I have decided to have a guest post from Mike's mom Lauri, it is here perspective of the first day. It has been difficult for me to write about the accident and the time right after it. It's hard to get motivated to write more about that time yet there is so much more to tell. Maybe having someone elses' words about that time will help me with motivation. I think it has been good for me to write and hopefully good for you to know what really happened.
The ringing phone woke me from the deep sleep I was in and as I reached for it, I glanced at the clock-
--12:33 A.M. The unfamiliar voice on the other end identified himself as an officer from the Lindon
Police Department. My immediate thought was of Jeffrey who was driving late into the night to reach
Northern California before morning. I asked if Jeff was alright. The officer informed me that he was
calling about Kevin. The grogginess from being awakened from sleep caused confusion. I informed
the officer that Kevin had passed away 10 years before. He asked if I was the mother of Kevin Michael Benson. When I indicated that I was, he informed me that Kevin (Michael) had been in a serious motorcycle accident and was being taken to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I asked if he was OK and the only thing he could tell me was that he was unconscious when he was airflighted from the scene. Before hanging up, he gave me his phone number in the event I needed anything or had further questions.
I immediately rolled out of bed and fell on my knees. Not knowing the type or extent of the injuries,
I simply prayed that Michael would be healed both body and mind. I was immediately reassured that
that would be the case. I then got on the phone and called Aunt Julie (my aunt who lives in Utah) and
asked if she and Grant could go check on Michael and if Grant could give Michael a blessing.
My next thoughts were of Lisa, Michael’s fiancé of three weeks. Although I knew her last name, I didn’t know what city she lived in or any other contact information. I had an e-mail address and quickly sent an e-mail to her asking her to call me immediately when she read it but I knew that she needed to know sooner than that and that she needed to be at the hospital immediately. I got on the computer and began a search and after a few minutes, found her address. I called the police officer back and asked if he would go to her house and let her know about Michael and have her call me when she had any news.
As I paced back and forth through the house trying to figure out my next step, my doorbell rang. It
Garry and Debie (my brother and sister-in-law); they had been contacted by Julie and told about the
accident and that I probably was in need of comfort. After visiting for a few minutes, Garry offered
to give me a blessing. It was a blessing of comfort but I was slightly taken back when I was told in the blessing that I would have the wherewithal to make all the decisions that were necessary in Michael’s behalf.
Just as the sun was coming up, Lisa called me with the first update. Michael was in critical condition. He broke his femur in 2 places, his ribs were broken, a lung was punctured, he had multiple cuts, scratches, and bruises but the doctors were most concerned about the brain injury he had sustained. Throughout the morning she updated me but was unprepared when she told me that the doctors were taking Michael into surgery to put a shunt in his brain to drain fluids. They reiterated to her the seriousness of the situation and told her that he may not make it. Even though I understood the gravity of what she was telling me, I knew that he would.
While all of this was going on, I got a call from Jeff telling me that his boss had arranged and paid for
an airline ticket for me to fly up to Utah that afternoon. My sister-in-law, Debbie, jumped on the same flight and went with me; somehow she knew that I shouldn’t be alone facing such a daunting situation.
When I arrived at the hospital, now approximately 18 hours after the accident, I got off the elevator and was overwhelmed at the number of Mike’s friends in the waiting room keeping a vigil and waiting to hear any news about their friend. Lisa escorted me to the ICU, and as we walked to his room, I asked if I was going to be able to handle this and she assured me that I would (keep in mind that she had seen him in ER before they had cleaned him up…when he was at his worst). I was again overwhelmed when I walked into the room and saw my son hooked up to multiple machines keeping him alive, and in a very deep coma.
The Physician’s Assistant walked me to the computer in the room and showed me picture after picture of Michael’s brain and tried to explain what I was looking at and what it meant. Having had only a few hours of sleep, eating only a piece of toast throughout the day, and being in shock at the sight of my son, what she was telling me was more than I could comprehend. What I did understand was that the most severe brain injuries were to the brain stem—the critical part of the brain that affects living a productive life.
As the evening went on, I knew I needed some food and some sleep so thanked the ICU nurse for
watching over my son for the night. He seemed surprised that I was leaving…”in case anything happens in the night.” It frankly never crossed my mind at that point that he might die; I felt that he was in capable hands. Debbie volunteered to stay with Michael through the night and I left to get some much needed sleep. She later told me that the nurse had stood at the foot of Michael’s bed through most of the night watching him carefully and monitoring all of the equipment. I think that most of those working with him were not expecting him to make it through that first night.
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