A Mom's Worst Nightmare

The call came at 4:40pm on Thursday. It was Kevin. He and the kids had just been at the doctor's for Austin's sports physical, so I figured it was an update and to chat about when I would be home from work.

"Everyone is fine...but we've just been in a head-on collision." Camden was screaming in the background and there was all kinds of other commotion. He kept telling me to calm down. Gave me a quick account of what was happening at the scene. I would meet them at the hospital. The 45 minute drive was torture.

Long and short of it. Kevin had been following another truck heading toward Southmont High School for soccer practice. They were on US 231, which is a four-lane road. Suddenly the truck in front of him started to swerve back and forth and finally managed to pull into the right southbound lane, just in front of a semi-truck. They did this because another car was coming at them, in the wrong direction, in their lane. Kevin had just enough time to see the vehicle when it slammed into them. Kevin had been driving about 40-45 miles per hour. The other car was going 50-60mph.

Thankfully they were in the pick-up truck so had a lot of vehicle to take the impact. There were also lots of people around to assist. Kevin and Austin were able to open their doors and get out. Austin was practically in shock and people immediately got him down on the ground and started taking his vitals. Airbags had deployed, so, thankfully his head/face had been protected. However, his knees, hands, chest and neck took a lot of force. The seatbelt also cut some big gashes.

Kevin had similar injuries and got out of the vehicle. One of his sandals had been ripped from his foot and his cell phone (which had been in a case attached to his belt) was on the floor. People rushed up..."help me get my baby out of the car" was his immediate request. Someone got Camden out of her car seat. She was still strapped in and the seat was still attached by the clips to the seat; however it was tipped up and laying against the back of the seat. Thankfully we still had her riding rear-facing, so there was less force her neck had to withstand.

Emergency personnel were on the scene within minutes. Kevin called me. They had to remove the other driver with the jaws of life. Everyone was transferred to St. Clare Hospital about 10 minutes across town. I met them there.

Kevin had them work on the kids first. They both had IV's started and were initially accessed. Camden had a small red patch on her head and was continuously crying. She calmed as much as possible when they let me hold her, but still acted "off" to me. I knew she was scared with all the people working on her, but I knew she was also in pain. All had to have CT scans and x-rays to see internal injuries. Kevin also had to have an EKG because of the force of the steering wheel hitting his chest.

X-rays showed Camden had a fractured femur. We would be transferred to Riley Children's Hospital in Indy. Austin would also have to go because of the seatbelt bruising. They can't determine internal injuries (particularly to the bowels) from seatbelt trama. People usually have to stay overnight for observation if it seems severe enough and since there was not a surgeon on duty at St. Clare he would have to go to Riley. Perfectly fine with us. We'd rather trust our kids to one of the best children's hospitals in the world!

They stablized Camden's leg, then she and I were sent by ambulance to Riley. The wrap on her arm is to hold the IV in place and make sure she doesn't yank it out.




We got to Riley and had more x-rays taken. The doctors also analyzed the CT scan and x-rays from St. Clare. It was revealed that Camden also had a small skull fracture. It was fairly minute, but the red area was indeed from an impact. We're unsure if she hit the back of the seat or the back window (in the truck, the window is literally touching the back of the seat). The neuro team were keeping an eye on her, but were not too concerned.

They put both kids in the same room. Austin got to go up about midnight, and Camden made it to the room about 2am. She was on morphine for the pain and Valium (sorry for spelling) for muscle spasms - which were causing most of the pain. Her leg was stabilized for the night and she'd be put in a cast the next day.

More to tell, but need to go for now. Everyone is doing well. We appreciate all the calls, concerns and prayers. We constantly acknowledge that God was in control of the situation and are thankful for his hand in our life - especially in this circumstance.