On Saturday, July 19th, 2025, Jared Thomas, 42, was doing something he loved — riding his motorcycle with friends on a road trip from Oklahoma City to Missouri. He was excited to visit an old friend and enjoy some peaceful time away, with close friends following behind him in a vehicle.

Somewhere along a two-lane highway, on a road filled with winding switchbacks, something went terribly wrong. We believe the heat got to him. He started feeling sick, lost vision, and eventually blacked out. As his vision began to fade, he tried to steady the bike, but lost control. He veered off the road and hit a five-foot ditch, crashing head-on into a tree. He was thrown from the motorcycle on impact.

Jared was taken by ambulance to the nearest trauma hospital in Springfield, Missouri — nearly 400 miles away from his home and family. When he arrived, doctors discovered that his pelvis had been completely separated. The internal bleeding was severe, and he underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. A wound vac was placed to draw out blood and help prevent infection. Because the orthopedic trauma surgeon wasn’t immediately available, Jared’s pelvis was stabilized using a sheet wrap — without it, his blood pressure kept dropping dangerously low.

After surgery, Jared was admitted to the neurotrauma ICU where he’s remained ever since. To prevent his pelvis from shifting, they inserted traction rods by drilling into both of his femurs and attaching 20 pounds of weight to each leg. This keeps his pelvis from moving until a permanent repair could be done. As if that weren’t enough, they discovered he also fractured his left elbow, has numbness in his fingers, can’t move his right arm, and has lost vision in his left eye — signs that pointed to a possible stroke. Neurologists believe the stroke may have occurred in the back right side of his brain, and tests later confirmed a blockage in one of the blood vessels in his neck. An MRI was ordered, but it had to be postponed until he was stable enough to be moved again.

Throughout this entire nightmare, Jared has remained in incredibly rough shape but continues to fight. On Monday, July 21st, Jared underwent a major surgery to finally reconstruct his pelvis. The procedure went well, and the pelvis is now stable. During surgery, doctors also found a deep wound near the rectum, which was treated with a wound vac and will need close monitoring. A colonoscopy was done to make sure there wasn’t further internal damage, and thankfully, that came back clear.

Due to the many other injuries, doctors weren’t able to operate on his elbow just yet, so his arm remains in a splint while they focus on healing the most urgent trauma. Jared is still in the ICU for now, where they’re rotating him every two hours to avoid bed sores, managing pain, and waiting for the right time to complete more imaging and assessments.

Jared has a long, uncertain road ahead. He’ll be non-weight bearing for at least 3 to 4 months, meaning he’ll be confined to a wheelchair and unable to walk. Once he’s released from the hospital, he will need to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility with no clear timeline for when he might be able to return home. At this point, just getting him back to Oklahoma — 385 miles away — will be a challenge.

He will be out of work for at least 6 to 12 months. Jared is a proud CDL truck driver, and just last month, he made the difficult but exciting decision to leave his long-haul job after 21 years on the road so he could be home more often with his two daughters, Chloe (19) and Claire (17). He took a local job to be closer to family, friends, and home — and he wasn’t there long enough to acquire medical insurance.

This situation has placed an incredible emotional and financial strain on Jared, his daughters, and everyone who loves him. He’s still trying to wrap his head around what comes next, and right now, the focus is simply on surviving each day. The cost of medical care, rehab, lost income, transportation, and housing adjustments is overwhelming.

That’s why we’re asking for help. Our goal is to raise $250,000 to support Jared’s recovery — to help him get the care he needs, keep his family afloat, and give him the best shot at healing. Jared is tough, but even the strongest among us sometimes need help standing back up — especially when they can’t stand at all.

If you’re able to donate, we are forever grateful. If you can’t, please consider sharing this, and keep Jared in your thoughts and prayers. Every bit of love helps. Thank you for walking alongside us through this.

We’ll continue to share updates as we get them. Jared is still here. He’s fighting. And he’s not alone.

With love and gratitude,
The Thomas Family & Friends

Update

Please keep sharing the fundraisers, praying, and sending all the love and light this way! Springfield doesn’t know what a rockstar they have here.

7/23/25 10:00 am

Jared is currently in surgery for his elbow repair. We’re hoping this is his last surgery and that he will be moved from the ICU soon. The neurologist said from what he could see on the MRI, Jared has had multiple strokes. There were several on the right side in the back that he thinks was originally caused by a tear in a small artery on the side of the neck. Imagine turning your head and feeling it pop. You know when it turns cold or hot when it pops? Something like that was the initial problem. Then the tear caused the vein that’s already small to become even smaller so that caused a clot, then a stroke. He thinks that’s where Jared originally blacked out on the bike, not a heat related incident. He said there were also a couple strokes on the left side of the brain. He says sometimes when a big bone breaks, a fatty bit comes out and goes up and will clog stuff. It also could have been from the impact or even later. They are going to monitor him and hope the arteries heal themselves, as going in could cause more damage. He’s currently being treated with aspirin. He is in one of the leading stroke facilities in the state, so he’s where he needs to be right now. His blurred peripheral on the left side is likely from the original stroke and he will probably never have 100% of his vision back. Pretty much things we were already told to suspect but it’s nice to have some answers. I think right now he’s just processing all the changes that are coming. He’s still alert and asking questions and talking through things to piece everything together. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we help navigate these ever changing circumstances. Continued prayers are welcomed.

7/23/2025, 7pm - Jared’s elbow surgery went well. He’s been out of it most of the day and been resting. They have placed a feeding tube to try and get him the nutrients he needs since he has eaten very little. He has made some progress with eating, applesauce, jello, crackers, a couple of bites of chicken patty and mashed potatoes but that’s not enough to sustain so this is why they placed the feeding tube. He will remain in the ICU for now while they monitor his O2; without forced oxygen his stats drop. They are still monitoring the perineum wound, keeping it clean, wound vac still intact. His next surgery procedure will be to clean that out again and see if it can be sutured or needs to remain open with the wound vac attached. This has not been scheduled yet so for now we are at a wait and see as his body starts the healing process.

7/24/25 9:00 am

They have taken Jared back to clean the perineum wound and hopefully close it. If they can’t, he will have another procedure in a couple days to clean and close. He is still in the NTICU. They will take the splint off of his left elbow so he can start moving it in a couple days. Please keep sharing and praying!

7/25/25 3:00 pm

Jared is out of the ICU!!

He has been moved to a room on the floor for now. We have not heard for how long. He’s trying to eat so he can get rid of the feeding tube, he’s pretty ready to have has few hoses, cords, and cuffs on him as possible!

Thank you all so much for spreading the word! Please continue sharing the fundraisers, copy and paste if that’s easier, and praying as we figure out Jareds next steps in this unexpected journey.