Hello, my name is Cody.
THIS PAST YEAR OF 2016, HAS BEEN AN EYE OPENER, AND A TESTIMONY LIKE NO OTHER. ON THE 19TH OF JULY, 2015, MYSELF, MY FIANCE’ (EMILY) WHO BECAME MY WIFE ON JULY-2-2016, AND MY TWO BOYS (KEITH, 12 YEARS OLD, CARSON, 6 YEARS OLD), WERE ENJOYING A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR EMILY’S GODCHILD. AT APPROXIMATELY 5:00PM ON THIS DAY, WE ALL GATHERED IN EMILY’S VEHICLE, WITH ME DRIVING, EMILY IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, CARSON WAS IN THE REAR SEAT BEHIND THE PASSENGER, AND KEITH IN THE BACKSEAT BEHIND THE DRIVER. WE WERE GOING TO SEE EMILY'S PARENTS WHILE I WAS DOING YARD WORK FOR THEM. WHILE TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD, KEITH TOLD EMILY THAT CARSON HAD FELL ASLEEP AND HIS SHOULDER HARNESS ON HIS SEATBELT WAS BEHIND HIM. AT THIS TIME EMILT UNBUCKLED HER SEATBELT, TURNED AROUND, AND REBUCKLED CARSON. THIS IS WHERE OUR LIVES CHANGED FOREVER. AS EMILY TURNED AROUND AND REBUCKLED CARSON, IT IS UNSURE OF WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED.
I LOOKED BACK TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE REAR, BUT AT THIS TIME OUR VEHICLE WENT OFF THE ROADWAY RIGHT (WHERE THEY HAD NO SHOULDER). WE STRUCK A CULVERT CAUSING OUR VEHICLE TO FLIP FRONT OVER BACK APPROXIMATELY 5-6 TIMES.
I WILL ADD AT THIS TIME THROUGH MY OWN FOOLISHNESS I DID NOT HAVE MY SEATBELT ON. I HAVE ALWAYS WORN MY SEATBELT, BEING THAT I AM A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, AND HAVE OBSERVED HOW IMPORTANT SEATBELTS ARE. AS OUR VEHICLE FLIPPED OVER AND OVER, I WAS EJECTED THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD, ALONG WITH EMILY BEING EJECTED BACKWARDS, OUT OF THE PASSENGER WINDOW. FROM THE POINT OF IMPACT, TO THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF OUR VEHICLE, WAS APPROXIMATELY 102 FEET. PART OF THE FRONT BUMPER WAS LOCATED, ALONG WITH SEVERAL BRANCHES BEING BROKEN, 43 FEET UP IN A TREE. FROM THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF THE VEHICLE, I WAS 72 FEET AWAY, WITH EMILY BEING 43 FEET AWAY. EMILY WAS THROWN THROUGH A ROW OF PINE TREES, AND BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DID NOT MAKE CONTACT WITH ANY OF THEM.
THE FRONT YARD THAT WE WRECKED IN BELONGED TO AN ELDERLY MAN. UPON CRASHING, THE ELDERLY MAN EXITED HIS RESIDENCE AND OBSERVED THE CRASH ALONG WITH A FRIEND OF EMIL'YS NAMED COLBY ALSO SAW THE WRECK AND IMMEDIATELY STOPPED TO HELP BOTH KEITH AND CARSON GET OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. A FIRE FIGHTER THAT KNEW THE BOYS AFTER SEEING THEM CALLED MELISSA. ONCE CONTACT WAS MADE, THE FIRE FIGHTER TOLD HER ABOUT THE ACCIDENT. MELISSA THEN TELEPHONED MY PARENTS AND ADVISED THEM OF THE ACCIDENT. THE CRASH SIGHT WAS ABOUT 2 MILES FROM MY PARENTS RESIDENCE. UPON FIRST RESPONDERS ARRIVING TO THE SCENE, EMILY WAS OBSERVED WITH HER SHIRT WRAPPED AROUND HER FACE, MOANING, AND HAVING VERY SHALLOW BREATHS. I WAS VERY COMBATIVE AND ATTEMPTING TO GET TO BOTH EMILY AND THE BOYS. I WILL ADD THAT THE ABOVE MENTIONED STATEMENTS ARE FROM THE STATEMENT KEITH GAVE TO FIRST RESPONDERS.
MY PARENTS SHORTLY ARRIVED ON SCENE. EMILY’S PARENTS WERE ALSO ENROUTE TO THEIR RESIDENCE, PASSING THE SAME ROUTE AS WE WERE TRAVELING. THEY THEN DROVE UP ON THE ACCIDENT. BEING THAT EMILY WAS FALLING IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS, SHE WAS AIRLIFTED TO LAFAYETTE GENERAL HOSPITAL. I WAS TRANSPORTED VIA AMBULANCE, TO THE SAME HOSPITAL. WHILE ENROUTE TO THE HOSPITAL I BEGAN FALLING UNCONSCIOUS. UPON ARRIVING TO THE HOSPITAL, IT WAS SAID THAT THE HOSPITAL TRAUMA TEAM, ATTEMPTED TO GET BLOOD FROM ME, BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. I THEN BEGAN FLATLINING, AND HAD TO BE RESESITATED SEVERAL TIMES. IT WAS LEARNED THAT I WAS BLEEDING INTERNALLY.
I WAS RUSHED INTO SURGERY. THROUGH SURGERY, MRI’S, AND X-RAYS, IT WAS LEARNED THAT I HAD A RUPTURED SPLEEN, LACERATED RIGHT KIDNEY, SEVERLY BRUISED BLADDER AND LEFT KIDNEY, SEVERE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, HYPEREXTENDED LEFT SHOULDER, TORN ROTATOR CUFF, BROKEN RIGHT SHOULDER, BROKEN RIBS, BROKEN COLLAR BONES, SHATTERED PELVIS, HYPEREXTENDED LEFT KNEE, TORN PCL, ACL, AND QUAD, AND COLLAPSED RIGHT LUNG. I REQUIRED A FULL BLOOD TRANSFUSION, WHICH CONSISTED OF 29 UNITS OF BLOOD. AS I WAS BEING WHEELED OUT OF SURGERY, IT WAS SAID THAT ME AND EMILY PASSED EACH OTHER, AS SHE WAS BEING WHEELED INTO SURGERY.
EMILY’S INJURIES CONSISTED OF 3 BROKEN RIBS, BOTH LUNGS BEING PUNCTURED, 3 BROKE VERTIBRATE IN HER NECK, 4 VERTIBRATE IN HER BACK, SHATTERED RIGHT ELBOW, COMPOUND FRACTURE TO HER RIGHT ARM, SHATTERED PELVIS, AND BOTH ANKLES BEING SHATTERED. BOTH I AND EMILY WERE IN COMAS. UPON EMILY WAKING UP, SHE HAD NUMEROUS EXTERNAL FIXATORS WITH ONE ON EACH ANKLE, AND ONE ON HER PELVIS. DOCTORS WERE UNSURE IF EMILY’S RIGHT ARM WOULD HAVE TO BE AMPUTATED OR NOT. EMILY’S MOTHER HAD ASKED DOCTORS IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THEY COULD DO IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIX EMILY’S ARM.
SHE DID NOT WANT EMILY TO WAKE FROM THE COMA AND NOT KNOW WHY SHE WAS MISSING HER ARM. WITH THIS REQUEST DOCTORS THEY PLACED NUMEROUS RODS, PLATES, AND SCREWS IN HER ARM, ALONG WITH PUTTING MEDICAL CEMENT IN HER ELBOW. UPON ME WAKING, I WAS HAVING SEVERAL COMPLICATIONS. THESE INCLUDED GETTING PNEUMONIA, WHICH SLOWLY MADE MY RIGHT LUNG COLLAPSE AGAIN. I THEN CONTACTED MRSA IN MY BLODD. FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 WEEKS IT WAS SAID THAT I DID NOT MOVE ANYTHING ON MY LEFT SIDE. MY PARENTS SAID I WOULD NOT EVEN LOOK MY EYES TO THE LEFT.
DOCTORS WERE PREPPING MY PARENTS, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED I WOULD BE PARALIZED ON THE LEFT SIDE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. OVER TIME I SLOWLY STARTED MOVING MY LEFT SIDE. ON AUGUST 13TH, 2015, I WAS ACCEPTED AND TRANSPORTED TO TOURO INFIRMARY IN NEW ORLEANS, LA. A SHORT WHILE AFTER BEING AT TOURO, I BEGAN REHAB. I WAS WALKING, WHEN DOCTORS SAID I SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN. I WAS DOING EXCELLENT IN SPEECH THRAPY, AND SLOWLY CAUGHT ON TO OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY. I COMPLETED THERAPY AND WAS RELEASED FROM TOURO ON OCT-3-2015. I WAS ENROUTE BACK HOME. I WAS WITH MY MOTHER AND MY SISTER. WE STOPPED AT LAFAYETTE GENERAL, WHERE I WAS ABLE TO SURPRISE EMILY. I THEN WHEN HOME. ON OCT-4-2015, I WAS SURPRISED AT HOME BY EMILY, WHO HAD BEEN RELEASED FROM LAFAYETTE GENERAL.
TODAY WE STILL SUFFER FROM MILD ISSUES. MY SHORT TERM MEMORY IS A STRUGGLE. I SUFFER FROM NERVE DAMAGE AND DROP FOOT ON MY LEFTSIDE. EMILY SUFFERS WITH BACK PAIN AND SOME MILD PAIN ON HER RIGHT ARM. BUT IF WE ONLY HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THESE LITTLE PAINS THE REST OF OUR LIVES, THEN YOU WILL NOT HER US OCMPLAIN. BOTH KEITH AND CARSON SUFFERED NO INJURES, AND ARE HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER THAN EVER!
