His accident occurred on August 13, 1998 about 9:30 P.M. Andy had driven to my place of employment to visit me and on the way home he went of the side of the road and flipped the Jeep he was driving....

I was on my way home from work and I spotted a man and a child on a motorcycle and they were flagging me down. I reluctantly stopped ( it was dark and we were out in the middle of nowhere ) As soon as I stopped the little boy came running up to me and said that they found a Jeep in the ditch. I knew instantly that it was my husband. I rushed down the small hill and looked in the Jeep but Andy wasn't there, then we heard a noise about 20 feet or so form the Jeep and it was Andy laying there snoring and he would not wake up. The man and child went to call for help and I stayed with him. Within minutes the EMS was on site and then Andy was Life flighted to Parkview Hospital in Ft. Wayne IN. Once we arrived at the Hospital the Neurosurgeon told me that Andy only had a 50 % chance of surviving and IF he did survive he only had a 10% chance of returning back to us as "Andy"

He remained in unconscious and in ICU for 6 weeks having numerous surgeries. Surprisingly enough the "only" injuries he sustained was the subdurral bleed and a fractured pelvis ( which healed in days). Once he was out of ICU we transferred him closer to home to the Montpelier Rehabilitation Hospital. And finally three weeks later they told us that he was technically out of the coma. He remained at the hospital for another 4 months and was again transferred to the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, Ohio where a doctor named Lawrence Horn was to look at Andy and see if he could help. Andys stay and our hopes at MCO were short lived. Though some great things did happen while Andy was at MCO we didn't get the awareness that we were hoping for.

Andy is home with me now almost 8 months after the accident and we still have a long road ahead of us. He still does not walk or talk and he has minimal movement with his left side and when he wants to he has full movement with his right side.

When his accident first happened the Trauma doc Dr. Alland kept telling me that it would be a long recovery and I though to myself ok 3-4 months no problem.... Now I think to myself I have all the time in the world. I know understand that we are looking at years and years...

My hopes for Andy have changed over that past several months. When it first happened I wasn't going to be happy unless Andy "came back" to me 100% now I would just be happy if he would be able to communicate with me.

I would be happy to hear from anyone. Please email me at parothed@bright.net . I would love to make friends with anyone going through what we have all been through.

Tina R. Kreischer
Montpelier, Ohio