The Anniversary of a Real Life Nightmare: A True Story

All mothers live in fear of the call I received, August 13, 2015, a year ago today.  

I will never forget that day and the weeks that followed.

I was at work and had just come from a 3.5 hour meeting when I saw a "Call me immediately!" email from one of my sons.  When I pulled my cell phone from my purse and saw how many missed calls I had, I panicked.

My son was trying to reach me to tell me his brother needed me, "Mama, don't panic," he said, "But Dave has been in an accident at work."

Dave was working as a welder (welding Mac trucks) at the time, so I knew how serious the accident must have been.

I immediately prepared to leave work.  Saved my files and shut down my computer. Sent emails to cancel my appointments, etc. Told my Dean I had to go to Charlotte and I didn't know when I'd be back, but I'd take Annual Leave for the trip. He was fine with that.  Thank goodness!

Called my dogsitter. Rushed home. Packed.  Drove the 3.5 hours or so to the Carolinas Medical Center in record time and found my son, Dave.

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Carolinas Medical Center - Charlotte, NC. Yes, I did finally find my son there after a LOT of walking and asking people to help me. The workers in this hospital are awesome!

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By the time I found Dave, he was still conscious, but he had lost a LOT of blood and he was in a lot of pain and needed surgery.  I stayed with him until he had recovered enough from the first surgery to care for himself.  Then I went back last December (2015) to stay with him again for his second surgery.  

Dave is still disabled from the accident, and may need a third surgery before all is said and done, but they saved his right arm (although it is terribly scarred and without feeling in places), his right hand (although it doesn't exactly work and may require more surgery), his shoulder, and, most importantly, his life.

I will always be grateful to his co-workers who took action and saved his life a year ago today.  If it were not for them, my son would have bled out, screaming for help, on that concrete floor of his workplace. 

Those brave men who acted quickly, faced all that blood, and saved my son's life, are now and will always be my heroes.  I can't thank them enough. May God bless them all.