Dan's Recovery

Dan was in a serious car accident on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 in Gunnison, Colorado.  He was on his way home from work in Crested Butte.  He pulled into the ice rink parking lot and came to a stop  - when we believe he had a medical emergency.   This caused him to accelerate and strike a parked car and the steel support beam of the building at 50 mph.  He had to be cut from the truck he was driving and was stabilized at the hospital in Gunnison.  He was air lifted to Grand Junction, Colorado.  He has been in the ICU of St. Mary's Hospital.  Dan was operated on upon arrival to stabilize the broken bones by using external stabilizers to stop the bleeding.  He broke both arms, both legs, his pelvis and had several facial fractures.  It is believed the truck he was driving saved his life - all airbags deployed and the engine did what it was designed to do.  It moved up and over and was sitting on the passenger seat beside Daniel.  

He has had several surgeries to date.  They fixed his pelvis, then the left femur and right arm.  He was then given a five day rest from surgeries and then he had an eight hour surgery to complete both lower legs, left arm and facial fractures.  He did very well during all of these surgeries.  Daniel has been on life support and unconscious since the accident. 

We have a long list of individuals to thank: the young man who was the eye witness to Dan's accident, the young man who called his dad - a police sergeant to report the accident which in turn expedited the emergency response, the first responders who worked diligently to remove Daniel from the truck, the Gunnison County Hospital staff who stabilized and prepared Daniel for the air flight to Grand Junction,  the helicopter pilot and nurses that kept Daniel safe, the emergency staff that took over and kept Daniel stable, the many surgeons who have operated on Daniel, the ICU staff, and finally St. Mary's Hospital.  There are not words to express our gratitude.  

Our family has been blessed with a tremendous amount of support, prayers, positive energy, and love during this time. We were lucky to have family in Grand Junction to be with Daniel when he arrived at the hospital via helicopter.  They were able to comfort him, answer questions for surgeons, and keep us updated as we flew from Missouri to be with him. We have instate family that has traveled to see Daniel and us, lending support, time, and energy to help. The town of Crested Butte has shown so much support for him.  His work family and friends have helped us take care of Dan's house, brought us a few of his personal effects, and answer questions that we have had. Our family has been there to listen to our grieving, lend hands and advice when possible.  The support that Dan has had throughout this has shown us the amount of lives that Dan has touched. He truly is an amazing person and we are all extremely proud of him.

We have started this GoFund as an avenue for our distant friends and family to help support Daniel. The doctors are anticipating a long road of recovery for him, and are uncertain what the future holds for Daniel. 

Any funds collected will go directly to Daniel's recovery efforts for the future.