ATV Accident

Since my father is now retired and it was the last week of summer before my mom returned to school, my parents decided to go on a short trip with my aunt and uncle, Dennis and Gretchen.  Going on four-wheeling adventures is nothing new for any of these guys, but my mom seems to have the worst luck in the world.

While they were on a route, the realized they had taken a wrong turn and had to turn around.  My mom was the third one in the row and she turned her handlebars and backed up, but when she turned her handlebars again to change direction, the four-wheeler rolled backwards down a hill, landing on her.  Fortunately the seat landed on her chest and not the handlebars on her head or she would have been killed.

They got her up.  She was in a lot of pain, but my mom the trooper rode the ATV out of the canyon back to the motor-home   She went to the emergency room and said she had a broken rib but there was nothing they could do about it.  A broken rib would have been pretty lucky.

They came home early and by the next morning, her pain had gotten so bad that she drove herself to the emergency room here, since my dad wasn't home.  They took x-rays and found 10 broken ribs, some broken in multiple places.  She had internal bleeding and basically crushed her chest.  While there is nothing they can do for a broken rib, having bits of bone floating in her chest is not safe.  A couple of days later, they decided to go in for surgery.  They placed 4 plates in her chest to hold together the ribs in the worst shape.  She said that the surgery made a big difference.

She is now recovering at home, but missed going back to school on time.  I'm so grateful she's alive and safe.  When I think about what could have happened, she's one lucky lady.