Life Can Change In An Instant

Last Monday, we had the scariest moment of my entire life as a parent. I was doing normal tasks shopping at WalMart when Wendy called. I did not think much about and decided to call her when I got out to the car. When I listened to the voice mail, my heart stopped. She said Racheal had been thrown from her horse and I needed to call her right away.

When I called her, she said she had called Coy and he was on his way. So I called Coy and he said that he was right behind the ambulance and he would call me soon. I was flying down the freeway about 90. The next call I got was to go straight to the hospital.

So I rushed home threw the groceries on the counter and got to the hospital. No one prepared me for what I would see when I got there. Racheal was strapped to a back board and her neck and head were immobilized. That was scary but not the worst part. She could not see me. Actually, she could not see anything. She kept asking why she could not open her eyes but they were wide open.

She went back and forth between being scarred and being mean. She would panic and try to rip everything off of her. We had to hold her arms down. We were only at a the hospital for 10 minutes and they decided to transport her to Provo. So I climbed in the ambulance with her and Coy got in the car behind us.

The entire ride was horrifying. I was trying to be as calm as I could for her. It was so hard. I kept trying to get her to relax and breathe. She could not remember anything from one minute to the next. She would ask where she was, what happened and if we could take these things off of her again and again and again. Then she would ask why should could not open her eyes. Then she would tell me she loved me. She kept asking me not to leave her like that was even an option.

This is where I have to say my first of many thanks. I knew one of the EMTs in the ambulance. She kept me calm and told me it was normal for someone who hit their head that hard to not be able to remember and ask the same questions over and over again. Without her in the ambulance with me, I would not have made the ride.

When we pulled in to the hospital and opened the doors, there stood Coy's brother Troy. I have no idea how he got there before the ambulance. He told her that he was there. The ambulance people said look Rach it is your dad. But she knew. She said that is not my dad that is my uncle Troy. I almost celebrated because she knew who he was.

When they got us to the trauma room, they tried to get Coy, Troy, Amber and I leave. I guess you are only allowed one person in the ER. I just looked at the nurse and told him I wasn't going anywhere. He turned around and walked out. So I went through X-ray and CT Scan with her.

Around 10:30 p.m. she could start to see colors again. Then about midnight, she could recognize faces up close. She started to know where she was.

We were very fortunate. There was not a single broken bone. I was sure by the size of the dent in the side of head that her skull was fractured but it wasn't. There was also no bleeding in the brain. I could not believe how blessed we were.

They admitted her to the hospital. Then she started throwing up. I guess this is also common for someone with a head trauma. So threw up until late the next morning. By Tuesday afternoon, the throwing up had subsided. They watched her until Wednesday and then let her come home. There is not greater feeling after an incident like this to have your family all home together. Racheal and I both slept when we got home for awhile.

She is getting better each day but it may take a month for her symptoms to let up. She has a hard time with light, noise and concentrating. She can not ride for six weeks. I think this is the worst part for her.

Now to the many thanks. You really know that you are cared about and that there are really good people in this world when things like this happen. There were so many things left up in the air when we took off for the hospital. Brent was riding the horses home. When he got home, Wendy helped him put his horses away. She put my groceries away and took care of Brent till his grandparents came to get him. Everyone offered to take Brent for the night. Someone else went and got Coy's truck from the fairgrounds and brought it home. Someone fed our horses the next morning and took our garbage to the curb. People brought us dinner and so many gifts for Racheal. I could not even begin to express how much that meant to us. How important it was not to have to worry about all of these things and just focus on Rach.

My very first thanks though has to go to Preston, Devun and Wendy. They were there when it happened and they got Racheal the help she needed right away and stayed with her until help was there. They are truly her angels and my heroes.