Jose’s Recovery
On July 29th the life of Jose and his family would change forever. Jose, who is a father of 5, has worked as a City of Omaha Equipment Operator II for the Streets department for the past ten years. At about 7:30 am Jose was tragically pinned between a Front End Loader and Grade-all while working in the street maintenance yard at 96th and F st. Once pinned in between the equipment, Jose managed to wedge himself out the back end of the equipment and call for help before collapsing. Fellow co-workers immediately called 911 and Jose was rushed to emergency. Maria received a call that no family wants to receive, that her husband was involved in an accident at work and he was being transported to CHI Bergan Mercy Hospital. Maria and her daughter arrived shortly after Jose's arrival and were brought to a separate room. There they were told by the surgeon that Jose was in critical condition and he was going to try "first to save his life and second to save his kidney." As well, he told the family, Jose had internal bleeding in his pancreas and was also trying to figure out what other organs were damaged. "We were devastated and praying my dad will survive this freak accident."
The surgeon allowed Jose’s family to see him before taking him to the operating room. By the Grace of God, Jose was conscious and speaking at this time and everyone was able to tell him how much they loved him and were praying for him.
The family waited anxiously, after three hours of surgery, the surgeon stepped out and asked Maria to sign a document allowing him to do a procedure involving a camera. This allowed him to see if there was any more internal bleeding.
Accounts of events from Jose’s daughter
About 7hrs later the surgeon stepped out once again and took a deep breath and told all of us to take a seat. He proceeded to tell us that my dad being alive and surviving the accident and the surgery is a miracle! He said there was so much internal bleeding and organs that were irreparably damaged, and it was just a complete mess. He named so many parts of organs he had to remove including not being able to save one of his kidneys. We were told the recovery journey will be long.
After two successful surgeries we were shattered when my dad woke up on a Sunday night vomiting blood. Doctors and nurses could not stop the bleeding and they had to ask us to leave my father’s room. We prayed and cried until we could not anymore. We desperately asked God to have mercy. When we were allowed back into the room my dad once again was placed on a ventilator. We were thankful they were able to stabilize him.
By far now we understood why the doctor stated this was going to be a long recovery. We would have a week of good news and the following week he would take 2 steps back and something new flared up. Then back to another good week and the cycle continued. The last two weeks he was in the hospital we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We were very thankful with God.
As well to mention the day of my fathers second surgery some of his co-workers along with union leader Tony Burkhalter held a prayer in front of CHI Bergan Mercy. We are thankful for everyone who showed up on this day and prayed for a miracle. God answered all of our prayers!
My mother during the dates of July 27th - September 3rd had to advocate for my father and never left his bedside. She spent every day and night with my father and had to take a leave of absence from her job. During this time as well she learned many medical terms and medical practices as she would become his sole caregiver at home.
We want to give a special thanks to Carlos Fernandez Acosta, my father's surgeon who was used by God and helped save my father's life and also all the nurses and doctors who helped in his recovery!
The funds donated will go to all medical expenses and care that will be needed for Jose's recovery. Thank you everyone for your love and support for our family.
#PRAYERSFORJOSE
