The Accident

A year ago on the 17th marked 1 year since Wes's accident.


It was Friday the 17th. I had been nannying all day and it was around 5ish so I was keeping the kiddos entertained before their mom got home. I was pretty tired and ready to go being 37 weeks pregnant and looking after kids all day wears a lady out. I was sitting in the living room at Laci's house and my phone rang. I looked and it was Wes...

"Hellooooooo!" I said this in a weird jokey voice. "Yes ma'am, this is officer so-and-so (I can't remember his name) from the Denton P.D.". Well that was pretty embarrassing that I just sounded like that... Is what I remember immediately thinking. "Wes was in an accident and I'm here in the ambulance with him. He is ok and whenever you can, take your time and come on down to Denton Regional."
"What? What happened? Is he ok?"
"Yes, ma'am. He's going to be fine."
"Ok. Well, I will head down there ASAP."
I later found out that Wes, through all the blood and pain, told the officers not to freak me out because I was very pregnant.

I called my Mom. No answer.
I called my sister. No answer.
I didn't want to call my dad because I was thinking that I didn't want to hear about how he thinks motorcycles are dangerous blah blah blah.
I call Brittney. I have Tucker with me so I ask her to meet me at the hospital to grab Tucker and take him home.

So now, I'm sitting and starting to freak out a little. The kids are playing and I am just pacing. I called Laci and Luis and Luis is leaving work early to try and beat Laci home. (These are the mom and dad of the kids I watch.) I honestly think at this point that Wes broke his leg or arm or pelvis or something. The officer made it seem like no big deal so I am still pretty calm. Slightly panicky. My mom calls me back and I tell her Wes was in a motorcycle accident and I don't know what his injuries are. I think he's ok though and I don't really think she needs to come down here. She insists on coming (thank God) so I won't have to sit alone in the waiting room. Her and my dad head towards Denton. I call Wes's mom and tell her I will keep her updated whatever the case may be.

I get to the hospital and find Brittney. I hand her my keys and put Tucker in her car. She leaves to go drop Tucker and head right back. I go in and I tell the nurse my husband is being brought in by ambulance and I sit down and wait. My memory is a little disjointed because so much happened so fast. I remember seeing Rick, the owner of the tattoo shop and have no idea who called him or why.  A police officer comes out to talk to me. Uhh what the hell is all I could think. He tells me something like, "Non-life threatening injuries" and "Don't know exactly what happened but, a car pulled in front of him and he basically flew through their side cargo window." WHAT THE HELL. I still am in a false state of calm because I don't exactly know whats going on with him or exactly what happened. Someone, a nurse? comes out and tells me his face is cut up and his neck has quite a bit of damage and bleeding so they need to take him to surgery pretty quickly. I can't remember if my mom and dad were here by this point or if i was still waiting on them.  The nurse asks me if I want to go see him before they take him to surgery. Of course I do.

The nurse comments on, "Just looked for the hugely pregnant lady," Great. Awesome. Cool. Where is my friend?  Nurses keep telling me, "At least if you go into labor you are at the hospital!" uhhh no. I very selfishly told them if I go into labor I am leaving and going to the birth center. haha

We walk about 10000 miles because every hospital hallway is 10000 miles long and finally get to where Wes is. This is where it all hit me. I expected to see him sitting or I don't really know. Not strapped to a board with his face filleted open in a neck cuff. I walk up to him and his face and hair and neck are covered in blood. His sweet kind eyes are looking up at me. "I am so sorry friend." He gurggles out through the blood. I somehow manage to keep my shit together. "Its ok baby." I try to just look at him and smile. I really don't say anything because I don't want him to try and talk. His mouth and lips basically look ripped off. He has NO bottom lip. His entire jaw is broken and crushed looking. The nurse comes back and gives me his stuff and wheels him away. I grab his full-face helmet and blood soaks my hand. I sigh and walk back to the waiting room. I see my mom and dad and walk to the car to put Wes's stuff up.

We go to the surgery waiting room and I walk in and it is FILLED with Wes's co-workers. His bosses and his boss's bosses. They were all so worried that nobody called me or got a hold of me.

Now begins the process of me telling everyone a million different times what happened. I am staring to feel tired and anxious and freaked out.  After a few hours the Dr. comes out to tell us how the surgery went. He tells us that his neck was cut very badly and they were worried about his carotid artery and jugular so that's why the wanted to whisk him away so quickly. He also tells me that he needs to be transported to to a higher level trauma unit to deal with his facial injuries. The choices are Ft. Worth or Plano. His colleagues are in Plano and luckily so is my parents house. Right down the street. the doctor tells me Wes is intubated and they are putting him in a coma. They are worried for the swelling in his face and neck so the tube is to protect his airway. The coma is so he doesn't fight it and rip it out.

I finally get to go back and look at him.

  My heart drops. My poor sweet friend. David, Wes's mom's husband goes back also. We are talking about him. looking at his poor mouth. Wes's arms start to move up and down. I comment on how he's probably reacting to the anesthesia. Come to find out later...he could actually hear us and was trying to signal to us. Hahaha this is kind of funny in hindsight because they had to keep upping his sedation so he couldn't move. He could hear us and wanted to tell us so but couldn't move.

They transport him to Plano via ambulance. It takes them forever to load him up and make sure his respiration is allright and all the freaking tubes and monitors are in place. My dad left to go home earlier and my mom stayed with me. There were so many of our friends up at the hospital. Their concern and love overwhelmed me. I am so thankful they were all there.

We get to Plano shorty after he is there and set up in the Critical Care Unit. The doctor on call hadn't even gotten to look at his chart when we got there. He went in Wes's room with us and lowered his sedation down.  They had his hands tied to the bed so that he couldn't rip any tubes out or pull out IVs or any of that fun stuff. He tells Wes where he is and asks him to raise 2 fingers up. Wes raises up each hand and firmly raises his middle finger on each hand. "Well," said the doctor, "that't not usually the response I get but it works." At this point my mom, David and myself all knew Wes was going to be fine.  I go home to rest my huge pregnant self and head back up there in about 3 hours.

During all this time in the hospital Wes communicated with me through signing the alphabet. I came back in the next morning and he signed "What happened, what happened." I started telling him and he would "nod" his hand and drift off and wake up and ask again. He was in and out of sleep for the next day or so.

The facial surgeon Dr. Mark Craig came in to talk with us later on that Saturday. He ended up being the best freaking doctor EVER.  We wouldn't really know the extent of all the facial injuries until he got in there and explored around a bit. We couldn't wait to see what the hell happened with his braces...

to be continued....