Chris' wife: Chris and I have been married since 2010 October, 2010 but we've been together since we were 17. Well, I was 17, he was 18. My son called and told me that Chris never came to pick him up, so I said, "Call him again. He'll come." And he was like, I did, but he's not answering.
Chris' mother: I was at work and I received a call from my sister in law. Her son was traveling with Chris on his way home from work, so she notified me that they had been in an automobile accident.
Paramedic: When we showed up, you could tell right away that it was a pretty significant scene. The vehicle was wrapped around a telephone pole and the pole was actually in the driver's seat at the time.
Chris' mother: I didn't realize the severity of the accident until I arrived at Miami Valley and I was told that he was on a ventilator and that he was critical.
Dr. McCarthy: He had fractures of the spine, one of the supporting bones, but also additional fractures in his back which reflected the severity of injury and some fractures of his pelvis. But the most severe injury was his head injury and the fact that he even bled additionally and that the areas of bleeding increased during the first 24 hours.
Chris' wife: The severity of the accident, I didn't know what to expect or if he was even going to make it to meet the baby or just to come home to our other two children.
Dr. Letarte: He came in and he had what ultimately turned out to be cerebral contusions. So what's interesting about that is you don't always see those on the first head CT. Come in, people will have a depressed mental status. You'll know there's something wrong, but a place like this, we're going to figure out there's something wrong. And just because the scan doesn't look too bad, that doesn't mean something bad hasn't happened.
Paramedic: When you have a patient that is severe as he is and you know what he really needs his surgery, you don't want to spend a lot of time on the scene. You want to get to the closest hospital, but you want to get to the closest appropriate hospital. And the most appropriate hospital for us was Miami Valley.
Dr. Letarte: Most hospitals don't see a lot of trauma. When they get a really bad trauma, very often, their staff just says, this is not something we're prepared to do. We need more expert... Very often you need neurosurgery. A lot of hospitals don't have a neurosurgeon on 24 hour call. They can't get to neurosurgical services. That's a big reason why a lot of hospitals don't do trauma.
Chris' mother: They told us that he probably couldn't hear us, but a mother's instinct tells me differently, so I would talk to him just as he could, I knew he could hear me. There were days I would go in and I would basically have my own church service with Chris. I'm praying, I have my gospel music. I love gospel music. I would sing to him, I would talk to him. I would hold his hand and make sure he knew how much we loved him.
Dr. McCarthy: Even when a patient's in his mid thirties the mothers are still there and that patient is still their baby. And knowing how that mother feels is a very hard thing. And oftentimes I'll give them a hug and they'll give me a hug because I can empathize with being a mother and having a child or even a mid thirties child that is badly injured.
Dr. Letarte: Having a thoroughly integrated rehab program is a huge luxury for a trauma program because in the end, every trauma program knows what I just said. We're just teeing them up for their rehab. We're making sure they survive, we're making sure nothing more happens to them so they can get to rehab. But then you got to have the rehab to send them to. So it's a big advantage in Miami Valley that we have them here.
Chris's wife: We had to watch Chris learn how to do everything all over again. Had to learn how to breathe all over again. Walk and talk.
Just things that we do without thinking about it.
Chris' mother: As the trauma team has explained, there is no defined period of recovery when someone is injured to that extent. It's one day at a time. And so that's what I mean when I say a journey. It's a journey for his wife. It's a journey for his children. It's a journey for his entire family and most of all, I think the biggest journey is for Chris.
Chris: I'm doing things that I shouldn't be doing, like I'm back on track as far as that. I'm back on track.
Chris' wife: My son told me, "Mom, we're really blessed." And I said, "Well, why you say that?" He said, "Because my dad not supposed to be here." And he like, I'm so happy for a teenage boy to say something like that. It just shows me how much he really pays attention.
Chris' mother: We are blessed because Chris is still in our lives. We are blessed because we have grown as a family. We are closer now than we've ever been. He's had another daughter that's been born through this ordeal. She's probably the sunshine through all of this. So yes, there are many blessings and we're thankful for that each and every day.
Chris' wife: I think Miami Valley had a big part in saving Chris. The doctors, the trauma team, everybody there, and even I deliver my daughter there. So even my water broke in his room. So even the labor and delivery, I just felt like Miami Valley is a really good place.
Chris: Thank you.
I appreciate everything. Thank you for saving my life.
