Support Michele's Recovery After Accident

Update:Aug 24. Two surgeries completed and Michele remains in high spirits. She will be in ICU for the upcoming week.

Day One: As many of you are already aware, Michele Dyson was involved in a freak accident on Monday, August 19, 2024. While travelling West on Dyson Rd, a gust of wind brought down two very large trees just as she was passing under them. One of the trees landed right across the dash of her car and brought her to an immediate stop. To further complicate the situation, power lines were entangled in the tree. Michele was pinned in the vehicle with the steering column and dash down on her legs, preventing her from moving. Emergency services were dispatched to a tree down in the roadway and immediately found that it was more complicated because Michele was in her car under one of those trees.

Sheffield-Calahaln and William R. Davie Fire Departments, as well as Davie Rescue Squad, Squad 81, and EMS responded to the scene. NCDOT and Joe’s Toe showed up with heavy equipment for assistance with lifting the tree, and Energy United was quick to arrive and move the power lines. I arrived on the scene a few minutes later because a neighbor called to tell me they thought it was Michele. I’ll be honest, when I pulled up, I feared the worst when I saw the car. After a few minutes, I made it to the car and was able to talk to her for a moment. True to Michele, she was still doing her best to smile. One of her words to me was, “This is bad Justin, this is real bad isn’t it?” I told her “It ain’t pretty, but we are gonna get you out of here”. I had to make the worst possible call next to Steven and try to let him know through poor cell service that Michele was alive but the accident was pretty bad. The extrication was complicated and lengthy with the large tree. I will say, I have worked around most of these emergency service guys for a very long time, and looking around at the team, Michele had the dream team there for this complicated extrication. Overall, it took over an hour to get her out. She was transported to Baptist hospital for treatment via ambulance. The family would like to give a huge shout out to all the emergency services personnel that were there to help Michele during this ordeal.

Fast forward a bit to Michele’s journey since arriving at the hospital. She had some 3rd degree burns on her thighs and left forearm, of course several bruises and cuts, a left wrist fracture, and some blood clotting occurring from the trauma to the lower extremities. Most concerning however were her neck injuries. Her scans showed fractures and misalignment in her C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae which was causing some impact to her spinal cord. Surgeons were very concerned about paralysis and scheduled surgery for Tuesday, August 20. After some other wound and burn care work, a surgical team, led by a neurosurgeon, began work on the vertebrae repair around 4:30 PM. Several rods and screws were placed to stabilize and realign things. In speaking to the surgeon afterwords, he said the surgery went very well and he was much more optimistic than earlier about mobility issues.

The next 72 hours are critical, and we will know more about any permanent mobility issues as the days progress. Steven, Hunter, and all Michele’s family are doing as good as can be expected. They know their life just got drastically different for the foreseeable future. We are all excited beyond words of the most recent optimistic news and are just holding our breath for the next few days to see improvements. Michele is remaining in good spirits.

We know that many friends and family in the community and surrounding areas are very concerned and want to know how Michele is doing. We waited just a bit before sending this because the situation was very dynamic and continues to be so. Please know that as we have reasonable updates, we will communicate those here to allow the family some time to rest as the last few days have been very stressful and tiring. We ask that visitation be limited for now until things can settle, but know that your thoughts, prayers, and cards are appreciated to let Michele and family know you are thinking of them.

Please continue to lift up bold prayers for Michele's healing; strength for the family in this trying time; and blessings on the medical professionals for wisdom in Michele’s care.

Justin