So I know I still need to update the last 9 months as a new family-BUT I have an important update that I didn't put in our video. We actually have had a pretty traumatic last 2 months as a family. It's probably somewhat cathartic for me to type it all out, but bear with me if you are reading this, as it's super hard for me to have time to type anything these days, so this will be somewhat hurried.
In August-A few days before the boys (S and 2.0) were set to leave for the end of hosting to go back to UA-our son "A" chased a toy into the street and was struck by a car going at least 45 mph. We were at that moment inside doing our home study update for "S-2.0." We had actually just seen him and "S" run by the window and in the blink of an eye "S- 2.0" ran in to tell us in broken English that "A" had been hit by a car. Our social worker didn't immediately understand what he said but I did, and I screamed "WHAT?!" and ran out. I'm told that Matt followed a few seconds later.
We have a large fence around our new home and property (we had just moved literally the weekend prior to the accident-in order to give the boys and "Z" a larger home and space to roam) and the 2 gates that you drive through to come in to the acre and a quarter- were only open because we had opened them for our social worker to drive through.
I ran around 1 way to the street and saw "A" lying lifeless on the ground in the middle of the street. I lost it completely and ran screaming for Matt. In my crazy state, he was the only thing I could think of that could "save" this situation. I ran into the house to get him while at the same time he had been running around to the other gate to the street and had finally figured out that "A" was in the street in front of the car that was stopped in the middle of the street. (A Honda SUV)
I ran back out and our social worker handed me my daughter and I just fell to my knees out by the street praying and crying. A lady in one of the cars nearby came by and hugged me after asking if I was the mom. And another prayed with me. It seems strange in retrospect but I was terrified to see him up close again, I couldn't fathom seeing him like that, and I was literally afraid he was already dead. There was an off duty EMT that had run down the street after hearing of the accident and I heard her say "they need to hurry up and get here-we are losing him". I was losing it and all I could do was pray over and over.... "Please God no, please God no, please don't take him." Over and over and over. Then someone told me that they thought that he might respond to me talking to him (Matt was already with him) and I realized that he was semi conscious. This was such a relief because up to that point I really though that he was dead or almost so and I had no idea that he was even making any noises. I gave "Z" to our social worker and went over, and he was moaning and there was blood, but it was hard to see exactly what the extent of his injuries were. He was moaning softly but had his eyes closed and didn't respond to me or his papa. The ambulance arrived and they moved us out of the way, and soon they left to drive to the airfield to careflight him to the trauma hospital in Seattle, and Matt went with them and I stayed with the other kids. (Harborview) I was assured over and over that this was the best place he could go for possible brain injuries and trauma, but it didn't really sink in at the time. After they left the police officer asked some questions, then I went in the house to get my other kids taken care of and to wait to find out if Matt would be allowed to fly wtih "A" to Seattle. (there was some question of whether or not we would have to go pick him up from the airfield if he wasn't allowed to go).
We went in and started packing for the hospital and for the kids to stay overnight somewhere, and called my mom and closest friends to let them know what happened. My social worker was really amazing in the situation and it was good to have someone there that wasn't as emotionally connected, although it was very traumatizing for her too. I called Matt and he was waiting at the airfield for the helicopter. He sounded very stressed and worried.
We then fed the kids and just waited to hear from Matt. He finally called just as he had arrived in Seattle, so we knew he had made it on the flight and we could leave. He told me then that they thought he had:
"A broken leg, other fractures, brain injury, and a punctured lung" but that was only from the EMTs. They weren't sure what the brain injury was. After getting off the phone with him, I called my mom and told her to book her flight to Seattle and we left for the hospital. The hospital was over an hour and a half away, more with traffic, and we had to stop halfway to meet a family friend who took my boys to another friends house where they would be safe and comforted. I should say that all the boys were really great, (although upset) in particular "E" who is wonderful in a crisis and "S-2.0" once he got over his initial panic and blaming himself. (He was the one playing with "A")
It seemed like it took forever but we finally arrived at the hospital. (Me and my 9 month old and our social worker). Our social worker had graciously offered to drive me (as I was in no shape for it) and had left her car at our house and had her husband and teenage son drive all the way there to pick it up later that day. She stayed with my daughter in the waiting room while I went back to see "A". Another friend-Carried-was already there. Carrie was a great comfort as a former trauma nurse from that very hospital-she could tell us what was going on. It was super comforting having her there. "A" had one eye slightly cracked open and my husband had been talking to him the whole time, but was likely mostly unconscious. It's a blur but I remember we were waiting to hear back on all the tests. He looked so battered and bruised laying there, it's hard to even think about it now. We knew at that point he had a broken leg but I think we were waiting to hear about the test results for everything else. It's all a blur. We held his hand and talked to him, and then possibly an hour or half an hour after I arrived they moved him up to the ICU. I got "Z" from our social worker and thanked her and she left to go home. It's so much of a blur that I will try to go through my FB updates to write the rest of this post. I will do the rest in a second post.
No comments:
Post a Comment