on november 4th, we were on our way to delta to go pheasant hunting and hang out with brett's family. brett had to work late so we had a late start against a horrible storm that was mainly going to hit southern utah. we were going 45 maybe 50 on the highway that goes out of cedar city through enoch towards minersville. it's a side highway that's more of a straight shot to his parents house than the freeway. we were driving in a blizzard so brett was being extra cautious. he was nervous about the weather and had mentioned that he wished that he didn't have to work the late shift. we thought it would be ok because we had done it so many many times before. we had just drove out of cedar city and had finished our hamburgers we had picked up at carl's junior, by about 5, maybe ten minutes. she was just standing there. big black cow, just standing in the middle of the road. parallel. she was so camouflaged by the snow and dark night brett didn't have anytime to react. all he got out was 'oh n--' for oh no!! she hit the front end on the driver side only. it just demolished the front end of the car. glass everywhere! the impact of hitting her peeled back the front window to where it was just hanging in front of us, the cow ripped the top back on his side, the drivers side window was gone, and the sun roof was gone. all from the black cow. the second we even hit her, he was unconscious. i was screaming to him 'brett, honey, brett, honey, brett, honey' i didn't get anything from him. i then said a quick prayer. instinct i suppose. i then took the wheel and guided our coasting car down the road. when we were slowing down, i just took the car off to the right side. when we came to a stop amazingly, i had my phone in my hand. i usually have it in my purse, on the floor in the back seat. i called 911. when the car's behind us stopped 30 seconds to 2 minutes later, they were asking if everything was ok. i don't think they saw any of it happen but stopped. I AM SO SO GLAD THEY DID!! they were asking if everything was ok while i was yelling at dispatch on the phone. i was such a mess. i told them to please come help us. my husband was hurt bad. i was trying to hold his head up because he was gurgling blood and his breathing was really labored. as i was holding his head and screaming at dispatch, a guy got in the back seat behind me. i handed the phone to him because dispatch kept asking me the same questions over and over. in my mind he wasn't hurrying fast enough to get the paramedics and ambulance to brett. after i gave the gentleman in the seat behind me the phone, i took my vest off i was wearing and started to apply pressure to his face wounds. that's about the time that another gentleman came over and was trying to help me get everything out of the back seat of the car so we could try and lay him back. i have since learned that the gentleman that was helping me lay him back and helping me apply pressure was the bishop from minerville and his 2 sons. the gentleman bore his testimony in testimony meeting the following sunday of the power of the priesthood. he knew that the second he walked up on the scene of the accident, it was dire. he didn't know if it would be ok with brett or with me to give him a priesthood blessing but he just knew in that instant he needed to. he said that when he started the blessing, he instantly could feel the life just come back to brett. i am so grateful for worthy men of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. i know he was put in our lives at that time for that specific reason and purpose. both he and his sons. after he was helping me apply pressure, brett wasn't conscious but his body was aware that something wasn't right. he went stiff as a board and started mumbling and writhing in pain. he kept trying to feel his face and trying to help himself is all that i can think he was trying to do. at this point, i asked the gentleman to hold his arms down while i tried again to apply pressure. i knew it wasn't good. with the pain brett was in and the injuries he had, i just kept asking 'is the ambulance here? is the ambulance here yet?' it seemed FOREVER!! a nice lady took me over to her truck and had me sit in there with her. i have since found out that one of the ladies is my sister in law's cousin.
:) they helped to keep me warm, since it was snowing. they tried to reassure me that everything would be ok. i now think that they were just trying to keep me calm because they didn't know how everything was going to work out. the ambulance finally showed up after what seemed like 2 hours. i think it was 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. dispatch had misunderstood and had sent it from cedar up the interstate to parowan. it then had to take a side road called the parowan gap that is a paved one lane road. we were only 15 minutes at most, out of cedar on the highway we were on. it took them several minutes to get him out because they didn't want to cause any further injuries to his face and possible neck break. plus, they had to cut his seat belt off of him (which i was so glad he was wearing). later the trooper would ask me if i was wearing a seat belt. 'yes i was. was brett?' 'yes he was.' he was asked if he was wearing a seat belt when he was conscious right before we left for cedar city. 'probably not.' he never wears a seat belt. i'm SO glad he was. after they got him loaded in the ambulance, we were driving about a half a mile away from the accident when we came upon the cow. she was a ball of mess on my side of the road. after we got to cedar hospital, i was there by myself and waiting for news of when i could go see him. i waited for brett's dad and brother to get there. waited for my dad, mom, and brother to get there. waited for brett's aunt and uncle to get there. i don't think i've ever felt so alone. thank the heavens for cell phones and texting. i was able to talk to my sister who lives in wyoming. i don't know how i would have been able to stand that night without her company. aunt and uncle showed up about a half hour later. still no word on when i could see him. my dad, mom, and brother showed up a half hour later. still no word. brett's dad and brother showed up a half hour later. still no word. about 15 minutes after his dad and brother were there, they finally let us go back. we got to talk to him and touch him. he was in pretty bad shape. after quite a bit more waiting for ct scans and x-rays, they were deciding what to do when the doctor took us, brett's dad, brother and me, into a consult room and explained his situation. that was horrible. i was so nervous. the little room with just you and dr. he said that they found a bleed in his brain and were going to life flight him to murray in case he needed a neurosurgeon for emergency surgery. they told us this at 1:00. at 3:40 life flight plane showed up. tracy, brett's dad flew up with him. i went up with my parents the next morning. they stitched him up in murray so that a plastic surgeon could patch him up. he had a vertical one inch gash in the middle of his forehead, a gash from the middle of his eyebrow to the top of his ear on the left side, one inch laceration on his left eyelid, several smaller lacerations on his left cheek requiring a stitches in all of them, and a 4 inch laceration on his left wrist. other injuries included his bleed in his brain, a broken jaw, and bruised lungs. [all of his lacerations were bone deep.] he had to go all weekend until the maxillofacial surgeon was in on monday to do surgery for his jaw. he was on the trauma floor until then. they needed to watch him closely in case an emergency arose. surgery for monday was scheduled at 12:30. they got started at about one. we were told the surgery would last about an hour to an hour and half tops. 2:30 came and went. at about 4:00, we called several times to find out what was taking so long. he still wasn't out. finally at about 4:30, they said he was in recovery and would be up to his room around 5:00-5:15. the surgeon came out and told us the surgery was more involved that they had planned. all in all, he had to have 2 plates and ten screws with several several stitches in his gums to reattach muscles they had to cut through in order to do the surgery. everything from there went pretty smooth. we were discharged on tuesday the 8th (which i have since learned was earlier than the oral surgeon wanted us to be) he has been recuperating nicely. the first couple nights were really hard on both of us. he was in a significant amount of pain. we learned how to better manage his pain through trial and error. he had long, long nights and quite a bit of pain off and on for the next couple of weeks. his pain started at his chin then gradually radiated to the back of his head which then triggered the rest of his jaw and face to hurt quite extensively. he looks so much better and healed so so well!! even just a week after it all happened, he was improving so well. we stayed at my parents house for almost a week because the trip down was really rough on him. plus, i needed some help with his food (liquid diet) and with all of the insurance calls i was having to make. his mom was in arkansas with her mom who has been having major health issues, which is another reason for staying at my parents house. we made our trek back home monday the 14th for doctor's appointments and for post-op consultation and follow-up visits. on wednesday the 16th he started half days of work. they were rough on him. the four hours that he went, exhausted him to the point of 10 to 14 hours of sleep. he has since went back to full time work as of the 21st of november. i have started working 2 jobs and am loving keeping busy. this thanksgiving, Christmas, and new years season hasn't been anything like we had ever planned for, but we are both so so thankful for the knowledge we have of our Savior and his angels on this side and the other side of the veil who have been constantly watching over us. my testimony of the priesthood has grown ten-fold. i can't even put into words how my heart is feeling. truly, truly amazing how our Heavenly Father works His wonders. there were so many tiny details that had to go just right in order for brett's injuries to not have gotten any worse and for me to have walked away with only bruises. [we took the car and not the truck like we had talked about. i think if we had taken the truck, the chances of us rolling would have increased which then i don't know if i would have been able to call 911 or to apply pressure to brett's face. i try not to think about the 'what-if's'. there are others. these are the main ones.] i am ever ever thankful for all of the minute details that were not just by coincidence. we have truly been blessed. thank you thank you to the good good people of minersville & beaver. ... calvin & bonnie, clint & scott, christine, justin & cassi, brandon & jeannette
