One Bad Tumble

After running a 10:00 minute mile (Yes, 10 minutes...that is super fast and long), William was a little tired. He was definitely excited about his accomplishment, talking about it the entire time, smiling from ear to ear, and enjoying his hard earned bottle of Gatorade, but it was a hot day and an entire mile is a long way for a small boy to run. We were walking back to our cars (for there were many of us and many of us drove as well), when we came upon Bampa's car. William asked if he could go with Bampa, and knowing we still had a couple of blocks before we got to the car I had driven, I gave William permission to go with Bampa, along with Mikey and Todd.

I finally got to my car, put the remaining boys in their seats, and headed to my mom's house. As I drove I got behind my sister, taking much notice of her John Mayer sticker. After getting off the freeway and onto the state route that goes into Hurricane, I noticed how many vehicles were going in the same direction as I was. This was actually a weird observation since it was just after 7 PM and there are always a lot of cars that go on that road. It's a 5 lane road with two lanes for each direction and a center turning lane (which personally I think is so much better than those obnoxious cement planters in the middle).

I had just passed my sister (still going the speed limit) and was going up the hill before the Sand Hollow turn-off, where I would be swimming in the morning. The traffic got very heavy, with several cars to the side. I immediately noticed Bampa's car parked in the turning lane with a car behind it. I assumed that there was a fender bender since Bampa's car didn't look damaged. At the same time I looked to the right and on the side of the road was Todd holding William in a blanket and a couple of women by his side. I assumed that William was just a little freaked out from the fender bender and Todd was comforting him.

I pulled off onto the shoulder, and for a split second debated what to do since I had Grant in his car seat behind me. I decided to just leave him there while I went and assessed the situation. Luckily my sister pulled over as well and took care of my boys. I ran back to Todd. One woman was applying pressure to William's head using the flannel blanket the was around William. I pulled the blanket back so I could see my child.

There was William, covered with blood, scalp laceration, crying. I assumed that there must have been some glass that broke and cut his head. I grabbed him from Todd and went into my sensitive mothering role, trying to soothe my baby. The women kept telling me to apply pressure to his wounds, but all I cared about was comforting William, letting him know that I was there and he was safe with me.

A police officer came upon the scene and approached Todd asking him what had happened. Interested myself, I strained to listen as I whispered to my son. I was shocked when I heard Todd utter, "He fell out of the car".

WHAT! I couldn't believe it. It didn't make sense. That couldn't have happened to my child. That couldn't happen here. And there is no way that it could have happened and he look as good as he did - considering the circumstances.

Five minutes before I came upon the scene this is what happened:

They were traveling down the highway at 55 miles per hour, the adults in the front talking with the boys in the back, probably half awake. William was in the seat behind the passenger seat, we found out later from my sister that that particular seat belt did not work properly, but since no one ever sat in the back, we had no clue.

While they were traveling in the left lane, Todd heard the door open, he jumped towards the back seat, thinking that he could hurry close it before anyone was injured, but in horror he watched as he remembered that the car door did not open in the normal back to front fashion, but rather it opened from the front to back. In a split second the wind caused the now unlatched door to fly open wide and William went tumbling out of the car.

Bampa slammed on his brakes as he saw William rolling onto the road. He looked in his rear view mirror to witness William's tumbling come to a stop. Then, miraculously, William jumped up and ran quickly to the right, to get off the road and away from oncoming traffic. Todd jumped out of the car and ran over to William.

Somehow, even though they were in the left lane of traffic, there wasn't a car in the right lane at the time of the accident, and anyone that has driven on that road knows that that in itself is a miracle.

The car that was closest in the right lane was a big motorhome. The man driving pulled off to the side and gave Todd a blanket to put around William. Coming up behind the accident were two ER nurses just getting off shift, as well as a police officer that was also on his way home. They all immediately pulled over and helped William while the police officer started directing traffic.

I just could not believe that William had actually fallen out of the car. I was shocked, but at the same time I felt a huge sense of gratitude.

I knew that the severity of his injuries did not match the severity of the accident. I imagined (it's weird what you think about while dealing with trauma) that when he fell out he was in a big protective ball, similar to the ones hamsters run around in. It just did not make sense. I know there was some Divine Intervention for there is no other way that William could still be alive. If the moment of impact didn't kill him, then he should have been run over by the back tire of the car, if he survived that he should have been hit by another car on the highway. It just does not make any sense unless you have God in the equation. I know that it is only because of God that William was able to survive that accident.

A few minutes after I got to the scene, an ambulance arrived. Todd was totally in doctor mode, I think to help him with the trauma, and went on explaining to the EMTs his assessment of William. I traded cars with LeNae and went to the hospital. The police officer warned me to not try follow right behind the ambulance, but to rather drive safely and just meet them at the ER, which I did. I was obviously still a little frazzled, for I was trying to decide which road was the quickest to the hospital, the freeway or telegraph road through Washington. I choose Washington, totally forgetting that I had to drive through the entire town of Washington...bad choice.

I finally got to the hospital and was running into the ER. Right behind me was my mom and her boyfriend Brian. They had just gotten out of the temple when they got a call from LeNae. Brian told me later that an hour or two before the accident, my mom had said a prayer inwhich she asked for the Lord to protect her family.

I went into the waiting area and told the receptionist that my son was just brought in and I wanted to go to him. The nurse that was there told me to wait and that she would check on him and be back. " But I am his mother!" I exclaimed. I could not understand why I wasn't allowed to go back there right then. Fortunately after just a few short moments, she was back to take me to William's room.

I walked into the room, to find William lying on his back, a neck brace on, softly crying while doctors and nurses worked around him. They had cut off his shirt, his newer "How to Train a Dragon" shirt, but on his feet remained his socks, which had been disintegrated at the toes and heels in the accident. It made my heart ache to see what sort of force William's little feet went up against.

When William fell, it threw his shoes off. This made me even more amazed that he jumped up and got out of the road seeing that William can be very particular and his shoes is one thing that he does stress. Again I was reminded that William had some help from above. I like to imagine that my two recently deceased grandfathers were there and they not only cushioned his fall, but helped swiftly carry William to the side of the road.

I later found out that when LeNae had come upon the scene she too had assumed there was a fender bender, but then she saw William's shoe on the highway and realized that he may have fallen out of the car. I am so grateful for the Lord's tender mercy of not allowing me to see that for I think I would have really freaked out, especially without seeing how good William looked.

Once in the room I went to William's side, assured him that I was there and held his left hand. It was tricky holding his hand, or touching him anywhere for he had open wounds all over his arms and legs.

This is his hand two days later

His head laceration was still open and Todd soon told me that that was only superficial, wasn't a huge concern so it would be taken care of last. They had washed a lot of the blood off of his face and hands, which I was grateful for because while we were at the scene of the accident, he noticed the blood all over his hands and freaked out.

I talked to him, told him stories, anything I could think of to get his mind off of his pain. I couldn't believe how well William was doing, I knew that he was in pain, but he did so good with obeying the doctor's orders and being patient with being poked at and prodded. At one point I told William that they may have to take off his pants to see his body better, this upset him and he said, "I don't want anyone to see my underwear". The things that upset us while we're in these situations can be very bizarre.

William did cry, which was actually more relieving for it showed that his brain was functioning appropriately, but for as banged up as he was, he was super tough, extremely brave, and quite polite. When I was three I was badly kicked in the face by a horse, I was not the same type of patient as William. I had to be put into a straitjacket, tied down while my face was all cut up, and instead of being submissive, I spat on the doctor.

William was taken to get a CT scan. He only winced when he was moved to the other bed, but besides that he would only let out a soft cry whenever the pain was getting too tough. He had no problem going through a weird machine, he followed the orders that came over the loud speaker telling him to breath in and out or to hold his breath. He held my hand the entire time.

Next he had to get X-rays. Some technicians came in and shifted him around x-raying his entire body, section by section. Some of the movements he had to do were painful for him, and it was difficult for I had to leave the room every other minute as they took the next x-ray, but he held strong.

While waiting for the results, a police officer came in. The police officer that was at the scene and that came with us to the hospital had told him about the incident. This particular officer had just gotten off his shift and wanted to stop by for he too had a four year-old son. He then gave William a police badge sticker. William probably doesn't even remember this at all, but I was so touched by the sincerity, concern and love that I felt from these police officers, really great men.

My mom came back and saw William, expressed her love and concern. She couldn't believe how much it brought back the memories of when I was kicked by the horse.

After my mom left, because they only allowed two people back at a time, Brian came back and he and Todd gave William a priesthood blessing.

Then we were waiting for the results. Todd had quickly seen on the x-ray that William had broken the left side of his collar bone. The results came back and the CT scan looked great and the x-rays showed only one break, the collar bone.

The entire time William had been complaining of thirst, which I was pretty thirsty myself and I hadn't just run a mile. Once all the tests were done, I asked for some water for him. He was brought a cup and straw and he drank and drank. After drinking the water, William lied down more relaxed and fell asleep.

I was nervous about Mikey since he had seen William fall out. LeNae had taken him home and so I called to talk to Mikey. I explained to Mikey that William was okay and that he had only broken his collar bone in hopes that Mikey wouldn't be too traumatized. His reply to me was a request that I turn on my camera phone so that he could see William's broken bone, and what they were going to do with it. I will be so surprised if that boy does not become a doctor.

With William sedated and sleeping, the doctor only had one more thing to do, suture his head. Normally they would have the child stay the night, but with Todd's expertise of what to do with William's injuries, the doctor gave us the green light to take him home that night.

It was getting late, and since William was asleep, Todd insisted that I go home with my mom and get some rest, he and William would come once his head was sutured.

I went to my mom's house and talked with LeNae and my mom about it for some time. I would just start crying, tears of gratitude, tears of mourning that my baby was hurt, and probably some tears of exhaustion. By this time my sister Lyndee, whose birthday it happened to be as well, walked into the house with her husband Nathan. So I had more opportunities to talk about the accident, help me get over the trauma.

Finally, around midnight everyone told me to go to bed. I wasn't so sure that I was going to do the race in the morning, but everyone else was pretty sure that I was going to.

LeNae had put my other three boys in a bed together. Even though there wasn't much room, I had to be with them. I went in and found my boys sleeping like puppies, arms around eachother, Grant's head resting on Roger's abdomen. I was so grateful for them as I felt filled with their love. But even though I was surrounded by 3 precious boys, my heart felt as though there was a huge piece of it missing, that there was a string pulling on it. I couldn't sleep without having William back.

Half an hour later Todd got there. William had gotten sutured and 12 staples on his head. Dried blood was all over his head, his face was a little swollen, but he was looking pretty good. Todd carried William in and lied the sleeping child on the guest bed. I lied down next to him and immediately felt sleepy and at peace. I had my baby, that was all that mattered.

Ten minutes later William woke up crying. He was hurting. We moved him a little bit, which was difficult with all his abrasions and broken collar bone, and he went back to sleep. After that he would awaken every ten minutes, needing to be moved. Remembering how sore I have been after some races, I sympathized with him even though I know none of my races ever caused me to be as sore as my boy was. I tried to comfort him the best I could. I still felt helpless.

Stroking the parts of his head that I could without hurting him, I kept thinking about how grateful I was for the Lord's protection and mercy. My son had been saved, this was not something that was my right, nor did I necessarily deserve it, but my baby was going to be okay. Given the circumstances, this should have ended very differently, but I am so grateful that it didn't. I have so much gratitude to the Lord.

I know that my Redeemer lives.