On November 7th, my brother Nick packed a bag, loaded up his UTV, and headed down to Southern Missouri Off Road Ranch (SMORR), an activity he had been eagerly awaiting.

He was planning a weekend getaway of exploring trails with his buddies, something that he truly enjoys doing but hasn’t had a lot of extra free time for since he spends most of his days serving customers at Stewart Radio (his small business).

Early morning November 9th, I received a text message from Nick’s phone. It was sent by one of his friends to let me know that he had been involved in an accident that left him with several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, fractured vertebrae in his back, a fractured nose, several lacerations, and bruises, and that he was in the ICU unit for neuro & trauma at Cox Hospital in Springfield, MO.

I was able to talk to Nick later that morning. If you know Nick, you know that he is tough as nails, but it didn’t take very long to realize that he was in excruciating pain and was relying on a chest tube to keep his lung open and prevent it from filling up with fluid.

At that time, I was able to understand a little more about the disaster that occurred the night before. Although the story still isn’t crystal clear, we know that it was a “freak accident,” for lack of a better phrase. One of the machines had rolled and was positioned off-trail. In the process of recovery, the machine was started, when suddenly the motor accelerated on its own (runaway) and Nick was one of the people in its path of destruction. To say he is lucky to be alive is a vast understatement.

On November 19th, after a gruesome week and a half stay at the hospital, Nick was finally released to come home.

I know I already mentioned this, but I'll say it again, if you know Nick in any capacity, you surely know he’s an extraordinarily tough dude. Although, he is making leaps and bounds in the direction of recovery, he’s not, in fact, bionic and will still require time to heal, time that stops for no one along with bills, especially for a small business owner.

Nick’s family has established this GoFundMe to help him navigate the sudden financial burden he is facing. Since his shop is his sole source of income, and his injuries prevent him from working full-time or performing installations, this fund will allow him to focus entirely on making a full and timely recovery.