Mother and Mimi's update

We have received tons inquiries regarding the details of the accident and the status of everyone involved. This is the best to way communicate such info for everyone and I will update this blog with updates throughout the process.

The accident: mother, Mimi (my grandmother), a family friends 8 year old daughter, and my moms two small yorkie dogs were traveling west bound on I 40 home to edmond, ok around noon on Sunday March 25th. They had been on the interstate for about one mile and a man attempted to pass them and when he did he clipped the rear side (assuming left but haven't seen police report yet) of their suv. My mother was driving, Mimi was in the passenger seat and the young girl was in the back with the dogs. They were sent off the embankment and apparently went airborne before rolling down the hill 3-4 times. The vehicle came to a stop upside down. The young girl was okay and able to get out of the vehicle. She had minor bruises and a seat belt burn. Thank the Lord! Mimi (keep in mind this woman is 78 and maybe weighs maybe 130 lbs), crawled out of the vehicle with a broken left hand, broken right clavicle, and bleeding pretty badly. She was unable to help my mother out of the vehicle as she was pinned upside down. Mimi managed to walk up the hill and obtain assistance. The paramedics were on location in about 15 minutes after the wreck and use the "jaws of life" to get mother out of the vehicle. They took them to sparks hospital in Ft. Smith Arkansas. After assessing my mother they determined the best option was to fly her to Tulsa's St. Francis hospital as they have a much better trauma center and a great thoracic/vascular surgeon.

Mother's injuries/condition: She sustained the worst injuries to her chest/ribs. She has multiple fractures in multiple ribs on her left side. Two ribs on her upper right side have fractures, but they will just let them heal. The left side needs to have 3 maybe 4 ribs plated due to multiple fracture on each rib some of which are limiting her lung space. The doctor said her left side is "crushed". We were able to see the cat scan and a 3D image of her chest and it looks pretty bad. The broken ribs have caused her left lung to collapse but they have a tube so her oxygen levels are great! The broken ribs have cause her to have what's called a "flail chest". From what I understand is that the ribs are pushing down on her lungs and causing the lungs to shift downward into the rest of her organs. There is no need for concern as the operation will alleviate most of this issue. It causes more discomfort for her. She is scheduled for surgery at 2:45 pm tomorrow to plate the ribs. She has a fracture on her humerus and her left shoulder is dislocated. As of right now they won't operate on the shoulder, but the orthopedic surgeon will be will be in the OR to pop her shoulder back in place. He came by earlier to do it, but could not get it so he wanted to do it while she is under anesthesia. Left side of her face is very badly bruised and cut up. Her left eye is swollen shut and black. They had to stitch up her eye lid in a couple of places. She has a few minor fractures in her face. I spoke to the plastic surgeon earlier and he explained that it is very unlikely that she would need and procedures on her face. The rest of the injuries on her or lots of cuts and bruises all over her arms and legs.

She is very with it for being in this state. Everyone has been impressed with her status given the horrible accident. She has been insanely tough today. They gave her a PCA pain pump and she hasn't used it much, but we have encouraged her to use it more as it will only help her.

Mimi is being brought up here to consult with an ortho surgeon about her clavicle. She is very sore and bruised up.

Hannah, her 15 year old yorkie dog was killed in the accident and her other dog is MIA.

We are very thankful that everyone is stable and will be okay. This has been a very surreal experience for us and without prayer, friends, and family it would have been much harder. These types of accidents happen all the time but we always think "that wouldn't happen to me". Very eye opening for us.

We thank you all for your support (3 weeks after my heart operation) we are truly blessed with amazing people in our lives and can't imagine not having you all.

Thanks again and we will keep you posted via this blog.

Anthony J. Hilbers