them all day. How else can a person keep going with only one hour of sleep? I’ll probably crash hard tomorrow. So, strength is a perfect prayer!
Yes, God is good! We have had terrifying moments like those and are so grateful for the ones that let us return to normal lives. Reminds us to count our blessings!
We have not. This is the first one that has personally affected our immediate family. It also teaches us to give thanks even through the difficult trials! One thing I have realized and am very humbled by are the amount of friends we have. Between the harvesters, the ag world, my blog and here at home…it’s AMAZING and I love them all! Thank you, Sonja, for being one of them!
I am just reading this now. I hope Jim is recovering well. Will be praying for him and the rest of you!
So glad he will be ok! I’ve been the one in a head-on collision before and it is a scary situation! Praying for Jim’s quick recovery and hoping ya’ll are ok during this time!
Nice to hear from you, Ryan! Thanks for the well wishes. He’s doing pretty darn good considering it’s been less than a week since the wreck. It was scary for those of us wondering how he was after being admitted to the hospital. Once we saw him, we could all breath a little easier. Hope your new adventure is going well! Happy Thanksgiving!
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