What are the odds?

'Tis the season for getting firewood, and what better place than near our cabin on the Elk Mountain?  Kenny and I had planned on going up Friday, and since the kids were out of school and everyone was off work, I invited my family to come along.  We planned a super easy dinner we could fix quickly so we would have lots of time to get wood and enjoy the beautiful fall colors.  And it WAS beautiful!  The road to our cabin was paved in gold!

Both the dogs and the kids were so excited to be out, and they were running around, crunching the beautiful fall leaves.  I took the opportunity to get some cute pics.

Stetson, just before he ran around the back side of the cabin

Lucy, as usual, was right behind him - so cute!

This was the first time we brought Stetson's dog Spot to the mountain, and he loved it!

Lucy and Boda - two peas in a pod

Kenny was having trouble getting our chain saw going, so I started to clean out the cabin and get it ready for winter.  When my family arrived my mom came in to help me and my dad and Jade went down into Pevine to start getting some wood.  Jens and McKady were helping to keep track of my children.  I started sweeping and the dust was making my mom sneeze, so she went outside.  A few minutes later she came and asked me where Kenny and Stetson were - last I knew they were right outside the cabin, but now they were gone.  I didn't worry because I just figured Kenny had got the saw going and took Stetson down to help my dad.  As I was sweeping some of the dust out the cabin door, I heard my mom say, "You're kidding, right?  Please tell me you are kidding."  My heart stopped, and I knew something was wrong.  I ran outside where Kenny and Stetson had just rode up on the 4-wheeler.  Kenny turned to me and said, "go where you can get service and call an ambulance, your dad got hit by a tree."  He was actually very calm and collected, which was amazing under the circumstances.  I didn't ask for details, I just grabbed my phone and ran up the hill behind our cabin to see if I could get service.  I had one bar, so I dialed 911 - it worked, and the call was surprisingly clear for only one bar of service!  They proceeded to ask me a ton of questions, most of which I had no idea the answer to.  It seemed like it took FOREVER for the ambulance to get there!  When they finally made it to the cabin, we had them load their gear on Kenny's flatbed and he took them down to where my dad was.  They brought him up and put him in the ambulance; I thought they would hurry right back to the hospital, but I guess they had to get him all situated and stabilized first - again, it seemed to take FOREVER!  Finally we were all headed to town, me driving my dad's truck and Kenny driving ours.

So, here's what happened:  My dad had just cut a tree and Jade was pushing on it so that it would fall away from them.  Just before the tree hit the ground Jade heard a crack behind them, he turned to see two trees falling toward them - fast - so instinctively, he jumped back.  All three trees hit the ground within seconds of each other.  The two that fell from behind landed on either side of my dad, the one one his right hitting the right side of his head and shoulder on the way down.  The force rotated his body and knocked him to the ground, face down.  He must have let go of the chain saw on his way down because it landed on top of him, still running.  Jade ran over, grabbed the saw and turned it off; luckily it hadn't done any damage.  My dad was unconscious and was bleeding from his mouth and nose.  Jade thought he was dead, so he ran for help.  He rode the 4-wheeler to the cabin and got Kenny and they rode back together.  Stetson wanted to go, but they didn't take him, so he ran all the way down, following the sound of the 4-wheeler.  When they got there, my dad was conscious, and was trying to sit up, but found that he was in too much pain.  Kenny gave him a blessing and told him to lay still, on his side, so that the blood could run freely from his nose and not go down his throat into his stomach.  That is when he came back and told us to call the ambulance; he also got a bunch of blankets from the cabin to put over my dad so he wouldn't get too cold.  Stetson was mad that we wouldn't let him go back down to 'take care of Grandpa', but I thought it would be best if he stayed at the cabin with us.

So, they get him to the emergency room and do a CT scan on his head. The CT scan showed some bleeding on his brain; the doctor's first recation was to fly him out, but after talking to the Nuro Surgeon in Salt Lake they determined that it had been long enough that the bleeding may have stablized. All the bleeding from his nose may have helped to relieve the bleeding on the brain, so that was a blessing!  They decided to keep him in the hospital in Blanding overnight and run another CT scan in the morning. In the meantime, they ran several tests, x-rays and scans on his back, shoulder and ribs. These showed three broken ribs, some damage to a couple discs in his back, and possible damage to his shoulder. He also had several gashes on his head that had to be stapled back together, as well as some bruising on his right ear and right eye. My dad said that at this point he honestly didn't know if he was going to make it or not, but but about this time Kenny and Josh went down to the hospital and gave him a blessing, and that is when everything turned around. He said that after the blessing he had a feeling of peace, and knew that everything would be okay.

The CT scan Saturday morning showed that the bleeding had stablized, so he didn't have to be flown out. He spent most of the day in the hospital, and was released Saturday evening. The biggest thing right now is pain managment and lots of sleep. We feel so blessed that things were not worse, and that our special dad/grandpa is still with us!

We love you dad!  Hope you get well soon!

So what are the odds of getting hit by a random tree in the forest???  I think my dad has bad luck - or nine lives! (hope he doesn't use them up too quickly!)