July 8, 2000 I was coming home from Memphis, Tenn. where I had been visiting for the Holiday and my Grandmothers 88th Birthday. Instead of taking my normal route home something told me to go a different way. A way I had never been before. But, my daughter and I thought oh well we'd like to see some new country.
I hadn't gotten to far across the Missouri border when a Van blew a tire and flipped some way in front of me. A pick up stopped and so did I. The van was on fire and the man in the truck ran for his fire extinguisher. Four people came out of the Van. An Adult male (Shay), an Adult female (Sharee) & 2 young girls. I thought all was OK when I saw they only had minor injuries. I asked if I could help that I was a nurse and the man with the extinguisher told me yes come with him that 3 children were still trapped in the Van and it didn't look good.
We assesed the situation and discovered that there were 2 boys and a girl trapped. They were trapped on top of one another and the van had landed on a steel post and had them trapped between it and the top of the Van. They were intertwined and we could not tell what belonged to who.
The man from the pickup was inside consoling the younger two children best he could and told me to go to the one in the back. I was not prepaired for what I was to witness. There was this small boy bleeding profusly from the head & he was partly inside the van, partly out with the top of the Van was laying across his mid-section. His mother was hysterical and was only upsetting the children worse so I explained to her that I was a nurse and to please step back and let me see what I could do for the child.
At first the child cried for his Mother, but as I talked to him he started to settle. At first Mom was right beside me. I got to talking to the child and got his mind somewhat off of the situation. I learned that his name was Brandon (I won't disclose the last name), that he liked the St. Louis Rams, Pokemon & oher things. He was a very intellegent child I could tell. At 10 yrs. of age he could carry on an adult conversation.
Time was passing much faster than we realized, it took forever for the peramedics to arrive. They had been given wrong directions and had to find the accident. I feared for Brandon & Byron's lives. Byron is Brandons little brother & his head was trapped between the post and the Van. We thought at the time that Byron was in the most serious condition. Finally the peramedics & fire department arrived.
By this time Brandon & I had bonded pretty strong. Everytime he tried to give up and would start going out on me I would make him come back and talk to me some more. I was holding the blood on his head from gushing with one hand & holding his small hand with the other.
At first the peramedcics were going to make me move back, but Brandon wouldn't have it. He kept screaming if you leave me I will die. So they let me stay. I started an IV drip on Brandon for he was becoming very clamy & cold to the touch. I knew he had gone into shock. I could tell he was loosing a lot of blood.
After the jaws of life got there it took us another 3 and 1/2 hours to cut these children out of the van. It turned out I was the only one small enough to crawl up through the hole as we pulled the Van apart to see where we stood. At one point an object (I still don't know what) was falling straight for Brandon's head and I deflected it with my arm. The peramedic running the jaws told me to watch out, I screamed up at him better my arm than the babies head. I could feel the burn of the hoses across my back and shoulder as they grew hotter the longer we used them. I never moved.
After what seemed forever we finally had a hands width (mine, not very large) to work with! So we started trying to untangle the children. We got the baby girl out first as her only problem was her legs were under Byron's head. Then we started trying to untangle Brandon & Byron. I had 3 legs and couldn't tell whose was whose. I finally figured it out and knew Byrons leg was broken from the top of the Van being on it for so long. We slowly got Byron out with me guiding his legs up through the tangled mess with my body half inside the Van!
But when we got Byron moved I had to really hold myself to keep from breaking down. For Brandon was the one that was truly in trouble. I realized why he kept trying to die on me and I refused to let him go. His leg was wrapped around the pole in a very odd position with the bones protruding and a hole in another part with meat and tendons hanging out. Along with his head injuries. He had lost great amounts of blood. We immediatly called for care flight.
As we got Brandon out and onto a back board I helped settle him as he would not turn a loose of me. He continued to scream don't leave me lady I will die. So I went with Brandon to the ambulance & helped load him. I stayed with him and Byron in the ambulance and helped them communicate. All at once the ambulace started to move and I went to yelling at them to wait, that I couldn't go. I had a child & dog sitting in my own hot van on the side of the road in the July heat and no way back to them if I went to the hospital with these children. So they stopped and let me out. I explained it to Brandon and told him they were going to take good care of him and they wouldn't let him die.
I went back to the scene & one of the peramedics came towards me and I thought he was going to shake my hand & Thank Me! I was shocked when he pulled me into his arms and broke down into sobs. He just kept saying over & over "Lady if not for you that child would have died." When he finally settled down I asked for some water to wash some of the blood off of me. We got that done.
The ambulance had made the call that they had to leave as care flight still wasn't there. The ambulance went up to the next exit and turned around. Just as it was coming back our way Care Flight arrived. Without even giving a second thought The firemen & I jumped out onto the Interstate and created a chain to stop traffic with an 18 wheeler headed right for us. Not one of us budged.
We flaged the ambulance back across the Interstate and Brandon was transfered from the ambulance to the Helicopter with me holding his hand. I kissed him Bye and told him I loved him and he'd be fine. Brandon told me he loved me as well, tears streamed down my face. I overheard them saying they were flying him back to Memphis!
I was so shaken that I had to stop at the next exit and rest for a few minutes as I had started to shake uncontrolably. It was then that I realized we had been out there for over 5 hours and I was blisted and had burns across my back and shoulders from the hoses of the Jaws of life. I also realized that all that time I had been hunched down in a crouching position, with a bad back, a crushed right elbow, & I had not felt one pain. I had never thought of needeing a restroom or wanting a ciggerette or drink. My full attention was on Brandon! I had poured my life into him & I was exausted. I had to stop and get a motel room as I was not able to go on home.
At the Motel after setteling down I realized I did not find out anything about these people. All I knew was the childs name and that they lived in Illinois! I cried then for I didn't know how I would ever find out if Brandon lived or died.
Unknown to me at the hospital Brandon was being prepaired for surgery. He kept screaming and crying for me. He said he couldn't do it without me so the Nurses told him that I was his Guardian Angel and that I would be with him even though he couldn't see me. This calmed him some. He had surgery!
For about 4 days this drove me crazy. I couldn't close my eyes without seeing Brandon and the tangled wreck and him screaming don't leave me I'll die. So I finally got on the computer and pulled up every hospital in Memphis, Tenn. I started calling. No news anywhere no one had had any such thing come in. My hope was dwindling. Then one Nurse told me wait most of those cases are taken to one certain hospital and gave me the name & number to it.
I called and asked the same questions I had asked all of the others. The woman put me on hold and the next thing I knew I heard a childs voice answer the phone. I asked if there was an adult I could speak with and they said yes and then it dawned on me! I asked, "Is this Brandon?" The little voice answered "Yes Mam!" I proceeded to tell Brandon through my tears who I was and he went to screaming "Daddy it's my Angel, it's my Lady, it's my Angel!" After settleing Brandon down so we could talk I talked with his Father, Shay and we exchanged phone numbers so that we would be able to keep in touch.
We planned to meet and set several dates and something would happen each time to stop it. But, finally in Nov. 2000 I got to meet my precious Brandon. He never hesitated for a second he was in my arms. We were both crying and saying how much we loved one another. I got to spend a couple of hours with the children before having to come on home as I was only passing through. But, I did take plenty of pictures.
As the plans stand at this time Brandon will be coming to spend part of the summer with me and our families will forever be intertwined!
