PUERTO RICO
It was a p-day for Elder Hammer. Wednesday, Sept. 14. He had been serving his mission for 134 days, nearly 5 months. Coelton and the other misisonaries he lived with went about the normal p-day activities. Laundry, cleaning, an e-mail home, grocery shopping and if there is time; something fun.
Coelton and his companion along with another missionary decided to go to the light house and find Iguanas. This is something that Coelton had done one time before. He sent us pictures of this and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful landscape and seeing the Iguanas. Every missionary in the area has to catch at least one Iguana. It's just something they do-
The missionaries use their belts to catch the iguanas. For some reason the Iguanas are attracted to the belts and they crawl through the loop and before they know it- they are caught.
On this day the other 2 missionaries with Coelton cinched their belts together and while trying to get one; dropped their belts accidentally. They tried to get the belts, but they were too far down on the cliffs. Finally giving up- they started walking back to their car.
After seeing what time it was and realizing it was only 5:00 and they didn't have to be back to their apartment until 6pm to make their evening appointments, they went back to the cliffs to try to get the belts. One of the Elders was worried as this was his only belt!
Upon further examination, Coelton saw a couple of ledges and a trail that he could get on and retrieve the belts. He got on the first ledge and was scaling his way over to the next ledge. The rocks he was hanging onto with his hands were giving way. He quickly stepped down to the next ledge and his foot never reached it- it was further than he anticipated. He quickly reacted and dug in his heels and grabbed for anything he could, but he began to fall backwards.
THE HOMEFRONT
As with any Wednesday we look forward to that email. We received it around 11:00. In his email he asked for some P90X workout ideas he could do for exercise in the mornings. At about 3:00 I was in the office making copies of some exercises he could do. The same time my son was falling.
It was about 10:30pm and I was in bed half asleep when the phone rang and Joel said it was bishop and he needed to talk to him. So we both assumed it was something along the "young men" lines. Joel is the Young Men's President. When Joel answered the door, bishop told him that Coelton had been in an accident and was being life flighted to San Juan. He told Joel he had the phone number for the mission president and he needed to call him.
At 11:30, I was woken up by Joel who told me that Coelton had been in an accident and had broken his arm and was being life flighted to San Juan. He told me I needed to get up and come to the office and that Bishop was there and wanted to talk to us.
I was told by Joel and by our bishop everything that they knew. Coelton fell from a cliff, 30-40 ft. His arm was broken in 3 places. He was being life flighted to San Juan. Rescuers got him out of the bottom of the cliffs after he waited for about an hour and a half. He was taken to a hospital in Cabo Rojo where they could not help him. This is why he was being life flighted to San Juan. He had a compound fracture in his lower arm and his bone was exposed.
We were able to talk to Coelton late Wednesday night and he kept saying over and over that he should be dead.
The next morning we received a call from the mission president. He woke up very peaceful and read the email we had sent to him and felt even more peace. He then interviewed each of the missionaries and found that they were at an area that was in their bounds, and is a nature reserve. The missionaries were actually encouraged to visit areas such as this. It doesn't attract a lot of tourists and there are no areas to swim where tourists would wear bikinis etc. He also learned that they were on time and they were going to go working that night and would have made it back in time to make their appointments. The way the accident happened was explained to him and he realized that it was a terrible accident and nothing more. These missionaries were not breaking rules or being crazy.
Again on Thursday morning we talked to Coelton before he went in for surgery. Sister A. (the mission president's wife) was always with Coelton. She told us that he has angels with him. She said it is a miracle not only that he is alive, but that he could get in for surgery so soon. Usually non- life threatening injuries have to wait 4 days before they get surgery. Sister Icely was also with Coelton a lot. She and her husband are couple missionaries in Puerto Rico and she is the mission nurse.
Before Coelton left for his mission we had to sign over our parental rights to the mission president, it is against Puerto Rican law for Minor's under 21 to live there without a parent.
We were under the impression that this surgery would fix everything, that coelton would heal in Puerto Rico and he could get back to work quickly. Maybe he could work in the office for a while.
7 hours later we were called again. The surgery was done. They fixed his humerus bone. It was broke in half and they plated it and put several screws in it. They accessed the rest of the arm and put an external fixator in his arm to stabilize his bones. We were told the Ulna bone was also a compound fracture and the radius was also. Part of the radius was sticking out of his wrist area. He was missing about 2 CM of bone from his radius.
On Friday we were feeling better and felt that he would stay in Puerto Rico and get all the surgeries needed and then get back to work. Joel had a mission companion who had broke his leg and he had surgery and stayed on his mission and recovered there. However, later that day were told that Coelton would be coming home and would need more surgeries. We then realized how severe his injuries really were.
On Saturday morning we received another call. Sister Icely and Sister A. were very good at keeping us in the loop. We were told that Coelton would be able to come home as soon as we could locate an orthopedic surgeon and get things set up here for him to fly hospital to hospital. We began researching docs and found one that came highly recommended. Being a Saturday we weren't sure how we could reach him. We called the office he worked at and he was the Dr. on call so they patched us through to him. He was at a soccer game. We asked him if he could conference call with the surgeons in Puerto Rico so he could know what was going on. He did and then he called us back and we were able, for the first time, to talk about it in clear English, exactly what we were looking at.
Dr. Curtain said the injury is major and Coelton was missing a bone that is crucial. He said worst case...Coelton could loose his hand. We were devastated. He described an injury that would take 4-5 more surgeries and could be 6-8 months of rehab and he may never regain full use again.
We received another phone call from Puerto Rico later that afternoon and were told that Coelton would be ready to come home on Monday and they asked Joel if he could come to Puerto Rico and bring Coelton home, so that he could administer to him when he got there. The mission Dr. usually accompanies injured Elder's home, but the Puerto Rico mission Dr. is female. They decided that another surgery would be needed to clean his arm and make sure there was no infection and to prepare him for transport. They felt that 1st class commercial flight would be okay. They decided not to do an air ambulance.
The Fall
Coelton remembers falling backwards and several thoughts crossed his mind. "Tuck head into chest", "I can't believe this is happening!", "Is this really the end?" His body hit the rocks going down. He heard his companion screaming, "NO! Elder Hammer...NO!" When he finally reached the bottom he felt that he was being helped to his feet and he began to walk trying to find a way out. He looked behind him and saw his arm just dangling at his side. He gathered it up and was lead to a large rock where he sat down and looked at his arm for the first time. A bone was sticking out of his wrist and he was bleeding badly. The blood was pooling in his lap. He heard the missionaries calling 911 and telling them dispatch what happened. The Elder's were yelling down to Coelton to keep looking up at them and to not pass out. Coelton began to get sleepy and was very cold. He would yell up to them, "How much longer?" Coelton said he felt like there were angels at his side, who were comforting him and helping him stay awake.
Finally after about 90 minutes the rescuers found him and put him on a board and into a rock cage and used ropes to get him to the top.
The rescuers later said that Coelton was the 9th person they have pulled out of that area...the only one alive.
When learning that he was a missionary they said, "He is truly a man of God."
The surgeons that worked on Coelton stated that "he was certainly watched over because it is a miracle that he was not hurt worse than he was".
I tried to take a picture showing Coelton's CTR ring all bloody. The hospital people in Puerto Rico pulled off his ring and placed it in a bag. Joel handed it to me in the hospital in Boise. I cried when I saw it. Something about a CTR ring and it was covered in blood. His name badge got a little dinged up in the back, but not bad. When I showed Coelton this picture, he said it was a little creepy. It looks like his stuff is sitting on a coffin. haha. I have to agree...creepy picture.
Coming Home
Coelton stayed in the hospital in Puerto Rico for 5 nights. Joel flew to Puerto Rico on Sunday and arrived that evening. He was met at the airport by President and Sister A. The first thing he said to Joel was "You are young!" Joel laughed and said "So are you!" Pres. and Sister A. are a my age. They have 3 children all our children's ages except they don't have an Elder Hammer.
They drove Joel straight to the hospital and Joel walked into Coelton's room and they embraced and sobbed in each others arms. Sister A. took some pictures that she shared with us.
Joel spent the night with Coelton that night. I'm sure his companion was happy at that. He had been staying with Coelton during the nights and resorted to sleeping on the floor than the awful chair.
The next day Joel and Coelton went to the mission home for a lunch and then to the airport with his companion and the other missionary who was with them at the accident. Pres and sister A. were also there. Pres. A. cried as he said good-bye and said how sorry he was that this happened. It was a very emotional farewell to Elder Hammer.
I drove to the airport alone at 11:00pm. Monday September 19. We decided not to bring everyone. It would be too difficult being so late at night and having to drive straight to the hospital. The kids went to bed and would wake up and go to school the next day. They would see Coelton after school on Tuesday.
As I was waiting for Joel and Coelton to come through the big doors- I saw our stake president coming up the escalators dressed in his suit and tie. It was nearly 11:30pm! He had come to welcome Elder Hammer home. We visited shortly and then there they were. Joel was pushing Coelton in a wheel chair. Both had white shirts and ties...Coelton was wearing his missionary tag. I ran to them and hugged Coelton's head-not wanting to hurt him. We cried a little and then I began kissing his head and realizing how grateful I was to see him alive. When I looked at his face I could tell he was in pain and he looked worn out and was sweating. His shoulders were slumped forward as if they were trying to take the pain from his arm. We went down stairs and I went to get the car as Joel and our stake president went to get the luggage with Coelton.
We drove straight to the hospital and began the long checking in procedures. Our Stake President sat with Coelton and talked to him until we had everything ready. We got him settled into his room and changed his clothes and tucked into bed. The nurses were so good with him and got him very comfortable with some good pain medication. Coelton said "it's so good to be here" before he drifted off to sleep. The care in Puerto Rico was not so nice. Coelton would be in pain and call for a nurse to give him some pain meds. 3 hours later she would show up. He also had to bring his own pillow, blanket, towel etc. The care there is more socialized.
At 1:30am the stake president went home. What an amazing man he is; so kind and loving. Joel went to sleep about 3am, I just stared at my son...not believing what I was seeing and so happy to see him and so sad too. I think I stared at him for 2 days while it all sunk in. I snuggled into Joel on a single cot and drifted off to sleep.
Our son was finally home, where we can take care of him and get him healthy.
Coelton's X-ray. Notice the missing bone piece.
An Internet photo of the fixator that looks just like Coelton's.
This is a picture when all the kids finally came to see Coelton for the first time. My heart took a picture. When Caden walked in I watched his face. He looked like he wanted to cry, but was also so happy to see his brother. These 2 brothers have always been close. When we told Caden about the accident he just cried. I looked at all of my beautiful children and realized that I was lucky to have them all together...alive.
Coelton zoned out- Joel reading him some cards the primary made for him. The Sunday School kids also made him a T-shirt. Some of the funny things the kids said were, Parker Hawkins: "Get some leaves!" Taylor Bollwinkel: "Maybe you need to get a new duty."
The Injury
We had heard so many things about Coelton's injuries. When we first heard about his accident, we were told that his arm was broken in 3 places. Then we had heard it was broken in 24 places. We were also told that his distal radius bone was missing. This could have resulted in him loosing his hand. We were so anxious to finally get a clear understanding as to what we were up against.
At 7am one of the surgeons came into Coelton's room. He looked at the X-rays from Puerto Rico and he ordered more. Coelton had another CT scan and more x-rays. The next morning the Dr. told us that the distal radius bone was indeed there... it was not missing. He was missing about 2 cm of his Radius bone. His ulna bone was broken and his radius bone near his elbow was broken. He also had a fracture in his elbow. The surgery done in Puerto Rico to repair the humerus bone was good. He had 2 open wounds; one from where the radius bone was sticking out of his arm and the other was an incision made in Puerto Rico to help with the swelling that would occur.
A hand specialist would be doing Coelton's surgery and he had decided to do all of the repair work in one surgery. This was great news!! We were told it would be 3-4 more surgeries to fix everything.
Home and Surgery
On Sept. 21, Coelton was able to come home. Joel's parents had come to see him and were here helping us with the kids etc. He had several visitors from the ward and some friends. He was pretty "out of it" due to the pain meds. He was getting tired of telling the story over and over. I bought him his own Iguana and a Get Well balloon. Since he was still a missionary when we brought him home, Caden slept in the living room with him.
On Sept. 25, 144 days of being a missionary, Elder Hammer was released from being a missionary. This was a sad thing for us, but we felt at peace with it. Coelton can focus on getting better and not feel pressure about being a missionary too. He doesn't want this time to count for mission time anyway. Coelton has said all along that he will do whatever Heavenly Father wants him to do.
The next day, we took Coelton to see the hand specialist. They took Coelton's cast off and all the wrapping that he had done in Puerto Rico. We had never been able to see him arm until now. Let me tell you- nothing could have prepared us. Joel got light headed and had to sit down. The fixator was truly a sight to behold. He had 2 big open wounds. One from where the bone was sticking out and one we think is where the surgeons in Puerto Rico sliced him to give room for all the swelling. They immediately started dripping blood when the wrapping came off. His arm was huge and white. It was bruised and he was grunting and groaning in pain. After more painful x-rays the Dr. scheduled surgery for Wed. Which was the same day as Great Grandma Judy's funeral. We were sad to have missed it, but I'm sure she understands.
On Sept. 28, Coelton had his surgery. The ulna bone was trimmed and a piece was used to graft to the radius bone. All in all 18 screws and 2 plates were used. He broke a record in the surgical center. The block used to numb his arm wore off about 6 hours too soon, and when we got him home he was in excruciating pain. It took us a while to get back on top of it.
In this picture he is getting ready for surgery #3. First one in Idaho. He looks pretty weird.
Coelton's 17 miracles
1- He survived the fall
2- He was not hurt worse, and it was his left arm and not his right.
3- Joel changed his travel plans from Wed/Thur to Monday/Tuesday that week..."just because".
4- Stood up after fall- administering of angels
5- didn't loose conscienceness
6- Able to have surgery the next day. In Puerto Rico non-life threatening injuries take up to 4 days.
7- Found an excellent surgeon on a Saturday to call Puerto Rico and accept Coelton as a patient.
8- Distal end of the radius bone was NOT missing
9- Only ONE surgery needed in Idaho.
10- Use the Ulna bone to repair the radius bone.
11- NO surgery needed for the elbow
12- Surgery on the Humerus bone did not damage any nerves.
13- ABLE TO RETURN TO PUERTO RICO
14- Other missionaries able to stay in Puerto Rico.
15-Flights home were all on time and Coelton was okay.
16- Outpatient surgery for such a technical procedure.
17- President Miller told Coelton when he was setting him apart to be an Elder that if he was obedient he would be protected from harm while on his mission.
I think Grandma Hammer put it best when she said, "When Coelton opened his mission call that day, he just didn't realize that this was all going to be part of that mission."
Rehab
Coelton started rehab on Oct. 3. He goes to St. Lukes twice a week and does therapy. He is trying to move his arm and regain full function. His arm is a dead thing that he hauls around with him. Little by little his fingers are moving and regaining the feeling. Little by little he can try and straighten his arm. His elbow is very tight and he can't straighten it out. He has some pretty awesome scars.
