My Dad is the Bravest Man I Know

A few weeks ago I was sitting calmly in class discussing codes of egress when I got a phone call from my mom.  I ignored it because, hey, I was in class.  Then I got a text:

"Dad was in a bad bike wreck.  Going to the hospital.  Meet us there ASAP."

Naturally, I freaked out.  I ran home, grabbed Zach and the car and we rushed to the ER.  I was expecting something like this:

What we found wasn't much better.  If you get squeamish, I would skip the next few pictures.



It may look horrible, but I knew Dad was ok when the first thing he said was, "Oh, Zach is here?  Let's get him to x-ray his ankle while they do my face!"  And then he proceeded to repeatedly ask about his bike, which looked like this:

That's the front fork, completely sheared off.

 

We're not entirely sure what happened, as my mom was in front and my dad doesn't remember, but somehow Dad went through the back windshield of a car.  Other than a broken occipital bone, a nasty contusion on his arm, and a sweet jagged cut on his face he was miraculously ok.  In fact, he even managed to use the bathroom by himself when he first arrived.



After Hans and Zach gave him a blessing we left Dad in the very capable hands of the plastic surgeon.  The next day he looked much, much better but he could still give you the blood red EYE like none other.  Remind you of anyone? (It was only on one side of his face.)

That day we got a very panicked call from my little brother on his mission via his mission president.  Apparently Hans had sent him a picture, but no one had sent any REAL explanation or update of status.  In his words it was like "getting a picture of your father's broken body and then letting you sit and wonder what happened."  His letter of retribution was swift.

One week later Dad looked even better.  He'll have a wicked awesome scar.

Now, three weeks later the scar just adds to his ruggedly handsome good looks.

My Dad is the bravest man I know.  Two days after the accident he was looking at a new bike.  A month after the accident he's planning another 100 miler in California.  The man is unstoppable.