Dreslers Medical Relief and Recovery

Update: I am in awe of the support we have received from everyone. Thank you thank you and thank you a million times over. The longer James is in recovery the hard this is financially, but your support has been incredible. Now it feels like this recovery will never be over but I do have good updates. A month after the accident James has good range of motion in this elbow, but the hand is still struggling to respond. A major nerve was affected and they hope it will "wake up" on its own in time. His back is still the same and hasn't gotten worse which is ultimately all we can hope for with this break. James is getting more careless as he gets stir crazy at home, but we are okay. Keeping very busy with doctors and insurance tasks! I hope you never have to deal with this craziness but if you do, I'm a professional at dealing with progressive now! That is all I really have. No traveling for James so we will be celebrating Christmas alone this year. We did get our Christmas cards finish so that is about as good as it gets!! Merry Christmas and again thank you for your support!

Original Post:

Hey everyone,

James and I were recently involved in an incredibly traumatic accident on Friday November 10th at 8:30 am in New Haven, IL. We've been in the Evansville, IN Deaconess Midtown Hospital 6 days and counting after we were both air lifted separately from the scene. Miraculously we both survived rolling down a 30 ft ravine into trees where the car frame snapped puncturing airbags and severely injuring James.

James' injuries include a ulna and radius open compound fracture, multiple broken ribs, and broken back (L1 and L2 burst). He had surgery to plate his arm and is confined to a Jewett back brace. He will have physical / occupational therapy for a minimum of 3 months. For most of that time he will not be able to work even with light duty. He is a very stubborn man who refuses to admit how much pain he is in, but he realizes how serious a broken back is. They will not allow him to carry anything for a minimum of 3 months. And if that were not enough, James went into significant kidney failure with liver damage as well. We can't leave the hospital until his kidney function improves.

Because of the amount of time James will need for recovery and the costs accrued in all of this we need to humbly ask for help. Accounting for the least amount of expenses and the potential lost of James' income for several months we are hoping to raise $5,000, but honestly anything will help. Anything extra will also help toward replacing our vehicle. I truly hope you will consider supporting us or praying for us.

To paint the picture, we were driving from Eldorado, IL, after dropping off the dogs for boarding, to Evansville, IN. We had a wonderful weekend planned with old friends in Tennessee, but before that we wanted to take advantage of the holiday sales and shop for a new couch that better suited our life now. Just passed the Little Wabash river we came up on a very slow moving Semi loaded with a local harvest like grain. Once we were clear to pass James took off. We were half way past the truck when we noticed two things, first there was a farm vehicle causing the slow down that we couldn't see from behind the truck. Second, that the truck decided to pass the farm vehicle now too without looking at us.

To avoid the truck impacting my side of the jeep, James easily veered toward the shoulder. Country roads often have small shoulders or mostly gravel and dirt. In this case the gravel was loose and threw the back of the jeep toward a ravine. Now driving straight at the truck, James begins to aggressively correct the vehicle 2-3 times. We were so close to recovering when, once again, we caught a tire in the gravel which gave way and pulled us down. The jeep rolled several times down a 30 foot drop before sliding into the trees on the roof.

During this roll, the window and door frame snapped striking James and shredding his airbags. I grabbed his other arm and covered my face before blacking out. I awoke upside down when James released his seat belt and I tried to catch him because he shouldn't be moving. He was being choked by the seat belt and immediately upon falling he threw up several times. I took stock of my own injuries and felt nothing, so I got down from my seat and held James' head still while many good Sameritans came to our aid.

It's comical to think back on this period of waiting. The first person to reach our car was the deputy coroner of another county. I immediately told him to go away because we would not be dying today. Someone had a chainsaw and was cutting trees around us to get closer to the vehicle. An off duty EMS showed up and started bossing everyone around and called for two helicopters. Eventually the ambulance arrived. Apparently they found a clear gap in the trees and voluntarily drove down the ravine to get to the bean field below us. Brave ambulance driver.

Someone reached in and put a neck brace on me for c-spine safety and forced me to leave the vehicle. Upon exiting I realized how hurt I actually was. I thought my shin was broken and everything was spinning. I saw James' new Notre Dame hat on the ground and repeatedly asked for it. No one would give it to me. Two men were helping me down the ditch when one of them failed to move a branch that hit my injured shin causing me to fall. He apologized and I told him he better get me that hat right now. He did. And I never let go of it again. Somehow I made it to the bean field where I was asked a series of questions. He asked my name and I did say Katie, but he then said "Just Katie?" Which triggered my old handle "Just Katie Peters" so for a long time they didn't quite have my right name. They strapped me to a stretcher and I started to get even more foggy. I could feel glass in my eyes and throat. They loaded me into the helicopter and surprisingly I remember all three of my helicopter emts: Matt, Sean, and Brian the pilot. I never really saw them, but they were very encouraging and actually answered my questions about James.

James had been put on a stretcher in the car and also dragged out of the back window. He was taken to his own helicopter and was only a minute or so behind me. He was taken to trauma until for multiple CTs and CTAs despite telling them his kidneys could not handle the contrast. He had several x-rays as well when they determined he needed surgery on his arm before they could evaluate his back.

James was admitted and I was discharged after two CTs and an x-ray showed a concussion and deep bruising on my shin. It's a miracle that I was barely affected.

That evening some of our friends showed up with supplies and just everything we really needed without having to ask. You can't imagine how lonely and terrifying it is to be so close to death and so far from people you love. We are so thankful to everyone who has visited us and made us feel loved. It means more than anything.

We do not know when we will be discharged. We wait and we hope his kidneys will recover, but we just don't know. I aim to continue updating as often as I can with James' progress. And mine as well, it is not quite as interesting having a purple shin and headache to boast about. I'd rather tell you how today James walked 200 ft without any assistance. How he climbed two stairs. How he managed to sit up in a chair and squeeze a ball today. Those are exciting updates.

Thank you everyone for good thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all of you.