On Halloween evening, my mom and sister were turning left at an intersection when they were hit head-on by a pickup truck. The impact caused the engine and the dashboard to crush my mom’s legs, resulting in a broken right femur and a shattered left ankle. She came through surgery to repair the bones as best she could and now has a nail down the center of her femur from her knee to her hip and a pin in her fibula with several plates and screws holding her ankle together. The doctors estimate it to be at least 6-8 weeks before she can even bear weight on either leg, with her full recovery looking like closer to 3-4 months. Most of that will need to be in a facility that can manage her needs for assistance with everyday activities along with daily physical therapy to get her back on her feet. All of this is even further complicated by degenerative arthritis in her knees and spine that already made mobility very challenging. Thankfully, we got a wheelchair ramp put on her house earlier this year to simplify getting in and out of the house, but we will have to do some slight modifications to her living space to accommodate a wheelchair in door frames, etc.

My younger sister came through the accident mostly uninjured but with some mental trauma around the accident itself. My mom is the primary caregiver for my sister because she is autistic, and an extended stay in a facility means extra assistance is needed for daily meal prep, transportation, and support.

And all of that doesn’t even touch on the expense of a new car because this one is clearly totaled or any of the medical expenses of an extended rehab facility stay.