“What IF… The worst thing that ever happened to you turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you?” Accident & Surgery Support for Mark & Sherrie Rosenberger The Back Story: It’s all about Family. We set out to join our son, Mikael and his bride, Nanllel in Denver. WHY? Because FAMILY is a TOP priority for us. And with a new grand puppy on the scene and rumors of a potential grand baby on the way, Sherrie reminded me, “Don’t let the door hit you in the backend.” So, we loaded up our belongings, packed the car (complete with two cats and a dog) and headed toward Denver. The vision—a new adventure in our life and an emotional HUG with our son & DIL on the driveway of our little Denver rental house. But Life had another idea—The ‘slight’ Detour Day two of our trip, May 12th, turned into one of those events you hopefully never imagine or experience. The 'slight' Detour: 28 miles west of Green River, UT we blew a right front tire at 75 miles per hour and went off the highway 'Dukes of Hazzards' style flying through the Utah sagebrush hitting a berm and getting air; hitting a second berm and flying 30' before the crash landing. Airbags deployed; engine steaming; Sherrie groaning; my face a bloody mess. Not sure about the animals. The outcome: Against all odds, we emerged alive, including our beloved pets. Sherrie broke her back-- a ‘burst fracture’ at T-12 and was taken by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, CO. That's a harrowing 90 minute plus ambulance ride with lots of bumps and discomfort. Sherrie being taken to the ambulance on a backboard: She had fusion surgery the next morning and spent the next 8 days at St. Mary’s hospital. I was airlifted via Life Flight for a 31-minute flight to St. Mary's with 'head trauma'. Apparently severe chest pain and passing out a couple times at the accident scene is cause for mild concern. The Trauma team at St. Mary’s administered and checked every test known to modern medicine and determined my head trauma was 'normal' for me (except the passing out). After a day in the Trauma center, I was released feeling battered but grateful to have escaped with minimal damage, considering the circumstances. I felt as if I'd been hit by a herd of Rhinos. Other Tidbits: >The car was totaled and towed to Green River, UT with our belongings. >The animals seemed to be fine. They were picked up by a wonderful man who runs Green River 'Animal Control' (term used loosely) and spent Friday night in their care. >Mikael received a call from the Life Flight nurse telling him I was stable and headed to St. Mary's. He left Denver pretty much immediately and drove to Grand Junction-- about 4 hours-- without knowing anything other than I was in the helicopter and mom was in an ambulance headed to the hospital. That had to be a LONG 4 hours. Prognosis: Sherrie is doing GREAT. She walked 1.7 mile yesterday. Still has some pain and discomfort but is making progress every day. Might be three steps forward and two steps back at times but it's Progress. They expect a full recovery but looking at about a 12 -16 week+ timeline. PICTURE: Sherrie in the hospital ME—Making progress with some lingering chest/sternum pain, but it's feeling waaaay better. PICTURE: Mark’s Bloody face. The Take AWAYS: >The Folks at St. Mary's were AMAZING! They took GREAT care of the injury and care of the person. >Family, friends and even strangers have come out of the woodwork with support, encouragement, love and “How can we help?” It's humbling. >We concluded -- if you don't watch the news you'll see there are a LOT of good people out there. >We are blessed to be alive. It could have been so much worse. One tree; a Big rock; a wall or a cliff could have produced a very different ending. Next steps: We're on the mend. We've begun exploring (in small doses) sights in the Denver area. We're beginning to deal with insurance folks and our being 'out of network' is making the process a tad more complex and interesting. I was SHOCKED when we received the bill for the helicopter flight. But one step at a time. We're with our Family. And with the outpouring of help and support we are living our mantra: “What IF… The worst thing that ever happened to you turns out (becomes) to be the best thing that ever happened to you?” NOW… The Rest of the Story— We’ve been blessed, even blown away by the outpouring of love and support offered by so many friends and even strangers. The Question keeps coming up: “How can we be of help/support?”. It was suggested by more than one person that we create a ‘Go Fund Me’ page to share our situation and to keep folks updated on the recovery. After much prompting, here it is. We’ll keep you posted on progress, new recovery milestones, insurance challenges and what’s next in this adventure. A request: Keep the prayers and positive thoughts coming our way. We feel them, they’re working, and they are a HUGE Source of encouragement. Tons of love & gratitude—Mark & Sherrie Rosenberger
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