Aidan Poole

Today marks one year since Aidan was hit by a reckless, intoxicated driver. One year. It is hard to put into words what this past year has held. In a single moment, our lives changed forever. Aidan suffered severe burns and has endured more pain, surgeries, procedures, and challenges than we ever imagined he would have to face. There have been moments of fear, heartbreak, exhaustion, and uncertainty—but there have also been moments of incredible strength, healing, hope, faith, and love. As we look back over this past year, there truly are no words big enough to express how grateful we are for the incredible love and support our family has received. To everyone who donated to his GoFundMe, prayed for him, shared his story, checked on our family, sent messages of encouragement, or simply kept him in your thoughts—thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your generosity has helped ease burdens during a time when so much of our focus needed to be on Aidan and his recovery. But beyond the financial help, knowing that so many people care about him and have stood beside our family has meant more than we could ever put into words. Above all, our faith has carried us through this journey. There have been moments when we didn’t know how we were going to take another step, and we leaned on God to give us the strength to keep going. We have prayed through fear, pain, uncertainty, surgeries, setbacks, and long days of recovery. There were times when all we could do was put everything in God’s hands and trust Him to carry us through. And He did—many times through the people He placed around us. Our church family has been an incredible source of strength throughout all of this. They have prayed with us and for us, encouraged us, loved us, checked on us, and stood beside our family when we needed it most. Knowing that so many people were lifting Aidan up in prayer gave us strength on days when we felt like we had very little of our own. We will never be able to adequately express how much our faith and our church family have meant to us throughout this journey. There is also one very special person we want to recognize. At the time of the accident, Jadzia was Aidan’s girlfriend, and today we are so incredibly happy to call her his fiancée. ❤️ What Jadzia has done for Aidan throughout this journey is something our family will never be able to fully repay. She has been by his side through the pain, surgeries, recovery, setbacks, fear, exhaustion, and everything in between. She stepped into the role of caregiver with more love, patience, strength, and compassion than we could have ever asked for. She has cared for him on the hardest days, encouraged him when he needed it most, and loved him through circumstances that neither of them should ever have had to experience. As his parents, there are simply no words to describe what it means to know that someone loves your child that deeply. We love Jadzia, we appreciate her, and we will forever be grateful for the way she has cared for and stood beside Aidan. Watching the two of them come through something so devastating together and now seeing them preparing for a future as husband and wife is something incredibly special to us. And somehow, in the middle of all of this, Aidan stayed in college. Through severe burns, surgeries, appointments, recovery, pain, and everything else that came with having his life turned upside down, he found a way to keep going. There were days when simply getting through the day was an accomplishment, yet he continued working toward his education and his future. His determination, perseverance, and strength have made us more proud than we can possibly say. Now, one year later, we have entered another chapter of this journey. The driver has been indicted, and our family will have to walk through the criminal court process that lies ahead. After that, we will also face the civil trial. We know these next phases will bring difficult days and emotions as we are asked to revisit something that forever changed Aidan’s life and our entire family. But just as God has carried us this far, we trust that He will continue to carry us through what lies ahead. This past year has shown us how quickly life can change, but it has also shown us just how much love can surround a family during its darkest moments. We have seen God’s love through the hands and hearts of so many people who stepped forward to help us. Aidan still has a journey ahead of him, but when we look at how far he has come in one year, we are overwhelmed with gratitude. We are thankful for Jadzia, our church family, our family and friends, and every single person who has prayed, donated, reached out, shared his story, or helped us in ways big and small. As we continue through these next chapters, we ask that you please continue to keep Aidan, Jadzia, and our family in your prayers. From our entire family, thank you for loving Aidan, praying for his healing, supporting his recovery, and carrying us through some of the darkest days of our lives. Every donation, every prayer, every message, and every act of kindness has mattered. Your generosity and love have touched our family more deeply than you will ever know, and we will carry it in our hearts forever. Most of all, we thank God for bringing Aidan this far, for the people He placed in our lives when we needed them most, and for giving us the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. One year later, we don’t know exactly what the road ahead will look like, but we know how far Aidan has come, we know how deeply he is loved, and we know we will not walk this road alone. With all our love, faith, and gratitude, Our Family ❤️