In the early morning hours of February 17th 2017, Aaron was involved in a horrifying car accident which nearly ended his life. He lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road into a ditch where the car began rolling over, crushing the bones in his body.  He was taken from the wreckage and flown by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, where he was admitted into the trauma ICU (intensive care unit).

     Aaron has endured severe fracturing in the bone structure of his face. The femur of his right leg snapped in half. He experienced extraordinary swelling in his face which forced his eyes shut and made it nearly impossible to breathe or swallow. Because of this, he was put on a ventilator to breathe and was unable to eat or drink. He went without food for 4 days and received his hydration intravenously. He had to have a catheter to remove fluid building up in his body. During his first day at the hospital he could not see, speak, move, sleep, eat, drink, or breathe.

The wreckage, reported by FOX17

By Aaron's second day in the hospital, he had slowly regained some ability to speak, move, see and breathe on his own, but to limited extent. He underwent reconstructive surgery for his facial bones and femur. A therapist has taught him how to swallow again and he is now able to drink his own liquids slowly. His reconstructive surgery required his jaw be wired shut, so he can no longer speak again, and will be restricted to a liquid diet until the wires can be cut free.

X-Rays of his femur pre and post-surgery

     Aaron has shown a tremendous amount of strength through all of this. Both the physical and psychological challenges he has faced are incomprehensible, but he has awe-struck those around him through his optimism, humor and determination to overcome these obstacles. He is on the road to recovery now, and we just cannot wait for him to return home and have his life back.

See Aaron's Status & Recovery Updates Here

     For those who know him well, you recognize just how HARD Aaron has worked the last two years. He put himself through school and graduated at the top of his class. He found a job that made him happy and put his newly acquired skills to work. He found a sense of pride which was deserved. He was honored with an exceptional employee award and within only a few months of being hired by the contractor he was hired on full-time by the company and was to receive full benefits. Unfortunately, his benefits took 90 days to take effect and his accident occurred during this waiting period, so he has no health insurance to protect him in this time of need.

Post-reconstructive surgery

     He and his family are SO incredibly thankful for everyone who has reached out to offer their kind words of encouragement, those who have come to the hospital to visit and support us, and for anyone willing to contribute to his GoFundMe so that he can focus on what's important—RECOVERING—instead of worrying about how in the world he is ever going to pay for this nightmare. We expect medical expenses to be in the ballpark of $250k. Words cannot express how thankful we all are for any financial help towards getting past this.

On GoFundMe, Aaron gets to keep every single donation and can withdraw the funds at anytime, regardless of whether or not he reaches the stated campaign goal.

More photos and video:

Finally walking again after femur surgery with the help of his trauma nurse team

Day 2 in the ICU

Aaron while taking his sister kayaking last summer


We love you, Aaron!