“The boys have been in a terrible accident. They're being life-flighted to Salt Lake City. They're both alive. That's all I know.”
Those were my sister's words when I answered the phone on Monday night, July 16, 2018.
My 16-year-old son had been driving. The car drifted to the right. Jake overcorrected, sending the car into a spin. It crossed the oncoming lane, hit the edge of the pavement, and flipped six times. Three times end over end and then three times side over side.
That was the least of his problems.
The car came to a stop on its side. The windows had all broken, and my son's arm was sticking out, pinned by the roof of the car.
A lot of people stopped to help, getting my nephew, Joshua, out of the car and then lifting it off Jacob. Someone called 911 and insisted that they send helicopters immediately. Someone else got my sister's phone number from Joshua, who was conscious and thinking clearly enough to share it, despite his injuries.
Two of the people who stopped, the couple who'd been following them for miles, were a former Army medic and a nurse.
Meanwhile, my husband and I were at home in Oklahoma, watching TV with our daughter. We had no idea what was happening. But God knew. He was there, and He was working.
I still cry whenever I think of that terrifying night and the hours and days that followed that phone call. I remember trying to figure out what to do. Should we start driving? Get a flight? I finally called the airline directly, and they got us on an 8 a.m. nonstop to Salt Lake.
And then we waited all night long.
I remember texting everyone I could think of to ask for prayer.
I remember walking back and forth from my closet to my suitcase, empty-handed. I had no idea what I was doing. What should I pack? How long would we be gone? What would I need?
I remember thinking, what happens if he doesn't make it? What is the proper attire for that?
And then telling myself to stop it. Just pack, Robin. Don't think. Easier said than done, but I forced myself to turn every thought into a prayer. After a while, my thoughts were a constant mantra. Please, God. Please. When I'd think the worst, the best I could come up with was, Not that. Please. Just… not that, either. Please…
Meanwhile in Salt Lake City, my sister and her husband got to Primary Children's Hospital. Joshua and Jacob were given side-by-side rooms in the ICU. Even though Joshua was awake and in pain, Jennifer and Darryll took turns staying with Jacob all night. They barely left his side, not until we arrived the next morning.
The news wasn't good.
My nephew suffered a concussion and a serious injury to his abdomen from the seatbelt.
My son's chest had been pummeled by the steering wheel. Both of his lungs collapsed, and one basically folded in on itself. They intubated him and put in tubes to drain the air and fluid from his chest cavity (pneumothorax, for those of you who know such terms.) That night, his blood pressure dropped so low that they feared they were going to lose him.
We didn't know that until we arrived the next day, thank God. As soon as we got there–around 11 a.m., they started the process of weaning him off the sedative to wake him up, despite the tube down his throat, because of his low blood pressure.
And then we settled in to wait. And pray.
Joshua spent four days in ICU before he was moved to another unit and then, a few days later, released. But he ended up back in the ER two weeks after the accident and needed surgery to repair damaged intestines.
Jacob spent a week in ICU, another three days in the hospital after that, and then a few days recovering at Jennifer and Darryll's before he was able to fly home.
Jake and Joshua, ten days after the accident.
They both recovered.
Miracle doesn't feel like a big enough word for what the Lord did for our family. We are so very, very blessed at how things worked out. And when it was all said and done, I knew I'd write about it someday.
It's taken five years, but next month, A Mountain Too Steep releases. The accident in the story is the accident our boys suffered. I changed my nephew's injuries a little, but what Jeremy endured in the novel is almost exactly what happened to Jacob.
The rest of the story is completely fictional–thank God. For instance, my husband wasn't murdered. And there weren't vengeful gang members out to get us. 😂
Jake and Joshua, 2021.
Anyway, I thought you might be interested to hear the story behind the story of A Mountain Too Steep. I'll be telling you more about the fictional parts in the next few weeks. It's available to preorder for $2.99. It releases to all retailers except Amazon on July 11, and then releases to Amazon on July 18. I hope you'll check it out!