Tough Times...

(James 1:2-4 ) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.




After being on the DL (disabled list) most of last year, I was positive he couldn't get hurt again. But, sure enough my husband went from looking like this...

To this the night after a horrific collision in the outfield...

I moved to Memphis in April to be with my husband for this season. On the first road trip (6 games into the season), I was out with some of my friends for tacos and a movie when I got a phone call from one of the other wives. She was panicked! She said that Shane had been in an accident and was in bad condition, but didn't know anything else. The trainer had called her, but didn't give much information. He just said that Shane had run into another outfielder. I was actually super calm about it all at first. I figured he most likely had a concussion, but wouldn't believe it could be any worst. After talking to the trainer myself, I found it was much much worse than what I thought...

Shane was admitted to the ICU w several facial fractures, a broken hand, and unstable heart rate. I was able to talk to the trauma doctor at about midnight (4-5 hours after the accident). She told me he was being kept in the ICU because his heart rate was falling really low (20 beats per minute at one point). She said she would call me if anything came up. They put him on a morphine drip to control the pain. 

One of his teammates came to the hospital to check on him and was able to describe to me the injuries. He said that Shane's face looked like it was dented in and that he had been bleeding near his his eye. He tried to put the phone up to Shane so I could at least hear his voice, but Shane was unable to talk.

I flew to Des Moines the next day to be by his side. He ended up braking the zygomatic bone in his face which at the time meant it was sitting on his mandible. He wasn't able to open his mouth hardly at all. His hand was also throbbing and was later we were extremely disappointed to find out that his broken hand would keep him out of baseball for the next 2+ months. The knuckle was broken the same way a ping pong ball looks when it's dented.

We spent the next day and a half in the hospital waiting for him to be stable enough to leave ICU and later be discharged to fly back to Memphis.

This is video of the crash...  CLICK HERE

We flew back to Memphis and met with two specialist to schedule surgeries that would stabilize his hand and pull the depressed bones in his face up. These surgeons do not work together so the surgeries ended up being two days in a row. Each surgery required an awake intubation (so they could get the tubes down his throat). Two plates in his face, and three pin screws in his hand later and he was on the road for a long recovery...

A rare smile before the first surgery.

The surgeon used the incision to the left to pull the bone in his face back up and right below his eye to put a plate above his eyebrow.

He wore this club cast after surgery for the first two weeks.

After two weeks he was switched to a splint. This is the scar.

Luckily, I can now say that he is doing much better! He has just a couple more weeks of rehab before he can return to swinging a bat. We are so thankful it wasn't another season- ending injury. God works in very mysterious way. I truly believe that! Along this road we have learned a lot about patience, being content, and looking to Him to show what to do next. We are so thankful for the friends and family and for all of the prayers that helped us through this difficult time!