Hopefully last update
We are incredibly thankful to share that after a 6-day hospital stay, we are home. Walking through our door felt nothing short of a miracle - Praise the Lord!
We continue to be amazed by Nolan’s strength and the progress he has already made. We are so deeply grateful for the incredible medical team who cared for him—the doctors, nurses, surgeons, and staff who showed such skill, compassion, and dedication during some of his hardest days. We will never forget the care they gave to Nolan and to our family.
While we celebrate being home, we know Nolan still has a long road ahead. He will continue with ongoing care including PT/OT, neuropsych, orthopedics, orthodontics, and wound care. Even so, we are filled with hope and gratitude for how far he has already come and for the work God has done to bring us to this point.
We are overwhelmed by the love and support from our community, friends, and family. Every prayer, message, meal, and act of kindness has carried us through more than you know. Thank you for walking this journey with us—we truly could not do this without you.
1/16 morning update
What a year this day has been (I can’t remember who said that, but perfect match for the day)!
Yesterday morning continued the same as the evening before, very rough with a lot of disorientation, confusion, and Nolan was very tired. We tried to get him up to walk to X-Ray and he was very wobbly after a great previous day, so ended up getting a ride. He asked if Christmas had happened yet, and had a very hard time staying awake.
Physical and Occupational Therapy both came around lunch time, got him up for a walk and he TOOK OFF. He did stairs and two speedy laps around the unit before proving he can brush his teeth, put on socks and shoes, and use the bathroom.
After an unmediated, post-lunch nap, Nolan woke up to his “smoke show” nursing tech, Emily, by his side and had a HUGE afternoon. Emily immediately got him up for a walk to the snack bar, quizzed him on wrestling positions (former Glenwood wrestler), played Uno with him, helped him decorate his door, worked with him on a goals list, and set up her personal iPad for him to watch the MV duals. She had him smiling, annoyed, working physically and mentally, *gave us a break* and was instrumental in his improvements yesterday.
In the evening, Nolan got to call both Clay and Caleb, and checking in with them had him laughing and talking like the Nolan we know.
The doctors yesterday evening stated they would medically clear us to go home if we could get through the night. We were so hopeful with how the day went that we would be out of here today! (I still am!) Unfortunately, we had another pretty rough overnight but I do believe getting Nolan home will help reorient him in the night and make for better sleep and less restlessness, agitation, and delirium.
We have a lot of things to prepare at home to make it safe for Nolan to return, but we truly feel it’s the best place for him to recover, and are hopeful for a good morning round with the doctors.
We are completely overwhelmed in the best way—by the love, prayers, generosity, and support that has been shown to our family. In the midst of the hardest moments, our community has lifted us up in ways we never could have imagined.
Thank you to everyone who has donated, shared this page, brought meals, sent messages, prayed, and checked in on us. Every single gesture has meant more than we can put into words. Knowing we are not walking through this alone has given us strength on days when we felt we had none.
We are deeply grateful for our friends who started this page and to each of you who have supported our son and our family. Your kindness has taken a weight off our shoulders and allowed us to focus on what matters most—being present, hopeful, and together.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. We will never forget this love.
Niles, Haylee, and Courtney
1/15 morning update:
We moved out of the ICU up to the 9th floor to continue healing. GOOD NEWS - Nolan is up walking, going to the bathroom, and eating on his own. He will do PT/OT 3x/day to help with pain, and strength to be safe to come home. We played a game of cards with him yesterday before he decided he was “going to crash out” because of his arm pain. We saw ortho for his wrist to ease some of that pain, and changed the dressings on the surgical site on his knee.
His highlight was a shower, though he thought a sponge bath from a hot nurse didn’t sound too bad!
We still struggle with what I like to call“witching hour” - where Nolan is still getting delirious for a multiple hours around bedtime. We are told is normal for what he is going through, but something we need to get under control still.
Niles, Courtney, and I are so happy to see progress each day and never expected to see him doing so well, considering what we walked into Saturday night. We know it is because of all the prayers, the support, and the love that is being shown for our guy. Thank you
1/14 morning update:
We are still in ICU hoping to move up to a more comfortable floor today.
Yesterday was a rollercoaster of a day. Nolan was able to work with PT to get into a chair, and even made it out to the lobby to say hi to Caleb! They will be working with him on how to move his body to protect the fractures in both of his arms and shoulder blade.
Respiratory therapy also continues to check Nolan’s lungs as he suffered a laceration and a hemothorax and pneumothorax. At this time they do not believe he will require intervention and he will heal on his own.
We think all that action may have been too much too soon, as the evening brought a lot of pain and delirium, which led to him being put on more IV medications to calm his traumatic brain injury.
After a restful night, we are up watching Netflix and hoping for another day of progress!
On January 10th, Nolan and three other local teens were involved in a very serious car accident. Nolan's injuries were extensive.
Please consider supporting his family by contributing to his medical bills. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.