Christmas is usually a time of joy and happiness and excitement and we still tried to incorporate some of that in to our Christmas this year, but unfortunately we were faced with a tragedy this year. Christmas Eve night I received a phone call from my dad letting me know that my cousin Ryan and his beautiful wife and 2 sweet little boys had been in a very serious accident around 6pm Utah time in SLC. A large surburban somehow crossed a median full of rocks, boulders and small trees) and hit my cousin's small sedan head on. Their small car burst into flames immediately we were told. Three life flights were sent to the scene. Reportedly, all five (four of my cousins and the driver of the other car) all left the scene in critical condition or so we were told at the time. I spent Christmas Even night in and out of little sleep and checking for updates on the condition of my cousins.
We celebrated Christmas morning with the kids as usual and had fun watching the kids excitement in opening their gifts. But at the same time we waited for word. From the comments I had heard from those who had seen the scene, it looked as if the suburban had rolled right over the top of the sedan it was so unrecognizable. We feared the worst! It was a MIRACLE that had left the scene alive.
All of our family and many of our friends (some of you who didn't even know Ryan and his family) prayed for them. We received word that afternoon that the baby, Colum, had a completely severed spinal cord and there was nothing the doctors could do. Ryan and Kelly had been in and out of surgeries throughout the night and Christmas morning. Ryan was pretty beaten up mainly with broken bones, but Kelly was worse off with many broken bones but also a lot of internal damage too. She had to have her bowels completely reconstructed and had a lacerated liver, from what we were told. At that point our prayers turned into prayers that with God's help, and the help of life support, Colum would be able to hold on long enough for them to get Kelly out of surgery and stable enough to bring the baby over so they could say their goodbyes.
Though it was not in the Lord's plan for Colum remain here on this earth and recover physically and stay with his beautiful family, he did show his mercy in helping Colum to hold on. We had a united family prayer all over the country that evening for Ryan and Kelly's family. Once Kelly was stable enough, we were told they were moving Ryan down to Kelly's room and then were going to move Colum over to them (from Primary childrens hospital (Ryan and Kelly were at the U hospital), but that Colum would likely pass during transport). But God blessed him to hold on so that Ryan and Kelly could spend his final hours with him in their arms. Sweet Baby Colum passed away Christmas night shortly after 9pm.
Fortunately it was in the Lord's plan that sweet Finn (age 3) miraculously had almost no injuries. They ran some tests on him to be safe and he was released to my cousins (Ryan's sister and her family) on Monday morning. What a blessing in all the heartache. Ryan and Kelly both had two more surgeries each on Monday and tuesday. Both are recovering, Ryan quicker than Kelly as his injuries were not nearly as severe as hers, but she is also slowly recovering physically.
I can't even begin to imagine all they face both physically and emotionally on top of it all. We are just so GRATEFUL that we did not lose them all. Though we will all miss beautiful baby Colum. I am relieved to know that little Finn will likely have both his mom and dad around to raise him and watch him grow in the years to come. That is a BLESSING! We will forever hold baby Colum in our memories and hearts. We are SO grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel and Eternal Families! You can follow Ryan and Kelly's progress at www.kellypack.com. Ryan faces 6+ months of recovery ahead and Kelly at least 12 months. They can use all the prayers they can get for a LONG time to come. Thanks!
And jackets (this was taken Aug 9th, and trust me, it was NOT cold that day. Yet he insisted on dressing like this so I had to take a pic before insisting that he go and change his clothes for the day.
