"I am glad that you didn't die because I would have missed you"

With Ryan going on his mission I have been reflecting on a lot of things.  I couldn't help but think about the time that we almost lost him and many times I have wondered what life would have been like without him.  Things could have just as easily gone a different way that night but I'm so thankful that they didn't.

It was Monday, 24th September, 2002, the night before Ryan's 7th birthday.  Family home evening had finished and Erin, Ryan and Adam went to take a video back.

It went through my mind that they had been gone for a while but I thought nothing more of it.  Then the phone rang.  It was one of those phone calls that you never want to get.  It was the police telling Terry that the kids had had an accident...........but everyone was okay.

Terry went off to the accident to check on the kids.  While he was gone some people that we knew came around to the house to tell me that there had been an accident and Ryan was bleeding from his head.
I just said to them that "it will be okay, Terry has gone there".
For some reason I wasn't worried - I have no idea why.

Terry eventually called from the hospital and said that Ryan was upset and wanted me and he thought that it would be a good idea if I went out there.  He would come and get me and take me back there.  It wasn't until I arrived at the hospital that I realised..........everyone wasn't okay.

While driving around the bend that leads up onto the bridge as you are heading from East Devonport to Devonport, the car slid sideways into an electricity pole.  It was raining after a long period of dry weather which, of course, made the road more slippery than usual.  The back of the rear seat was a split seat and one of the sides of the back seat had come up and hit him in the head on impact.  Basically Ryan was not okay.

When I arrived at the hospital I was confronted with the reality.  Erin was scared that Ryan was going to die and it would be her fault.  The hospital staff and police weren't sure what was going to happen with him.  There were a lot of doctors and nurses around him and I have to say at that point I was pretty scared.

An x-ray showed that he had a fractured skull and he spent the night in intensive care.

That night Dion Triffitt just happened to be working at the Mersey Hospital and he and Terry were able to give Ryan a Priesthood blessing.

 Next morning, on his 7th birthday, Ryan was taken into surgery to have the glass removed from his head.

I am emotional at the best of times but somehow I remained calm and held it together for the whole week until I was showing someone the photos of the car and then I just started bawling because I think that it hit me what could have happened.

He still has the scars to proved it, although they are pretty feint now.

Probably the worst thing for Ryan was that he got a scooter for his birthday and he wasn't allowed to ride it for 7 weeks after the accident when he got the all clear from the Doctor.

One interesting thing is that when they were leaving to go to the video store that night Ryan wanted to sit behind Erin.  Her school books were on the back seat and she thought about moving them but decided not to.  Had he actually sat behind her he would have died.

Somewhere packed away in amongst my treasures I have a note that Ryan wrote me.  It said, "I am glad that I didn't die because I would have missed you". I think that Ryan is very aware of the fact that he was protected that night.

Ryan I am so thankful that you didn't die that night and that you can be here now and can serve a mission and I know that I would have missed you too.