Courtney's Broken Bones, not Spirit

On Sunday, July 29th my sister Courtney, was in a tragic car accident that has left her with many broken bones and several months of recovery ahead of her. We almost lost her. Just a few blocks from her home in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, she crested a hill around 2:45am, on her way home from a late shift at work and slammed into a bulldozer. The driver of the bulldozer had no lights on and was in both lanes of the small island road. Hitting that hunk of metal was like hitting a brick wall at 35 miles an hour. As she was trapped in her car, smelling wires and chemicals burning and trying to pry the door open, she felt the car start to move. The driver of the bulldozer was pushing her car, with her in it, into the other lane to make it look more like her fault. People came out from their homes to see what the commotion was all about. NO ONE HELPED MY SISTER as she screamed for assistance, instead bystanders just laughed at the scene. My sister said, “I was trying to move and yelling for help and I could see people’s faces and hear them laughing and chatting, like it was entertainment.” Finally, an older lady, whose name she didn’t catch, came through the crowd and tried to get my sister out of the car. She was able to get a hold of the police (which is much harder than it ever should be) and several minutes later the firetruck and ambulance showed up to pry her from the car.

Once they got her to the hospital they started to describe her injuries to her. “Your femur is coming through the skin and so are parts of your ankle.” There were many other injuries that were described to her in little detail: MULTIPLE BROKEN OR CRUSHED BONES, FRACTURED VERTEBRAE, ETC. After a few hours in the hospital in St. Thomas, doctors realized they were not equipped to put my sister back together. They arranged for her to be airlifted to one of two places, Puerto Rico or Miami. PRAISE GOD, THEY SENT HER TO MIAMI to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s, Ryder Trauma Center.

On the morning of Sunday, July 29th, I got a call from my mom. She was in tears and simply said, “Shelbi, we need to fly to Miami right now. Courtney was in a bad accident.” We both jumped into action and had my dad drive us up to the San Jose airport (2.5 hours from Paso Robles, were we live) to get to my sister as soon as we could. At 1:00am we arrived in Miami and went straight to the trauma center. Seeing her was comforting and terrifying at the same time. We recognized instantly that there was going to be a very long road ahead of her and us.

Courtney wants to give a shout out and a huge thanks to Kenny Chesney, who has always had a passion for the islands. She recognizes how much of his musical career is island-focused and how he has been so supportive of the rebuild process. His ‘Songs for the Saints’ album really hit home with Courtney. Songs like, Every Heart and Better Boat were so filled with emotions that reflect directly on the struggles and the heart and soul of the islands. These tiny islands are so often forgotten by mainstream media and Kenny has done what he can to keep reminding people of their struggles with everyday life things with donating proceeds and starting his foundation, Love for Love City. We cannot thank him enough for keeping the attention on the little guys. The islands are blessed to have such an outspoken advocate. Thank God for you, Mr. Chesney!

Throughout her three years on St. Thomas, Courtney has been through two category five hurricanes, attempting to assist many locals in rebuilding their businesses, lives and homes, SAVED A FAMILY OF FIVE FROM THEIR BURNING HOME and several other hurdles. She has made several friends on island. She is loved by everyone she works with and has come into contact with. The outpouring of care and support has been amazing. Her friends back home in Paso Robles have been equally supportive and loving. We have all been able to band together to try and get her through this tragedy one day at a time.

Unfortunately, and a BIG unfortunately, my sister has NO HEALTH INSURANCE and we’ve been through the ringer trying to get Medicaid or Medical or something, anything to help, without success. We know that THIS WHOLE SITUATION WILL BANKRUPT MY SISTER AT 32 YEARS OLD and cause a lot of added financial (on top of emotional/mental) stress on my entire family. Being that my mom and dad have both had heart issues, it worries me to have this fall on their shoulders. It’s a daunting fate but we praise God daily that she’s still on this earth with us. Our blessings are abundant, and we do not take one moment with each other for granted. These are the reasons we have started a GoFundMe. My whole family has a very hard time asking for help, so this is difficult for us to do. Thank you for your prayers, love, and support. May God bless you.