Life after a helicopter crash, for the Wackerman's

Hello friends and family -

This is Shannon, I am here on behalf of Dan. Where do I even begin to tell this story and ask for your support...

On Saturday, May 17 at 1135 Dan was in a helicopter crash. He was flying as an instructor in an Aerokopter ak 1-3 Sanka. He was flying with his student James, who was also a friend. We all know, that no matter how you start with Dan, one way or the other, you'll end as his friend. Their ship went down just outside of the Prineville, OR airport for reasons that are not known at this time. Tragically, James lost his life hours later in the hospital. With this reality in mind, it is with great fortune I can say that Dan is alive.

He sustained multiple severe injuries. He has needed surgical repair of a broken femur and abdominal bleeding. He also has significant trauma and injury to the brain, as well as an unstable mid spine fracture. While the traumatic brain injury is currently our greatest fear, the most life threatening of all was an internal decapitation. His skull separated from the spine and there was no support preventing the spinal cord from fatal damage.

Thanks to the diligence of every Police officer, EMS, nurse, ED tech and MD who ensured his c-spine was protected for the first 48 hours, he was able to have surgery to stabilize his spine. Now, his whole neck is fused with titanium from the skull to c6. He is alive, because of those efforts.

Today he is still sedated, on the ventilator and waiting for more surgeries. We have so many unknowns ahead to overcome. Greatest of all, who will Dan be when he wakes up? What will his brain be like and what is the future of our world going to look like? Is he going to be the father, husband, friend, brother, neighbor and amazing man we all know? We have a lot of work to do.

This morning I was thinking about the moment of impact for the heli, and what it must have been like for him. He was thrown 20' from the ship and landed in the dirt. I imagined that his pragmatic and brilliant brain was screaming "I HAVE MORE TO DO. TODAY IS NOT THE DAY I DIE. DEPLOY EMERGENCY BUBBLE WRAP." I can't figure out how else he survived such a traumatic event. His unyielding determination to live a big life and take care of the people he loves - caught him midair and set him down gently. Gently enough to give him the best spanking of his life, while leaving us left to help rebuild that man we love and admire.

We live very lean primarily off my income, and he is the stay at home dad, who takes care of our home, vehicles and property while also sprinkling in rouge flight lessons and help out on the Bison ranch. There is no liability insurance on the helicopter. I have no idea how we're going to manage these logistics. Please consider financial support if you have resources to share. Thank you for coming with us on this journey.