Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Thankful for Life!

It was a brisk early morning trip, on an all too familiar country road. I was headed to Albuquerque to catch a flight, when, an object in the road and an overcorrection, resulted in my vehicle flipping, and left me hanging upside down. 

Although greatly shaken up, God kept me from loosing consciousness, even amidst severe head trauma. Amazingly, I was able to get out of the vehicle and call 911. It was still dark and very cold, and I tried to keep warm, and prevent myself from slipping into a state of shock.  My head was bleeding profusely, and I had to apply much pressure to suppress it.

The 911 dispatch said the ambulance wouldn’t arrive for another 30-40 minutes.  During the wait, my wrist began to swell and really hurt. I was quite convinced it was broken. 

Law enforcement arrived on scene roughly 25 minutes after the incident, the ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later. I’ve been giving care as an EMT in our town for the past 3 years, so I'm used to being in an ambulance, but being in the ambulance as a patient was a new experience... I'll have to say I prefer to be on the giving side rather then the receiving!!


Injuries: 

My wrist was broken in two places, dislocated, 3 tendons were torn apart, and there was some nerve damage. 

I had surgery on the top of my wrist to repair the bone and to relocate the joint. I also had carpal tunnel surgery on the palm of my hand to fix the nerve damage. 

A 7 inch long gash ran from my midline to the top of my head --16 staples, 10 stitches.

Blessings: 

I was able to climb out of the flipped car even with my severely injured wrist. 

Despite being in a remote area with very sketchy cell phone service, I was able to call 911.

Even after large amounts of blood loss, I never lost consciousness, and even in the cold temperatures I didn’t slip into severe shock. 

My medical training helped me treat for shock and keep my whit’s about me.











Back home
One week later...
Removing staples and stitches




Life lesson: 

It's amazing how our life can change so suddenly… as a culture, we too often say, “I'll start that tomorrow or next week” (meaning that good something that ‘always’ seems inconvenient). Why do we procrastinate?? In Hebrews 3 it says, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…”  Simply neglecting or procrastinating to take hold of the salvation that Jesus has provided can cause us to be lost for eternity! Life is fragile, lets be careful not to neglect what Christ has given us!



Thank you all for your prayers!

7 comments:

  1. Wow!!!! So thankful the Lord protected you and helped you stay calm and keep your wits. That looks like one nasty gash you got! Yikes!!!!! >_< Hope everything continues to heal up quickly. God bless.

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  2. Ty, You are blessed, blessed to be alive to tell the story! I did the same thing when I was your age. Tried to miss a bird (big bird) in the road, lost control, ended up upside down in the ditch. PTL, not a scratch.
    When you see that scare on your head in the mirror, remember, "God saved me because He loves me, and he has plans!" We love you too Ty, The Raynes

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  3. I count your life when I count my blessings, bud.

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  4. Wow! We can be so thankful to God for His protection and care...

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  5. Wow, Tyler, looks like it was pretty bad, but so thankful for God's protection from any further injuries!

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  6. PTL you weren't more injured than you were! So glad that the Lord saved your life!

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  7. That is one manly scar! You know the guys in our household are going to be liking that! (I hesitate to say, "will be jealous" but I think you know them well enough to understand what I mean!) And what a great story to tell of God's deliverance! When little kids stare (and from personal experience I know they will - adults too!), smile and start right off with telling them, "God saved my life"- "do you have a minute for me to tell you about Him?" If you don't already have a pocketful of tracts, I'd stock up and start passing them out! Praising the Lord your time with us continues and you are still alive and well. ~ Nancy

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