ATV Wreck

Warning! Journal entry is very long!

Written on August 1, 2013

I bet your day was better than mine! I rolled a 4 wheeler ATV down a mountain today, at least 30 feet!

I had an uneasy feeling today as we were heading out to go to Avon.  Scott had a nail in his atv tire, so we almost didn't even go.  But between Marv and Bryan, they had tools and skills to patch the thing, so we were off.  At the first place everyone stopped to wait, I did feel I should turn around.  Afterall, I was still sore from going ATVing on Tuesday, and my thumb hurt really bad pushing down on the gas button.  But of course, I didn't want to miss out on the excitement of something new! So I just kept plugging along.

I was going extra slow and Scott seemed to notice and was annoyed.  He teased me about it and I told him to go in front of me.  We made it to Avon and up to Porcupine Reservoir and the rest of the gang hiked up to what they thought was a cave and Lincoln, Candi, and I stayed behind enjoying the shade, a cold drink, and the river that fed into the lake.

Scott said Sterling was terrified of falling down when it was time to hike back.  "Are we going to fall Dad? Are we going to die?"  So Scott sat Sterling on his lap and they slid down on their bums down the trail.

When it was time to get on the four wheelers, Lincoln REALLY did not want to go with me and threw a huge tantrum.  Sterling didn't want to come with me either, but I made him come so Scott didn't have all 3 kids even though he offered.  On the way back, my 4 wheeler stalled and Bryan and Candi helped me get it going again.  I saw a snake on the road and thought that was weird as I zoomed on by.

Sterling kept asking if he could go with Daddy and I was feeling a little bad about that as I kept on moving.  I was number 5 out of 6 four wheelers on the way back.  And number 6 was quite a ways behind me to keep the dust from sooting their faces.

The rock that caused us to lose control.

Our skid marks

Well, I guess I took a corner turn too fast, and probably hit a big bumpy rock in the road too, because all I remember was the 4 wheeler skidding and starting to roll down the mountain side!  I fell off first and then Sterling was next.  Then I blacked out and when I woke up, Sterling, I, and the 4 wheeler had landed in a tree and some bushes.

Where we flew off!

The four wheeler was upside down and my helmet and left shoe were off.  I couldn't believe this had happened!  I kept wishing I would wake up from this nightmare.  No such luck.  Sterling was crying and saying he wanted to go home.  I wasn't sure if I had broken a bone in my shoulder or back.  I pulled out my phone and it said "No Service", but it still let me call everyone who was with our group.  Scott, Bryan, Vickie, Jayden, Scott again- Nobody was answering! So Sterling and I would have to walk up the steep embankment.  I tried to stand up 2 times, but collapsed and had no strength.

The only photo I managed to snap down in the tree.

On the 3rd try, I took Sterling's hand (his helmet still on), and gave it everything I had and started walking./ crawling up the hill.  With every step I took, I slid back halfway, my shoe still missing.  Sterling rolled back a few times, but kept going.  He made it to the road and I was probably 5 feet from the top when Bryan and Candi showed up.  An emotional Candi helped me up the last few feet with her arms. It had been 20 minutes since the wreck and everyone else had gone down the mountain before noticing we were gone, and turned back around.

I pretty much collapsed on the road.  Scott made it back with Makayla.  Lincoln had gone with Perkins back to the cabin.  The men gave me a priesthood blessing and I slowly moved to a Tahoe driven back by Perkins and had a bumpy drive back to the cabin by Candi.  I couldn't even buckle my seat-belt, my weak arm hurt so bad! Finally, the belt snapped after like 4 tries.

Back at the cabin, I took a bath and turned the water brown with leaves, twigs, and dirt, plus wounds.  I got dressed with help from Scott and looked at my wounds- Oh boy!! the entire right side of my body was a mess, all scraped, bruised, and torn up!

My right knee is a disaster with a baseball sized bruise and wound.  My back has a 10 inch wound on it and my arm is all bruised.  What I am the most worried about is my clavicle, or collar bone.  It hurts terribly and won't let me put any weight on my right arm.  I was wondering it it was broken, plus it has an 8 inch bruise covering it.

Candi and Mom wanted to take me to the hospital right then,but I was hesitant because of having no insurance.  So I said I'll see if I feel better or worse tomorrow and then decide.

What is a miracle is that Sterling was protected by angels.  He had a tiny cut on his hand and a few inches of road rash on his belly and leg.  This kid was wearing shorts and could have really beat himself up more.  I was wearing capris and I have bruises and scratches all over my body, at least 25 to 30 percent.  My helmet has an enormous gash on the side of it.  We were definitely protected by angels.

The tall tree saved us from rolling further!

The view from the bottom, if we had kept rolling down.

The other miracle is that the tree stopped us.  If we hadn't been caught by the bush and tree, then we would have fallen at least 50 feet more! Then we would either be dead or in critical condition.

There were most defintiley miracles here today and I thank Heavenly Father and the angels for them.  I called Maisy and explained what happened and she broke down crying.  She and Blair told me they love me.  I layed on the couch most of the rest of the day with Marv being my medicine nurse. (Tylenol and Ibuprofen)  Vickie and Christie have been so good to check up on me.  Scott has been helpful with the kids.  He also looked at my collarbone and compared it to the other side.  It seems unbroken, just banged up and bruised.

I hope I get feeling better real soon to get my life back.  Sterling came home and went swimming and played outside all evening.  He was definitely protected.

The four wheeler had to be winched up the cliff and then towed down the mountain.  It is not in drivable condition.

A few days later we went home, and my shoulder was still feeling really lousy.  We were on the driveway unloading our gear when the 1st counselor in the Bishopbric walks up and starts talking to us.  He is a family doctor and he looked at my shoulder and knee and confirmed that they are not broken, just beat up.  He is so inspired because I was definitely thinking of getting an x-ray on my shoulder the next day because it was still bugging me.

Now, 10 days later, I am still pretty beat up, but I would say I am about 70% normal of my regular feeling.  Thank goodness I am healing, even if it's slow.

Standing right between my skid marks where we went off.

And now that I'm getting around to posting this, it has been one month and I am feeling 90% normal.  My bruises have finally almost healed!  I am so glad to be alive and enjoy my family and life!

Do you like the shirt my in-laws sent me?  Yes, I do my own stunts. Very appropriate for the occasion!

Liberty Cabin Trip

We were able to go with Scott's family on vacation at the end of July through the first part of August.  We normally go camping with our trailers, but we opted to do something different because the Perkins trailer was in an accident last year and was totaled. So we found a cabin to rent up in Liberty, Utah that had enough beds for all 18 of us.  Basically, you drive through Ogden Canyon and past Pineview Reservoir to a little town called Liberty and it's there.  We left on July 28th in the afternoon and then came home on August 4th.  The trip started off good, it really did.  It was halfway through the trip that we had some challenges to overcome.

The cabin was nicely designed and decorated and it had a swimming pool and hot tub! Since we got there on a Sunday night, everyone waited until 12:01 am Monday morning to jump in and enjoy!

Monday we mostly just hung around the cabin and ran into town to get a few things at Walmart. It was my birthday, so a celebration was in order. Of course we had some cake and ice cream and went swimming again.  We also had a pow-wow and planned out our adventures for the week. 

 

Tuesday we went four wheeling and explored some trails in between Liberty and Ogden.  We had a nice picnic lunch up there and it was beautiful!  We came back and got ready to eat a yummy Mexican  dinner in town.

Sterling was horsing around in the basement on the couch that evening and conked his head on the table and got a huge goose egg! I wasn't too happy about that. So we iced it and I cleaned out his short pockets and found a bunch of bullet shells that he had picked up from four-wheeling earlier, and that made me smile. He is such a boy!

Wednesday we played games like tennis and strategy board games. And Christie had fun doing the girls hair since she has only boys.  Grandma Vickie taught the kids the importance of keeping a journal.  And later, we decorated t-shirts. Scott was pretty proud of his "Safety Team" t shirt dedicated to his children.  The older nephews had an ongoing joke about tooting by any crowd and saying "Safety" as a warning. :)

Thursday was another four wheeling day, and was the day of mine and Sterling's dreadful accident.  We had ridden up to Porcupine Reservoir up past Avon and were on the way back when I skidded off the mountain and poor Sterling didn't have a choice in the matter.  After tumbling 30 feet, I was badly hurt, but luckily no broken bones, and Sterling had 2 scratches / bruises and a sliver in his hand.  We were definitely protected by angels so much, especially Sterling! This is cute Lincoln up by Porcupine Reservoir.  And then Sterling and the 4 wheeler in the tree we landed on.

I basically laid down the rest of the vacation.  I would get up only if necessary because it hurt so bad to move.  I did try to rest on the couch upstairs during the day and be social, but it was hard when I was in pain that much.

Friday Lincoln broke his arm falling off the ledge in the family room.  He had been jumping off it all week much to my dismay, but this time, he just lost his balance sideways and landed smack on his left arm.  He kept holding his elbow and saying, "Ow, ow, ow, ow." Scott and I took him to the Ogden Main Street Clinic and had it x-rayed and casted. Poor little guy! It was already bad enough with the 4 wheeling accident, and now this!

Saturday we mostly hung out and played games, and a few of the nephews had ear infections, so they had to run them into Ogden to get treated. Turns out it was Swimmer's Ear, caused by the swimming pool not having the right balance of chlorine.  One nephew had a bead stuck in his ear (he is 11) and it had been there for probably months, so that's a good thing they got it out at the clinic. Scott ended up getting Swimmer's Ear too, along with 2 more nephews and a niece.  Holy cow, that is a lot of things to go wrong on vacation! I basically needed a vacation from my vacation!  This trip ties with the Trip from _%&^*_ back in July of 2009 when our Jeep broke down every 15 miles and I had a 2 week old newborn Sterling.

Some fun ending games were the Cheetos shaving cream game that Christie put together, and Scott's Mentos and Diet Coke explosions.  We left on a Sunday and came back to reality, where I laid around and recouped for the whole next week.  Some trips with the Paxtons have been great though, so it's not all negative stuff.  We have had some wonderful campouts at Fish Lake and Yuba Lake, and everyone's favorite trip, the Bear Lake cabin one.  Here's to a safer trip next summer!