Team Ash!

Please donate to help Ash in his non-covered medical costs, recovery, rehabilitation, and adjustment to his new future.

 

On Saturday, September 11, 2021, Ashton Tilton was in a severe car accident in Oakridge, OR. He was unable to gain control of his car after making a sharp turn on a mountain road. His car collided with a guard rail which busted through his passenger door and crushed both of his legs. He managed to crawl out of the driver window and onto the ground. 

Fortunately for Ash, he was driving behind a couple of friends who noticed that Ash was no longer behind them. One friend was able to stay with Ash while another drove to available phone service to call an ambulance. He was taken to Peacehealth Riverbend Hospital in Springfield, OR where it was identified that he had severe, extensive injuries to both of his lower legs. He was immediately taken into surgery to try to attempt to repair and save his legs.

 

They were able to reconstruct his left leg with numerous rods and pins during two different surgeries totaling 15 hours over the next 3 days. Unfortunately Ash’s right leg was too badly injured and they had little choice but to proceed with amputation below the knee during a 3rd and 4th surgery on 09/15 and 09/16/21. The decision to amputate was an extremely difficult one for his parents. Ultimately they had no choice as it was necessary to save his life.

 

The surgeons warned that if they did not amputate, there would be no feeling in the leg and walking would be nearly impossible. More importantly the extent of the damage to the bones in the leg was causing a release of bone marrow into the bloodstream that started to block blood flow to the brain resulting in multiple strokes throughout his brain. This resulted in a comatose state and ongoing injury to the brain. There was also a high risk of infection; if the open wounds in the right leg were to infect the bloodstream (sepsis), it could cause additional damage to the left leg and potentially put Ash’s life at further risk.

 

Although Ash was initially alert and talking immediately after the accident despite significant pain (even exhibiting humor and sarcasm with the chaplain that spoke to him in the ER), his responsiveness deteriorated throughout the week due to the multiple strokes. Fortunately, once the lower right leg was amputated, Ash’s responsiveness has started to steadily improve over the last 24 hours. The doctors feel that the risk of additional strokes has decreased considerably. However, they remain very concerned about the damage that the strokes have already caused to the brain. They have also explained that Ash has likely suffered some additional brain damage from the brain hitting his skull when the car hit the guardrail as well as from swelling in the brain caused by the brain reacting to foreign bone marrow entering the brain. It is difficult to know at this point how much injury to the brain Ash will need to try to overcome. It will take 3-6 months to have a clearer picture of the extent of his brain injuries.

 

What we do know right now is that Ash’s future will take him on a very different journey than he or anyone expected. He will likely spend the next 1-2 years in rehabilitation recovering from this car accident. Once he is medically stable, he will be moved from Riverbend to an acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital where he will receive physical, occupational and speech therapy to help him learn to do the things that we all take for granted. Things like sitting, standing, walking, showering, thinking, remembering and finding words to speak. He will have to learn to adjust to a prosthetic lower right leg while managing the recovery of the reconstructed left leg.

 

As many of you know, this is not the future that Ash was anticipating. Last week Ash was meant to move into his dorm at Oregon State University to start studying computer science. Ash just recently graduated from Oakridge High School in June 2021. He was valedictorian of his class and served as the president of both his junior and senior classes. He has always loved sports and being involved in the community. He played basketball his freshman year. His sophomore year he wrestled and was awarded “Most Improved” by his coach. He ran cross country his sophomore, junior, and senior year and ran track all four years of high school.

 

Ash works at the Willamette Mountain Mercantile/Oakridge Bike Shop as a bike mechanic. He loves to run, mountain bike, hike, snowboard and hang out with his friends. Ash has always been willing to try new things. He has an amazing sense of humor and loves to make people laugh. Those that know Ash, know how strong and smart he is. He is a fighter and will make it through this with all of our support!!!

 

Ash will have extensive, lifelong related medical costs and challenges. We want to make sure that he gets the very best rehabilitation he can and that his family can spend the time they need off work helping him recover. He faces a long road to recovery. If you can, please donate to help Ash recover and rebuild his life. Any assistance is greatly appreciated by Ash’s family.