July 16, 2009

4 Wheeling

Dan and I have been in Utah this week and have had tons of fun...up until yesterday at about noon. We went 4 wheeling with Todd, Steph, and Dallin and Dan ended up rolling (we think - no one saw it) his 4 wheeler. Yesterday was a scary day for us, but he's doing much better today. I wrote in pretty good detail what happened and posted it on my family forum, so I'm just copying and pasting it on here. I was tired and kind of out of it when I wrote it, so I hope it makes sense. :)

We were finished 4wheeling and Todd and Dan decided to go back out for a couple minutes. Todd came back by himself and we waited for a few minutes waiting for Dan. When he never came back (after about 5 mins), Todd went looking for him. About 5 minutes later, they both came driving back on their own 4wheelers really slowly. Todd pulled ahead of Dan and told us that he wrecked and was hurt. I pulled off his goggles and helmet, but it didn't look like anything was too bad, but he said his ankle hurt. It looked really bad and some tissue (I think that's what it was) was sticking out of it. So Todd poured water over it and wrapped his shirt around it. We got him into the front seat of the truck laying down while Todd got the 4wheelers back on the trailer (so fast, I don't know how he did it...). I tried to keep Dan talking but he kept talking in circles - asking the same questions, and not remembering anything that was going on. He couldn't remember the 4th of July, my birthday, our anniversary, etc. This was the point when I really started freaking out. Although, he knew his birthday, name, etc. (This point reminded me of 10 Second Tom (or whatever) from 50 First Dates where there was a conversation going on and then he'd start over with the same questions.)

Dan still doesn't remember what exactly happened. He remembers taking a turn a little too fast, fishtailing, thinking "oh crap", falling, and then nothing else until being in the truck and that's still a little hazy. We're thinking he fell off and the 4wheeler rolled because it's banged up pretty good.

Todd gave him a blessing (THANK GOODNESS he thought of doing that) and we started down the mountain with no phone service. After 5 or 10 mins, we finally got coverage and Todd called 911 and had an ambulance meet us at a gas station in Stockton. They took him into the hospital and ran tests. By this time, he was finally remembering things - not everything, but enough that I was able to calm down quite a bit. He has a fractured ankle (he also has a hole in his ankle that they had to stitch up, probably from the break pedal that sticks out), and bruised rib or liver or something around there, but his CT scan came back normal, so his head and neck are fine considering he had a concussion. He's scraped up pretty good and has some road rash or whatever that's called. But he'll be fine. He's got some bandages on and a splint on his leg (we need to go to another dr next week to get a cast put on) and he's in quite a bit of pain, but he'll be just fine in no time.

We had a great time 4 wheeling - in fact, Dan keeps saying how much fun he had. My mom and sister took some pictures while we were at the hospital, but I won't post those because some of them are pretty gross. :)

Dan lookin' pretty cool driving through a creek.

Dan at the top of the mountain.

My mom thinks we look like astronauts in this picture.

Us practicing our synchronized 4 wheeling.

Dan driving back after his accident - he doesn't remember this at all.

Dan getting cleaned off and stitched up.

Poor Dan all bandaged up.

We'll post more pictures and more about our trip after we get home, which we're actually not sure when that will be now. :) We may end up staying out here longer and going to a doctor here. We're not sure yet.

Get better soon, Dan!

3 comments:

stephschmidt said...

I AM SO SORRY!!! I hate that that happened! We really did have such a great time... until around noon. Can't wait for you to come back to Utah so we can go 4wheeling again :)

the splendid life of us... said...

oh my gosh! seriously scary! i am glad that he will be ok! I am glad that he was wearing a helmet!

Deanne Hill said...

Yikes! I'm glad Dan is feeling a bit better! And I hope he heals up mucho rapido! I'm such a chicken that I'd probably never go on a 4wheeler again... but that's just me!