A Year Ago Today

I was in the hospital.

March 21st one year ago, Jeremy and I were in our roll over car accident.

Let me start off by saying how incredibly blessed he and I are to be alive today with no lasting injuries--minus a few scars. This less than ideal situation has turned into such a blessing in our lives and answered so many things that we were unsure of at the time.

So to start the records straight, here's what happened:

I was attending NAU up in Flagstaff and was down in the valley for Spring Break. That Sunday, the last day of Spring Break, Jeremy and I had planned to drive down to Tucson, attend the church of my childhood pastor who was going to marry us, meet with him for lunch and discuss some last-minute details (since the wedding was only two months and a day away), and then drive me back up to Flag and then Jeremy back home for work the next morning. Insane, I know. 

First blessing: that the accident happened where it did--just within the perimeters for us to be taken to Maricopy Medical Center instead of somewhere in Casa Grande--as opposed to on the road on the way to Flag or down in Tucson.

He and I had left my parents house around eight and were at Riggs Road and the I-10 South by about eight-thirty when it happened. Our back left tire blew. (SIDE NOTE: Please, please, please always check your tires before a big trip! The tread on ours had separated, which had caused it to blow. Ironically enough, he and I had done a thorough check of the vehicle the day before.) But God knew better.

Back track for a moment: about ten maybe fifteen seconds max before our tire had blown, I was bending down to grab my something out of my purse which had been at my feet. However, every time I would bend forward, my seatbelt would lock. Obnoxious. So, foolishly, I unbuckled it. However, when I sat back up and went to buckle myself in again, the seatbelt locked and wouldn't move past my shoulder. 

That's where things got a little crazy. 

I turned to Jeremy and was like, "Sweetheart, what in the world. I can't get my seatbelt back." But when I looked at him I realized that he was feeling his car door, then he leaned over to feel my door to try to see which side the shaking was coming from--I found out later that he could feel the car start to shake from (unknown at the time) the tire that was about to blow. I, on the other hand, was too preoccupied with my obnoxious seatbelt to notice. Then it all happened. 

Our back left tire blew causing the car to swerve--we were driving a 1994 Toyota 4Runner, complete with a sunroof. Thankfully, since it was early on a Sunday morning, very few cars were out so we didn't collide with anyone. So we headed for the median, me, still without my seatbelt, and Jeremy, doing everything in his power to control the car. (I had someone ask me months later if I ever blamed Jeremy for what happened. To be honest, the thought never even crossed my mind. I knew that God was in complete control of that car and all that happened before and after it.) We started down the median and, thank God, that's where I blacked out. 

What happened from there:

Our car rolled most likely two times--different accounts from the witnesses. I was ejected out of the sunroof, which had been closed thankfully, and landed in the middle of the two lanes of northbound traffic (Jeremy and I had originally been heading southbound). 

List of miracles/blessings:

-The car did not roll on top of me when I was ejected.

-Two of the first people on scene were a retired firefighter and a nurse. They knew just what to do.

-Jeremy still had his seatbelt on and, thank you God, his worst injuries were some pressure wounds to his right arm--he had tried to keep me in since he knew I wasn't buckled any longer. We think the car rolled on his arm.

-My husband, who is so gifted with his hands--something I find so admirable and attractive in him, still has full control of all of his fingers and appendages. 

-The sunroof had been closed so when I did bust through it, I hit the cloth part before the actual glass.

-We collided with no one.

-I wasn't hit or run over or the cause of any other accidents when I landed in the middle of oncoming traffic.

-I blacked out right away which has prevented me from remembering the worst of things, also preventing nightmares for me.

-We were just within boundaries to be taken to a Phoenix hospital instead of one closer to Tucson.

-My husband was alive. When he took me to see the car weeks after the accident, it looked like he should have been the one in the halo.

-The gas tank did not explode. It sounds dramatic, but it's one of those things that so easily could have happened.

-My mom, for most likely the first time ever, had left her phone on before church started (which was nine o'clock that day), allowing her to quickly receive Jeremy's call and come to the scene.

-I had no internal bleeding, brain damage, or paralysis. 

-My face was completely untouched. This was such a blessing for a bride-to-be.

-I got the halo off more than a month earlier than normal and was able to be halo-free for our wedding.

The list goes on and on but concerning the accident itself, those are some of the main ones. 

Here were our injuries:

I fractured my cervical 5 and 6; thoracic 4, 5, and 6; right coracoid process; dislocated my left hip; fractured my right metatarsals; and had some pretty nasty road rash. 

So basically I fractured the bottom of my neck bones, top of my back, right shoulder, right foot and dislocated my left hip. Thankfully I don't remember the hip or the shoulder. Yet another blessing. 

My husband had some road rash, pressure wounds to his arm, and scars. I thank God that that was all.

They put me in a halo--one of those things Regina wears at the end of Mean Girls when she gets hit by a bus, as well as a boot and a sling. 

Here are some pictures. I know this post is ridiculously long so I'll talk about the miraculous recovery in another post. 

He was there every second possible. What a wonderful man.

My attempt at a smile. He's wearing my engagement ring since I couldn't

 because of all of the scans and such that I had to do.

These are used to keep up the blood flow/circulation. They sort 

of pulse on their own. It's a really brilliant invention.

This is the bear he bought me for after visiting hours. This way he never left my side. 

This is the aftermath of the 4Runner.

Jeremy had gone with my mom and driven down

 to where the vehicle had been towed to retrieve some of our belongings.

To be honest it's hard to look at these and think back to a year ago. All I know is that God was in complete control of that day, as He is every day. 

The less sad pictures will be coming soon!

May God be Glorified!

LEE