On the morning of January 28th, Jared was driving from Denver to a client’s home in Colorado Springs for work. He was on the highway, had the right of way, and was less than five minutes from his destination when another driver turned across his lane and slammed directly into his driver’s side at highway speed.

The impact hit his door and front fender. The airbags deployed, and the force spun his car off the road. It grazed a power pole, crossed a grass median, and then crashed head-on into the concrete base of a parking lot light pole. Even with his seatbelt on, his head hit the windshield hard enough to leave a crack in the windshield.

He had a gash on his forehead, but like a lot of people after something like that, the adrenaline covered up how serious it actually was. He didn’t take medical transport from the scene.

About an hour later, on the way home, he started feeling worse and went to urgent care. They did X-rays, checked him out, and referred him to a spine specialist because they suspected possible microfractures in a few vertebrae. Aside from that, they didn’t see anything immediately concerning and sent him with instructions for rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain relievers.

Over the next four days, the pain and bruising started surfacing more. We went to the ER to make sure nothing had been missed and to get everything documented for insurance. They ran CT scans, and xrays , noted his injuries, and sent him home with muscle relaxers and the same instructions as before.

What we they didn’t find was the internal bleeding that had be getting worse since the accident.

So we went home. The ER visit took around 3 hours, mostly just waiting and being moved to different rooms to wait some more. Jared was tired and was very ready to be home. I had to run to the store and was gone for less than 7 minutes. During that time he got extremely tired and nauseous. When I came home I got him a bucket in case he needed to throw up.

He ended up needing the bucket. I could tell right away that something was wrong.

He got up to go to the bathroom, took a few steps, and then just… collapsed. He hit his head on the door frame and landed on our dog’s water bowl stand hard enough to break the wood and dent the metal with his ribs. He was just barely conscious and was getting really pale.

I immediately called 911.

When he kind of came to, he was so weak, and he started throwing up again. Now, without a doubt, it was blood and the bucket was nearly one third full. He was rapidly declining.

Paramedics got there and started working on him right away, stretcher, IVs, everything, and rushed him to the ER, where doctors got right to work trying to stabilize Jared’s condition and find the source of the bleed. He was still vomiting blood and ended up needing multiple transfusions, 6 units of whole blood plus plasma and platelets.

Later, doctors told us he had lost nearly 60% of his blood and was within just minutes of dying, his remaining time could have been counted in seconds. That level of blood loss is categorized as “Level IV Hemorrhagic Shock”. Without immediate treatment, survival isn’t common.

The cause was 6 ruptured vessels in his esophagus that had been slowly bleeding since the crash, with no obvious symptoms. A specialist in the hospital said any more than 3 of these bleeds is considered severe.

They performed an emergency endoscopic procedure to stop the bleeding. They put “bands” around the ruptured vessels in his esophagus to stop the bleeding immediately The ultimate goal of the bands is to make the body create a permanent blockage by forming scar tissue which reduces the potential for rebleeding considerably.

He was put in a medically induced coma and had a breathing tube in while they did the banding. After the procedure, Jared was still unconscious and had the breathing tube in place.

Medical staff had to use restraints for because, even heavily sedated, he was trying hard to take it out.

When he started coming out of it, he was confused and scared and couldn’t talk because of the tube. And if you know Jared, you know how much he talks, how much he connects with people, so being stuck like that, surrounded by machines and worried faces, was really hard on him.

In total he spent three days in the ICU and another three in the hospital.

We’re incredibly lucky he made it. I don’t take that for granted for a second.

But surviving was just the beginning. Recovery has been slow and unpredictable. There are good days and really hard ones. He still needs follow-up care, specialists, and time for his body to recover from everything it went through.

And the reality is, his job is physical. As a self-employed electrician, if he can’t work, the business doesn’t run.

All of this has completely upended our lives. Jobs had to be canceled, new work turned away, and with no clear timeline on when things will be back to normal, stability feels very uncertain.

The driver who caused the crash only had minimum insurance and no real assets, so most of the financial impact, medical bills, lost income, is falling on us.

Jared is the kind of person who shows up for people, no matter what. Asking for help is not something he’s comfortable with. But right now, we need it.

If you’re able to donate, it would mean more than I can put into words. And if you can’t, sharing this helps more than you probably realize.

We’re so grateful for every message, every share, and every bit of support. It really does make a difference.