As most of you know, I’ve been away for the last month. I spent 2 weeks in South Carolina visiting Heather (my friend and teammate from the Race). The first week I went with her and their middle and high school youth group to camp in TN. I had a great time getting to know the youth and helping to lead the camp. After that, I picked up some friends and we flew to Guatemala for 2 weeks. We traveled around the country visiting the ancient Mayan ruins, swimming in waterfalls, hiking the volcano, and touring the cities. We flew back into Ft Lauderdale on Thursday (July 24th) and I dropped them off at the Orlando airport early Saturday morning. After stopping to visit my grandparents for several hours I arrived home around 9pm.
At 9:30 my sister called her fiance (who lives with us) to say that her and my parents got into a car accident at the entrance to our neighborhood. We drove out there immediately and arrived before they even got out of the car.
My mom had the green arrow to turn left into our neighborhood but two cars that were racing each other ran the red light and T-boned the passenger side of mom’s car. We think the boys were also drinking, as broken Corona bottles littered the scene. My parents were both air-lifted to the hospital.
We’ve since found out my dad has a concussion, 3 broken ribs, fractured clavicle, broken thumb and possibly wrist, stiches in his arm, staples in his head, a lung contusion and pain in his back. He basically hurts everywhere but he’s able to think pretty clearly and communicate well. He’s definitely retained his sense of humor and the morphine only enhances it. Visiting his room is always entertaining! When we left the hospital this afternoon they were moving him out of ICU and into a Step Down unit (in between ICU and a regular room.)
My mom is allergic to the air bag powder so her throat swelled and she had difficulty breathing. They had her intubated and sedated up until last night when she pulled the tube out of her own throat. (I must note here that she had been trying to do that all day and was therefore tied to the bed. She still somehow managed to get herself twisted around enough to pull it out. Anyone who knows my mom laughs and says, “Sounds like your mom.” Now you see where I get my stubborness from!)
They decided to leave it out and let her breathe on her own so she is no longer sedated. Unfortunately, now that she’s no longer heavily medicated, it appears she’s been seriously affected by the concussion and cannot think or communicate very well. However, aside from the physical and mental effects of her concussion, she seems to be doing alright physically.
My sister had scans and X-rays that night and was thankfully released from the hospital that night. She’s dealing now with the pain that comes from the bruising and sore neck and back muscles. They’ve given her medication and she’s doing relatively well.
The driver and passenger of the other vehicle were taken to the local hospital and then the passenger was airlifted to another hospital. Other than that, we don’t know of their condition. The third car blew a tire but fled the scene of the accident. We don’t know whether or not they were injured or caught.
It is a miracle, as you can see from the pictures, that nobody died or was any more injured than they are. God certainly has had his hand on this situation and continues to be a comfort to my family. Right now, we all really need your prayers, especially my parents. I had planned to move up to Georgia on Friday but I’m now staying in town until they are home and have recovered a bit. It’s another miracle that I was home, or even in the country when it happened!
My sister and I have been trying to keep everyone updated by phone daily but as you can imagine, that gets tiring and I’m always worried I’m forgetting to call someone. Therefore, I will be posting updates every evening after returning from the hospital and on a Christian blogsite: www.caringbridge.org/visit/denger. The site is password protected so email me if you’d like access to the site.
Please feel free to leave comments here or on that website. It’s great to know that people are praying! If you want to call, please do. It’s always good to talk to friends. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. I love you all!
