Yellow Tulips!

Every Year as the spring approaches I am reminded how precious life is. This year marks the 11th. anniversary of Jordan's accident.

He still has his own hip. The Dr's. thought he might need an artificial hip replacement by now. But no Avascular Necrosis of the hip.

*

I remember that day as vividly as I'm sure Jordan does. As you can see by the picture of the suburban it's a miracle that all 8 of those kids survived.

*

I remember the days, weeks and months following that horrible day. I was so BITTER, and had such feelings of ANGER and BLAME that I couldn't seem to shake.

Jordan was an amazing athlete, he was a sophomore with so much promise, definitely a college bound athlete.

As a freshman he was a voted team captain and was invited to play up on the OHS varsity football team during the state playoffs. As a sophomore he also played on the varsity squad. He had received the MVP award for both his freshman year and sophomore year and was headed for athletic greatness.

*

All this changed on that day 11 years ago. Jordan was a passenger along with 7 other OHS students headed for the Hogle Zoo, as part of the day activity for the girl’s choice Spring Fling dance.

The driver was a young 16 year old girl who had only had her license for 2 weeks. She was driving the suburban which belonged to the parents of one of the other girls in the group. She had never driven this SUV before and was traveling at a speed in excess of 109 MPH when the front right tire blew causing the vehicle to roll end over end 5 times across all three lanes of traffic on I-15 near Lehi.

Jordan was one of the passengers that was thrown landing in the median strip. The SUV continued to roll 2 more times landing on top of Jordan.

Jordan was transported to the hospital unconscious, we didn't know at that time what his fate would be. When it was all said and done his injuries included: A broken hip, broken clavicle, torn meniscus, torn ACL, and PCL in his left knee, and a closed head injury.

*

Upon arrival to the hospital he immediately had surgery on his hip, and one week later he had surgery on his shoulder.

Jordan was bed ridden for quite sometime, and couldn't be moved due to the hip injury. We were told to expect the need for a new hip within 5 years.

I thought he would never be whole again. Once he was strong enough he had another surgery, a complete reconstruction of his left knee. He was in a wheelchair for the weeks to follow. Of course his future was gone. Or so I thought.

During the next year I was very angry and embittered by this whole experience. Angry at myself for not knowing the details of that day and for giving him permission to go. Angry at the parents of the driver and the owners of the vehicle, angry at the driver, and pretty much just angry that my son had to suffer and give up on his dream. I spent so much time being angry that I didn't even notice that my son had become a stronger and better person because of this experience. Instead of sitting around angry like me he had decided to play the hand he had been dealt. During his recovery which took about 1 1/2 years he grew in ways he never could have before. As you can see from the pictures below he made so much out of that time.

*

He won the truth for youth contest for the state of Utah, he wrote a television commercial that aired on local and cable channels for the year, he helped direct and also starred in the commercial

*

He formed his band "The Small Town Heroes", performed all over the state of Utah, and cut 2 CD's with his band.

*

These are things he would have never had time to do if his life if had stayed on the course he had planned.

*

Oh Yeah and did I mention he managed to rehabilitate is body and mind throughout that year so he could return to his first love OHS football. It took a lot of work, pain, perseverance and traveling to SLC to the re-hab center every morning, but he did it. He returned to the the OHS football team his Sr. Year.

THANKS TOSH....

His team mates voted him team captain, and he not only started on defense but also got quite a bit of playing time on offense. That year he was given the most inspirational player award and made the Utah All-State team.

**

No, Jordan didn't get a scholarship to play football, but he got much more out of his life, all because he chose to turn adversity into growth.

I learned so much from Jordan that year, among other things I learned to look for the silver lining, and to have faith and trust in the Lord, He knows what he is doing. Thanks Jordan for the great example.

*

I hope it's alright that I posted this comment from Steve Stuart. He has been a lifelong friend to Jordan.

*

He left this comment on my post and I wanted to share it with all of you. He reminded me of the great young friends at OHS that brought about this miracle through fasting and prayers. Watching these great young kids exercise their faith in Christ, and seeing the compassion they showed not only for Jordan but for all of the kids in that accident. Reinforced to me that there are truly good and wonderful youth in this world. I think Steve is right, I think most of the

Orem High School Student body and faculty did fast for our kids that night.

What a blessing they were and are to us.

**

Below is his comment.

Thanks so much for reliving this incident. This was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to go through. I am just now understanding what you as parents had to endure.

I remember driving past the Suburban on the side of the road and realizing it was the same vehicle our friends were in. We pulled off to the left hand side of I-15 and ran across to see what we could do. We sat at the American Fork hospital for a few hours with heavy hearts and bloodshot eyes. What happened over the next couple of days was nothing short of a miracle. It seemed like the entire student body, along with many others, fasted and prayed for those in the car. To me it is a miracle that everybody not only survived, but as far as I know, all are thriving with no serious long-term injuries!

Jordan is an amazing person and deserves all that he has. Hard work was something that I know is taught in your family, as is evident by the success of all four of your children.

Thank you for playing a role in my adolescence and I wish nothing but the best for all of you!

-Steve Stuart

*

This accident happened shortly after the Columbine tragedy, I remember thinking when that happened , what a horrible world we lived in and I wondered how youth could be so wicked, I was losing hope for this generation of youth.

*

Then this horrific accident happened and I saw the youth of this community pull together through faith in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and my hope and faith in the youth was restored. It's true what our Prophet has said. This is a rising generation of valiant souls. I am so grateful for their part in Jordan's recovery.

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

And haven't forgotten the miracle you helped bring about by your faith...

As Steve mentions in his comment it was a community effort by those wonderful youth, praying and fasting for a miracle.

*