July 17, 2006

The good news is that we all got home safely and are happy to be able to sleep in our own beds tonight. And I for one am looking forward to sleeping in a bed NOT with 3 other little boys.
The bad news is that my father-in-law Kent got in a terrible car accident yesterday afternoon. There is construction on I-15 down in the southern part of Utah Valley, and the freeway is restricted to only 1 lane from Benjamin to Springville. Kent was entering I-15 on the on-ramp and couldn't see the traffic backup until he was already up on the freeway, where the right lane is closed off and you're forced to merge into the left lane. Anyway, he couldn't slow down in time and he crashed into the back of a large dump truck. He was not wearing his seatbelt. I've never ever seen him wear a seat-belt, although every time we ride with him we ask him to wear one if only for the sake of his grandkids. Anyway thank goodness the airbags deployed because that saved his life. As it is he broke both femurs and both tibias/fibulas, crushed his right heel, crushed his right wrist, and lacerated his liver and spleen. He never lost consciousness and there doesn't appear to be any head trauma (again, thanks to the airbag), but he is not in good shape. No one has yet been able to have a coherent conversation with him. He was taken to Payson hospital where they called Jackee, and as soon as she got there they transported him to Utah Valley Hospital ICU. He had surgery today to attempt to repair his legs, he will have another surgery tomorrow for his wrist. He will be in the hospital for a minimum of a month. His dental career is over and my brother-in-law Tyler who is a lawyer is getting started on negotiating the sale of his practice. The doctors are having a bad time controlling his pain so they are going to induce a coma until some healing can take place.
Jackee is beyond devastated, as you can imagine. She is supposed to go back to school (she is a school teacher) in 3 weeks, and is going to have to figure out what to do.
Anyway, there's nothing anyone can do, of course, except remember Kent and Jackee in your prayers.