James Dykxhoorn & Family

Eleven-year-old James Dykxhoorn was traveling with his grandfather in Montana on his way home to California after spending time in North Dakota visiting his cousins and great uncle on their farms. He had a wonderful time and didn't want to go home, and had collected many souvenirs from his travels, including canola seeds and other "treasures". As they were nearing Idaho, they were traveling on a two-lane highway, and James' grandfather pulled out to pass the cars in front of them on a straight, clear stretch of highway. Unfortunately, the car in front of them decided to turn left at that same time, and hit the truck they were in, causing it to flip over and completely crush the cab. James' grandfather was able to get out of the truck with help from passersby, but James had to be extracted from the vehicle using the Jaws of Life. He was sent via life flight to a hospital in Bozeman, MT, and once stabilized, was transferred to Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT.

Rachel, James' mother, drove from California to Salt Lake City to be with James and is currently staying with him. It is unknown how long they will need to remain in Utah as James has extensive injuries:

The following vertebrae were damaged with compression fractures: C6 was damaged in his neck, and T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 in his back -- T6 and T5 the worst with T6 -- 40% reduction, T5 - 37% reduction.

The tendons on this neck were greatly overextended, so he will have to wear a neck collar for some time.

He has a lacerated liver. Praise God that no further internal organs were damaged. The liver should heal.

On his right hand, the bones in the middle and ring fingers were shattered and on all fingers except his thumb the soft tissue and skin were scraped off in the accident on the top of the hand, from the wrist to the tips of the fingers. The plastic surgery team was able to set the bones and stretch the remaining skin to sew it up. In his ring finger a fragment of bone was lodged in one of the joints, so time will only tell if he will have full function of that finger. His thumb is fine, and no broken bones in the index or pinky fingers. There was some tendon damage in all the fingers but currently, they are expected to heal with immobilization.

The left leg had a few fractures including a cracked patella. Surgeons looked at that shortly after arriving in Salt Lake and concluded that the joint itself was fully intact. With the immobilization of the knee, the remaining other fractures should heal since the leg will not be weight-bearing for at least six weeks.

His left wrist has a buckle fracture.

He has a broken right collar bone.

He has multiple skull fractures. They used at least 7 staples to close the cut in his head. There is an egg-shaped fracture above the right eye socket. Thankfully there is no swelling in the brain.

James is in a great deal of pain in his neck, back, hand and somewhat in his stomach.

He will have to be immobilized for six weeks for everything to heal.

He has not been able to keep solid foods down since the accident.

His face is swelling up from all the injuries. His right eye area is swollen shut and his left eye area is getting more swollen to make it hard to see.

This fundraiser is to pay for travel, lodging, and medical expenses that the Dykxhoorn family will incur and we hope that you can help support them at this time.

You can follow James' progress at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jamesdykxhoorn