April 12, 2026, changed our lives forever. My husband Michael and our 3-year-old son Rylyn got into a terrible car accident after he got off work and picked our son up from my parents' house. On the way home, he had a seizure and passed out while driving. He and our son ran downhill head-on into a tree, and they both got transported to VCU. My son had to be rushed by a helicopter, and I had never been so scared in my life. It turns out my husband dislocated his pelvic bone; they had to pop it back into place, and they had only one shot at it to save the bone and repair it. Thank God they got it, but he also broke his hip bone all the way down to his knee bone. Because of that, he had to get emergency surgery the same day to realign and basically reconstruct his leg. They had to put plates, rods, and screws in his leg.

Our son Rylyn has a long way to go as well. He has multiple broken bones in his face: his cheekbones, his eye socket bones, his whole entire nose from point to the bridge is broken, and he has a few cracked skull fractures with a severe concussion. He had small bleeding and swelling on his brain, and because of the fractures, he has an air pocket in his skull that we are monitoring. At first, they were thinking they might have to do face surgery on him, but by the grace of God, my boys are both still here, and that's all that matters to me. Because the way my husband's car was smushed up like a pancake and my son's car seat broke into pieces, both of them covered in blood head to toe, they shouldn't have been here, but God made it possible!

With that being said, unfortunately, we have so much work to do to get them back where they need to be. For the next 2 to 6 months, I have to run our son and husband back and forth to Richmond, VA, which is a 1-hour to 45-minute, sometimes 2-hour drive away depending on traffic, there and back each time to see different specialists and get them to the physical therapist and trauma specialist they need to get better and recover from this tragedy. I have to stay home to take care of them both, making sure they have what they need. My husband can't walk and won't be able to walk or work for a while without intense physical therapy multiple days out of the week. Our son has to pretty much be on watch 24/7 for at least 6 to 12 weeks because of the concussion; he can't have any falls whatsoever. My son was a very active kid, and to limit him from the things he used to do has been the hardest thing ever. Our daughter Gracelynn is having a hard time understanding that her brother can't play with her like he used to, so we have been trying to keep them separated until he can heal properly.

On top of that, I still have to make sure our daughter gets back and forth to school and basically keep our normal home routine with her every day, and it's been extremely hard on me. We are all mentally and physically exhausted, and now that I'm our only source of income, I can't afford to even keep us afloat. I can't and won't leave them like this, so I feel stuck. The bills and expenses are piling up, and it's not cheap. We were just making ends meet before this, but now it's all on me. This has really taken a toll on us. I don't want to lose our home; this is all we have, and we worked so hard for it. I'm just trying to hold it together for everybody, but I am not okay. I just feel like everything is falling apart, and we just need help and support. If you can find it in your hearts to support with anything, it would be greatly appreciated, and if you can't right now, we understand. Just please keep our family in your prayers and share this post. Thank you! - Frances aka (Cookcook)