Daniel’s Journey: A Whole Lot of Pink

Chapter 1

On Monday, January 11, 2016, after a normal day of work, Daniel and I made snacks, put on our team colors, and hunkered down in the den to watch the Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Clemson Tigers for the BCS National Championship. It was a long, emotionally exhausting, late night. The next morning would come all too quickly as Daniel’s work day started at 5:45 a.m.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, while on the job at a work site in Dothan, Alabama, Daniel pinched and cut his left index finger. A few minutes later, after cleaning and bandaging the cut, Daniel passed out. He was standing on the ground when he fell straight backward, hitting the back of his head on concrete. Someone from his crew immediately dialed 911, and an ambulance was dispatched to their location. The ambulance was only a few miles away, and the accident site was less than a mile from the hospital. The crew did everything the dispatcher told them to do to keep his head still and keep him calm until the ambulance got there. Daniel was taken to the emergency department at Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan. Already, we see God at work saving Daniel’s life.

When Daniel applied for his job, he listed me as his emergency contact. As a result, I received a call from his employer letting me know he had cut his finger and passed out and was being checked out at the hospital. I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I told my boss the circumstances and left work to drive an hour to the hospital where he was being treated because I knew he would need a ride home. Surely they wouldn’t make him go back to work, right? What I didn’t know was the severity of his injuries.

On the drive to the hospital, I received and made several calls. First, I called Daniel’s mom, Wanda. She was at work, but I wanted her to know what was going on. I told her I would call her when I knew something more or when we headed home. I also called my parents and sisters to request prayer. A few minutes later, I called Daniel’s boss, Chad, who had already gotten to the hospital. I wanted to let him know I was on my way and would be there soon. I could hear in his voice that something wasn’t right. He told me to call him when I was almost there and he would come out to meet me.

When I was only a few miles away, I called Chad again. While I was on the phone with him, the neurosurgeon, Dr. Hargett, came in asking questions about the accident and Daniel’s medical history. Chad put me on speaker phone with the doctor, and I gave him all the information he requested, including the telephone numbers of Daniel’s next of kin. I sent my dad a two-word text, “Please come.” He responded “Ok,” and he was on his way. You see, I’m a daddy’s girl, and I had a feeling I was going to need my daddy that day.

Within minutes, I walked into the emergency room where I was directed to a certain room number. When I rounded the corner, I saw Chad. His eyes were red, and his face was filled with concern. I looked across the room, on the other side of a curtain, and saw a man lying on a hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator. Nurses were surrounding him. They were adjusting pumps, pushing medications through IVs, and making notes on the computer. That’s when recognition hit me. That man lying there hooked up to machines was my Daniel. After a moment of stunned silence, I turned to Chad and asked what had happened. He relayed to me what information he had gotten from the job-site supervisor. Then the nurses started asking questions. Does he drink alcohol? Does he smoke? Does he do recreational drugs? Is he on any medications? Has he had any surgeries? Is he allergic to any medication? I answered each question the best I knew how. My legs started feeling weak, and I sat in a chair across the room from the nurses and Daniel. I just prayed. I put my head down in my hands and prayed.

Sometime later, I heard the nurse tell me that if I wanted to, I could come and hold Daniel’s hand. So I did. They had been trying to get him to open his eyes and respond to them, but they were having little success. While I was sitting there staring at Daniel, I was taking in every sight. There was gauze taped around his left index finger, but there was absolutely no visible damage to indicate a serious head injury. Daniel attempted to turn his head to the side at one point, and that’s when I noticed a small scrape, about the size of a quarter, on the very back of his head. It simply looked like when someone skins a knee, except it was on the back of his head, and it wasn’t even bleeding.

A moment later, Dr. Hargett came in and asked me to come with him. He took me to a little room where there were computers with images of the brain and skull pulled up. He explained to me that Daniel’s skull had been fractured on the left side, all the way from the back to the front, and his soft spot had reopened in the front. There was swelling and minimal bleeding on the brain, but the extent of the injuries would be unknown for a few days. He also explained that the sedation and ventilator were precautionary due to Daniel’s combative nature upon admission. He had to be sedated and kept still in order to get accurate scans of his head. While this reassured me that he could breathe on his own if he needed to, it did nothing for the aching in my heart and the feeling of helplessness.