Man meets Moose 2008

Most of you know that my Dad and his wife Fran were in a terrible accident two years ago today. Since I wasn't blogging back then it never made it on here, and since my primary reason of blogging is for our own memories here it is. I have a lot more photos than this but I tried to choose ones that would tell the story without being too graphic. Still, if you have a weak stomach you might want to tread carefully.

Nate and I received a call from my older brother Travis around 3:30 am on the 5th of February, 2008. He informed me that my Dad and his wife Fran had been in a terrible accident on I-80 coming home from my sister Heidi's house in Bear Lake. They were ten minutes from their South Ogden home. At the time we didn't have any idea what had happened. The Highway Patrol had just told us to hurry. Not a good sign. They figure he hit the 1500 pound Moose around 1:30 am, there were no skid marks to indicate that he tried to brake at all. We figure because of how dark the night was and the color of the Moose they hadn't seen it, he doesn't remember it at all. It was like hitting a brick wall going 50 mph. Right before the accident Fran said she became thirsty, so she bent down to get her drink off of the floor when it sounded like an explosion had gone off. Both of them lost consciousness immediately. Their truck then coasted a half mile down I-80, miraculously along the river, it then came to rest along a concrete barrier. Within a few minutes Fran regained consciousness. She said she tried to rouse my dad but he wouldn't respond. She dug around in her purse to find her cell phone. It was amazing she could even see, when they hit the moose and she was bent over the impact made the radio fly out of the dash. It hit her on the left side of her forehead. I cannot reemember the number of stitches she had to have but her wound went down to her skull, she was bleeding quite heavily into her eyes. It was amazing she was able to get cell coverage where they were. She immediately called 911. About then people started driving up behind them and stopping to help. They gave them blankets to keep them warm, talked to the dispatchers, took care of their two dogs that made it through without a scratch and waited with them til help arrived.

Fran was taken by ambulance to McKay Dee where she was stitched up by a VERY good Plastic Surgeon. Even though he was hurrying so that she could be with my Dad (to say goodbye, they thought) it still took a couple of hours.

This is about 2 am February 5th, 2008, this was taken by the Highway Patrol while they were using the jaws of life to extricate my Dad from his little pickup. That night it was 1 degree. The workers had to take turns sitting in a truck to warm up while they worked to get my dad out. The freezing temperature saved his life though, it kept the swelling in his brain and his other injuries from getting worse. Meanwhile, Life Flight was standing by. Once he was out of the truck and en route to Ogden Regional the paramedics thought they had lost him. They could no longer get him to respond. Once I got off the phone with my brother, Nate and I made arrangements for the kids the next day and I immediately headed to the hospital.

This photo was in the ICU a couple hours after he had been taken to the hospital. This was not how my Dad looked the first time we saw him that night. We first saw him in the ER. That is where we started hearing what had happened. There was a warming blanket on him, just like the one in the above photo, to bring his body temperature back up. He also had a nurse hand pumping a ventilator to help him breath. He was heavily sedated and we didn't know what we were gonna find when and if he woke up again. They told us that night that his entire bone structure in his face was broken and that he would need extensive surgeries to place plates in and reconstruct his face. They also told us that he had bruising and swelling in the brain. He also had a collapsed lung from the impact of the steering wheel. Note to everyone.....WEAR YOUR SEATBELT! It did not look good. My Mother-in-law later told me that when she hung up from me calling to tell her that she turned to my Father-in-law and told him that they needed to prepare for a funeral that would happen later in the week.


This photo is of me and my 2 sisters about mid-afternoon that day. It had been about 12 hours since the accident.


My Dad's recovery was fast and slow. For those of you who have gone through something like this you understand. He spent 2 weeks in the ICU at Ogden Regional. He amazed us all, our family was the recipient of so many blessings during this time. Every time they did another scan of him he had less injuries. Remember all of those surgeries his face was gonna need? They ended up just needing to go in and fix a crushed nose and fix his deviated septum! They still weren't sure of the extent of the damage to his brain because he was still on some pretty high doses of pain killers that kept him fairly confused. The very first day we decided to keep a notebook record of everything we were being told. There were so many doctors and so much information coming our way it was confusing. Over time it became something more. We wrote about all of the visitors, his progress, our thoughts and feelings, experiences we were having, what the UHP told us, etc. Officer Shepherd of the UHP was amazing. He was one of the officers on site that night and he came and visited atleast 3 times during his stay. He provided us with pictures and official information from the accident. He was so amazing and so caring. By the time my Dad got released from the hospital a month later the book was almost completely full. It has been a treasure to have. My Dad has been able to hear about things that he doesn't remember, we have been able to remember so much from that scary and blessed time.



These are some photos of my Dad's truck, well what is left of it. Fran said that when she regained consciousness she could look up and see the stars. The moose had pushed the roof of the cab back, then with the jaws of life they peeled the rest of it back. You can see the steering wheel here and the force with which the moose hit my Dad.

The force of the moose and the airbag is what we figure did so much damage to his face.

Drivers side of my Dad's truck.

The impact of the truck knocked the legs of the moose out from underneath it. Then it landed on the hood of the truck and slid in through the windshield and hit Dad. Since Fran was bent over and also unconscious we figure the Moose went right over her and then fell off to the side of the road. They had to bring in heavy machinery to get it lifted off of the road and into the landfill. He spent two weeks in ICU, then two weeks at McKay-Dee for rehabilitation. They initally had to go over how to write, how to eat, how to balance a checkbook, how to walk, etc. He came through with flying colors. We were so relieved. We had no idea if we would get "our Dad" back when he woke up. What a blessing we were given to get more time back.

This photo was taken 4 weeks after the accident. My family has gone to the Laketown Lodge in Bear Lake twice a year the last few years. We had scheduled a trip there the first weekend of March 2008. The Hospital let him go up for the day to be with us. He was released the next day.
The only remaining evidence of the accident are the scars on their faces, Dad has a hearing aid now and he moves a little stiff. We will take it! It could have been so much worse!

As I remember back two years ago to this accident I am again so grateful for the gifts in my life. The gift of time. The gift of my Dad and Fran in our lives. The gift of prayer and fasting. The gift ot Temples. The gift of Family.

We love you Dad and Fran! So glad you are still with us!