The Accident

First, Casey and I would like to thank everyone so much for their prayers over the last 24 hrs for Caleb, us and the rest of our family. The Lord knows our family has faced it's fair share (and more) of tragedies over the last few years, yet each one seems to bring us closer to each other and closer to God. We know how powerful prayer is and know that they helped pull Caleb, and all of us through, these last 24 hrs. I ask that you please continue your prayers, as Caleb will face a tough few weeks and possibly months ahead. I've decided to do 2 posts. The first one will tell you what happened. The second post will tell you just how incredibly brave Caleb was and continues to be. In some ways I believe his autism actually helped him get thru this last day. But, on to what happened.

It's a call that every parent dreads and one that will literally stop your heart. I was sitting in the breakroom at work yesterday finishing up my lunch when Casey knocked on the door. Now I knew this could only mean something bad, either someone had died, there had been an accident of some kind, or he had gotten laid off. In an instant, I knew it was one of the first two. He pulled me out of the room, into the hall and told me that Caleb had been in an accident and was at the hospital and we needed to go.

The boys had been spending their spring break with Casey's mom and stepdad, like they've done the last few years. They love being out in the country where they can run all over, play at the creek, and any other adventures they can think of. They have ridden 4-wheelers, much to my dislike, but had always been cautious wearing helmets and staying close to the house and I know how much fun they always had riding. Well, there had been an accident.

From what we've pieced together from Caleb, Christian and Papa Keith, the boys were playing "Cops and Robbers" and Caleb was the robber. Caleb had already been in trouble for going to fast, but if you tell Caleb something once, you can tell him a hundred times and the kid still won't listen. He was up ahead of Christian and went to make a turn, too fast, and too close to the barb wire fence that lined the property by the road. Christian said the front tire of the 4-wheeler caught the barb wire, pulled Caleb into it and along it. Christian got off his bike, ran to the house to get Casey's mom. The 4-wheeler never tipped, instead Caleb was pinned to it by the barb wire. Papa Keith had to cut Caleb out of the fence. Caleb was able to make it into the truck on his own and they all loaded up and headed to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, Caleb was given his tetanus and the decision was made to transfer him to OU Trauma Center in Oklahoma City. This is one of, if not the best trauma center in Oklahoma. They see and treat the worst of the worst. Casey and I headed downtown to meet them at the ER. We knew it had to be pretty bad if they were sending him to OU and not to Norman Regional, the closest big hospital to them. I knew it wasn't a head or neck injury and I just kept repeating that to myself. It could've been much worse, it could've been much worse, it wasn't his head or neck, it wasn't his head or neck. I know I wasn't prepared for what I saw, but I knew it could all be fixed.

Caleb had a bad laceration to his outter right arm, at the bend of the elbow. He had a few deep lacerations to his abdomen and chest. Thank goodness the kid has meat on his bones or it could've been much worse. He had several knicks along his upper chest and onto his upper right arm and shoulder. The worst injury was to his outter right knee. The barb wire had pinned Caleb's knee against the hot engine (evidenced by a burn to his inner knee, thankfully not to severe), and he kept trying to move it off the engine, thus shredding the outter knee with the barb wire. It literally looked like Caleb had a shotgun blast to his outter knee. The MCL (medial collateral ligament) and bones were visible thru the gash.

Caleb made it to the trauma ER, was evaluated by the trauma team and several doctors. It was decided that he obviously needed surgery to repair the damage to his outter knee, as well as cleaning and closing the lacerations to his arm, abdomen and chest. They were worried about the knee joint, that there may have been some damage. Thankfully, there was no fractures/breaks of his knee, there were no major arteries or blood vessels severed in his arm, leg or chest/abdomen. Everything could be repaired and we can deal with scars.

Once the doctors had their plan in place, Caleb was transferred to Childrens Hospital across the way. He was taken immediately back to pre-op and prepped for surgery. 2 long hours later, the doctors had come out and told us that everything went great. All of the lacerations closed up nicely. His knee was cleaned out and there was no damage to the joint, ligaments or tendons in it. Caleb was groggy most of the night, but this morning was back to his usual self. The doctors felt he could be released today and follow up with them in the office on Monday. As I'm typing this, he's in his bed, playing his DSI. He is in an immobilizing knee/leg brace, to help ensure the sutures keep the site on his knee closed and the skin intact. There could be a chance of breakdown of this skin and a graft would be required. However, the surgeons were hopeful that this wouldn't happen.

So, that's what happened. It was an accident, no one is to blame. It was scary as hell for all of us, but God was with him and kept him from greater harm. The prayers of all of you have definitely helped him to handle this as well as he has and I know it has done the same for Casey and I. So again I wish to thank you all for your continued prayers. He's a strong kid and he will get thru this.