Motorcycle Accident

Many of you have already heard about this (and thank you for your prayers and support!) My parents were in a motorcycle accident on Monday night. Garr and I were at camp in Denton MD (about 45 minutes away). We had taken the two older girls to Children's Camp that afternoon. We had Danny, Olivia, and Livy's friend, Sammi, at the camper with us. We had put on a movie for the girls, Daniel was sleeping soundly, and Garr and I were just snuggling in for a movie too. My cell phone rang. At first I was going to ignore it, but I remembered that I had left a message for my mom and knew she would want to hear how the kids were doing. It was an odd number when I went to pick it up, but I answered anyways.

The lady on the phone told me she was calling from KG Hospital and my parents had been in a motorcycle accident. She proceeded to tell me that my mom had asked her to call me and they were getting ready to take her in for a CAT Scan. Then she told me that my dad had been airlifted to a hospital 40 minutes north of Smyrna (about an hour from my mom.) My knees buckled and I began to cry. I asked her to ask my mom who she wanted us to go to. Of course, we wanted to be with both of them, but I was so scared, esp for my dad, as we had no idea what his injuries were. My mom said she wanted us with her but my dad needed us and to go there. We proceeded to throw whatever I thought we might need into a bag and load the kids into the truck. I started making phone calls and trying to figure out what was happening. I called a friend to go and be with my mom at the hospital and I had her call our church secretary to get people praying. Garr drove like a madman, excuse me, like a very well trained police officer! He was amazing, I was a mess. We drove the 45 minutes to Smyrna (Although I think it only took 30), dropped the girls off, and headed north 45 minutes to the hospital. I thought we would never get there. On the way, just about 15 minutes from the hospital, my phone rang and it was my dad. He told us he was beat up, but ok and to "drive safe!" (Just like a dad!) When we got to the hospital, he looked awful, but his spirits were up. He was telling us what happened, and making jokes. A good friend of ours was already there (he worked nearby) and I was so blessed to see him there with my dad. Although dad seemed ok, I think it was because they had finally given him a large dose of pain meds
(and maybe the adrenaline of being alive!). We found out that his shoulder is broken, his eye was swollen shut, and he has road rash all over. My mom has a lacerated liver. They told us at first that it was a grade 4, superficial cut that would just require some bed rest. We found out yesterday that grade 4 is actually very serious (grade 5 and you are dead) and she will be on complete bed rest for 4-6 weeks. My dad has been in terrible pain and received terrible care at the hospital. I have felt so bad for him. Both of my parents were released yesterday and are home in our care. Neither can do anything for themselves. My mom is allowed to use the bathroom and then must get back in bed. My dad cannot roll over, or even take a deep breath, without groaning in intense pain. He also has many broken or fractured ribs - they didn't tell us which.

What happened is their tire blew out on the back of the bike. They were leaving IHOP and someone told them their tire was low on air. Dad took a look at it and saw that it was indeed low and also looked quite bald. He thought this was strange since it had just passed state inspection. He decided that if they took it easy, they should make it home and then they would have to replace the tire before they could drive it again. Unfortunately, they didn't make it. They were maybe 5 miles from home when it blew out. Thankfully they were on a back road and the truck that was following them was keeping his distance. Dad was going pretty slow, but after fishtailing for a while, he couldn't keep the bike in check any longer and it spun out from underneath them, throwing them to the side of the road. (Garr thinks it's amazing that he was able to keep the 800 lb bike under control for as long as he did!) They landed close to one another and mom remembers reaching out and holding my dad's hand as he yelled for her, and then when he began screaming in pain. He couldn't see anything (his good eye was the one that was injured, although it is getting better every day now), and didn't know where she was.

At this point, we are all quite exhausted, but also very thankful that although they are injured, they are alive. Many of our friends, family, and church family have been calling and offering to help and it has been a blessing. We are amazed at how the word has spread so quickly and we can't even figure out how some of you have found out already! There are so many people praying for us and we appreciate it! Don't stop please! I really need to get to bed (although I should probably wait b/c Dad is due for some more pain meds in 20 minutes! =]). I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on. I may not have much time to blog or email in the weeks ahead, but I will try to keep you all updated on our progress.