On Wednesday afternoon December 30, 2020, Josh, Gunnar, and Rykar were in a horrific car wreck.  All 3 sustained critical injuries.  Josh was admitted at St. Alphonsus with a chest tube, concussion and broken ribs. He was discharged from the hospital 3 days later.  Gunnar and Rykar were treated and stabilized at St. Al’s then transferred to St. Luke’s to be in the pediatric unit there. Rykar has some broken ribs, pneumothorax on the right so he also had a chest tube in place. That has now been removed, and he is doing well, making improvements every day.  Gunnar sustained the worst injuries by far. He is in the PICU, intubated with multiple critical injuries (lungs, liver lacerations, severe TBI/concussion, internal bleeding that was controlled at the ER). He is making strides each day towards healing. There is reason to have Great Hope. He did not sustain an impact injury to his brain so there are no contusions to his head; it was the thrashing from the accident that caused his TBI. His brain is not swelling, his MRI shows that his spinal cord and brain were not injured. He is not showing any “soft” signs of brain injury so the neurologist thinks he did not have an extended period of hypoxia. Only time will tell. He is mostly being kept in a sedated state as his brain is not ready to process anything yet, he’s in a lot of pain, and he needs to rest and heal.
Krista is at St. Luke’s with the boys, and Josh is temporarily staying with a friend where he can get rest in a quiet dark room to heal up his concussion.  Family is taking care of Kylar. Meals and groceries are being provided by friends & neighbors, and there are so many others wanting so badly to help.  Here is your chance to help the family with insurance deductibles (of course it re-set Jan. 1) and all the incidental expenses over the next weeks and months.  Thank you all!