Josh's Accident

Okay, as tacky as it is, I think I'm going just going to post the whole story the way I had to write it up for the attorney.

I feel like I should share the story because everyone should know what an amazing kid Josh is! He's so tough- not a complainer. And he's been through so much this past year- I'm so ridiculously proud of him it's not even funny!

He is a bit of a screamer though (understandably)- he just said last week that he was surprised the hospital didn't tack on an extra $20 for all the screaming! lol

Joshua Nimmo Accident
Saturday, April 5th , 2008

Joshua had a soccer game in Pryor that morning. One of the other players, Jeffrey and his mother, Vicki rode to the game with us. When we returned to Catoosa early that afternoon, the boys wanted Josh to stay the night with Jeffrey. We agreed and the boys left with Vicki.

When they got back to Vicki’s house, she asked the boys to help with some yardwork. As a reward for helping out, she gave them each a little money, which they decided to spend on an old set of golf clubs. She loaded up the boys, two bikes, and the golf clubs and took them all to Rodger Berry Sports Complex on east Pine in Catoosa.

The boys started off by hitting golf balls. Since it’s a large open area, Vicki was reasonably sure they wouldn’t break any windows and it was a good place to take them to play. When they got tired of golf, both boys hopped on the bikes. They ended up racing to the end of the soccer fields, which is still within sight of where Vicki was standing.

Josh was the first to arrive at the end of the fields, and jumped off the bike to run up the nearest pile of what appeared to be gravel. In fact, it was a pile of smoldering embers from the brush that had been burning there since the ice storm in December 2007.

There were piles of brush as well, but there were several piles that had already been burned. The pile Josh climbed was gray and rocky in appearance. There was no flame or smoke visible.

Josh took several steps up the pile when he said he noticed his pants were hot. He was wearing a pair of windbreaker-type athletic pants that he typically wore over his soccer shorts on game day. As he slowed down, his feet began to sink into the ash. He turned to run back to the bottom of the pile. By the time he got to the bottom and was able to sit, his shoes were filled with hot embers that were being pressed into his feet. He was not wearing socks. When he pulled the shoes off, the skin was already blistering and some skin was removed with his shoes.

Because the boys were getting far enough away that Vicki didn’t feel like they could hear her, she called Jeffrey’s cell phone. About that time, Josh was taking off his shoes, so Jeffrey told Vicki that Josh was hurt.

When she got to where Josh was, her first thought was to get his feet in cool water, but there was no source of water available. There was a watery mud puddle, so she carried Josh to the puddle and immersed his feet to try to cool them and stop the burning.

At about 6:15 that evening I received a phone call from Vicki. She said Josh had been burned, and she needed to know what hospital to take him to. I could hear Josh crying loudly in the background. I told her I would meet her at St. John’s Emergency Room. Not knowing the extent of his injury, it did not occur to me to have her call an ambulance.

I loaded up my younger son, Jackson and hurried to the ER. When I arrived, they were just getting Josh settled in an exam room. He was screaming and crying and obviously in horrible pain. They were taking his vitals and getting ready to start an IV.

The emergency room staff started pumping him with pain medication, trying to get him stabilized. He was crying and screaming the whole time. They administered several types of pain medications, including large amounts of morphine, and finally added a sedative to try to get Josh to calm down- he was exhausting himself. The screaming lasted at least 2 ½ - 3 hours. It was after 9 o’clock before they were able to get him comfortable enough to move. He was slipping into a medicated sleep as we began moving him via ambulance to Hillcrest’s Alexander Burn Center for treatment.

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That's the end of what I needed for the attorney. The rest of the story is basically that we spent 12 days in the hospital. He had 2nd and 3rd degree burns and had to have skin graft surgery. Channel 6 got wind of our story, and came out and interviewed us. (Stressful!) Craig Day is super nice and he was so good with Josh! http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?s=8165295
(Of course, idiotic people posted on the story, but I chose to ignore those and focus on all of the supportive ones.)

Josh missed about a month of school. He had to wear custom-fit special socks for almost a year after the accident. He was bound and determined to be healed in time for football season, and amazingly enough he made it. There were some nights I had to pull him out because I could tell he was hurting- he would NEVER tell his coaches that himself. Again, a tough kid- I couldn't be prouder.

Thanks to everyone who came to see us and sent cards & gifts! We all really appreciated it!

Especially Linda- who kept us fed (bleh-hospital food) and helped watch the other boys- and her sister Patty and daughters Brittany & Tiffany! I wouldn't have made it without Linda!!!!

Thanks to my sisters Darlene & Carrie for coming down to help and CLEANING HOUSE! Shut up! That was above & beyond!

Sisters Angela & Jacki came and helped with the boys... Papaw Abell came down... I have an amazing family.

My coworkers sent food, backed me up at work and were just there for me the whole time-including our benefits department.

Man, we are blessed.