Rachel's Recovery Fund
Donation protected
Hey everyone, my name is Kelly Johnsen. I started a gofundme account to help my sister Rachel Johnsen as she recovers from a car accident. On January 25th my parents recieved a phone call from Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs informing them their daughter had just come in via the emergency room due to a car accident. She was in and out of consciousness. As the ER staff worked diligenty to evaluate Rachel's injuries, we received the news she had a broken pelvis and ribs, damaged kidney, collapsed/punctured lung but the scariest was her torn Aorta Artery. Living 1,000 miles away, you can only imagine the terror and helplessness you feel wishing you were there but knowing you cannot be at that moment. Her life was at the mercy of the hospital staff's ability to find and repair any life threatening injuries she sustained.
The doctors successfully placed a stint in her Aorta to stop her from bleeding out and partially reinflated her lung. Not out of the woods yet, the doctors kept a close eye on her vitals. As she took a turn for the worse, we received another call as the doctors suspected internal bleeding but no external scans revealed any. They made the tough call of opening her up for exploratory surgery. What they found during surgery was a stomach full of blood, a torn colon, and a torn ovary. The good news was they were able to repair the tears and noticed the kidney that was damaged should heal.
Rachel started to stabilize once again. Two days after the accident the doctors needed to address her broken pelvis. They attached a pelvis fixator after they had pieced her pelvic bone back together which wasn't easy since it was broken in 6 different spots.
Struggling to breathe, the doctors needed to address her ribs as well. The bones were splintered. In order to lower the risk of Rachel struggling with cronic, sharp pain from her ribs the rest of her lif, they needed to plate the 10 broken ribs she suffered. Once again she went under the knife.
Four surgeries in four days after being t-boned from a person who ran a red light, Rachel has been through hell and back. Every doctor suggested she wouldn't live to see the next day but here we are two weeks later. She's a fighter. They already had her sitting and standing up. To hear the doctors who have worked with her say she shouldn't have lived, to see the car she was in or whats left of it and know no one should have lived from the wreckage we are left with giving all praise and glory to the man upstairs for keeping her alive. We truly believe he guided the hospital staff in every step of the way and kept his angels by her side. The thoughts and prayers of all friends and family have powered Rachel's fighting spirit. On behalf of her and her family, I truly thank you!
The battle to stay alive is over but the war to get back to normal is far from over. Rachel has a tough road to recovery ahead. Not only does she need to learn how to walk again but she's going to struggle with the inevitable battle of depression. As we all know, it's hard to control our minds enough to focus on everything that is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and worthy of praise. It's even harder as you slip into the darkest thoughts as you question why this happened, who you are, and how can you, if ever, get back to life as you once experienced it. As life moves forward, my family and I ask that you keep Rachel, along with her 2 girls Brooke and Issabelle, in your thoughts and prayers. We also ask for financial support to help cover the costs of her ever increasing medical bills. Since the person who hit her had high risk insurance, we are unsure of what bills will be covered. It's a challanging time and any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for any support (thoughts, prayers or financial) you offer!
The doctors successfully placed a stint in her Aorta to stop her from bleeding out and partially reinflated her lung. Not out of the woods yet, the doctors kept a close eye on her vitals. As she took a turn for the worse, we received another call as the doctors suspected internal bleeding but no external scans revealed any. They made the tough call of opening her up for exploratory surgery. What they found during surgery was a stomach full of blood, a torn colon, and a torn ovary. The good news was they were able to repair the tears and noticed the kidney that was damaged should heal.
Rachel started to stabilize once again. Two days after the accident the doctors needed to address her broken pelvis. They attached a pelvis fixator after they had pieced her pelvic bone back together which wasn't easy since it was broken in 6 different spots.
Struggling to breathe, the doctors needed to address her ribs as well. The bones were splintered. In order to lower the risk of Rachel struggling with cronic, sharp pain from her ribs the rest of her lif, they needed to plate the 10 broken ribs she suffered. Once again she went under the knife.
Four surgeries in four days after being t-boned from a person who ran a red light, Rachel has been through hell and back. Every doctor suggested she wouldn't live to see the next day but here we are two weeks later. She's a fighter. They already had her sitting and standing up. To hear the doctors who have worked with her say she shouldn't have lived, to see the car she was in or whats left of it and know no one should have lived from the wreckage we are left with giving all praise and glory to the man upstairs for keeping her alive. We truly believe he guided the hospital staff in every step of the way and kept his angels by her side. The thoughts and prayers of all friends and family have powered Rachel's fighting spirit. On behalf of her and her family, I truly thank you!
The battle to stay alive is over but the war to get back to normal is far from over. Rachel has a tough road to recovery ahead. Not only does she need to learn how to walk again but she's going to struggle with the inevitable battle of depression. As we all know, it's hard to control our minds enough to focus on everything that is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and worthy of praise. It's even harder as you slip into the darkest thoughts as you question why this happened, who you are, and how can you, if ever, get back to life as you once experienced it. As life moves forward, my family and I ask that you keep Rachel, along with her 2 girls Brooke and Issabelle, in your thoughts and prayers. We also ask for financial support to help cover the costs of her ever increasing medical bills. Since the person who hit her had high risk insurance, we are unsure of what bills will be covered. It's a challanging time and any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for any support (thoughts, prayers or financial) you offer!
Organiser and beneficiary
Kelly Johnsen
Organiser
St. Paul, MN
Rachel Johnsen
Beneficiary
