Our own family miracle

(this post was edited to improve the accuracy of the actual event of the fall and rescue as corrected by Spencer's friend, Matt Thomas, who was one of his hiking companions. He tells the story better, since he was there... thank goodness for that! I've italicized the paragraph that Matt edited for me. Thanks again, Matt!)

This weekend held for us one of life's most dramatic moments; the fear that one of your loved ones may die. This is my awesome brother, Spencer Anderson.

He's notorious for making faces in pictures. It's because he thinks he looks goofy, even when he's trying to smile nice, so therefore, look goofy on purpose! He's a strong and tough man, but he's also a gigantic teddy bear who cherishes his wife, and couldn't love his gorgeous little daughters more. I've looked up to him as long as I can remember. This picture also includes is sweet wife, Jen... another one of my most favorite people.

So, when my dad called me on Saturday at 4:00 pm to let me know "Spencer's been in a terrible accident, he's fallen, has lost an eye and has some serious brain damage. You need to prepare yourself for the worst," I got really scared. Within an hour, we determined to join the family in Colorado, we had clothes packed up for ourselves and the boys, our kids situated up at Paul's parents house for the night, and we were on the road heading to Grand Junction. The next 3 hours were pretty agonizing for me. We had so little information, and none of the benefit that the rest of family received from receiving priesthood blessings of comfort, hope, and peace.


My family was driving west from Denver and we were driving east from Utah, and we were actually the first members of the family to arrive in Grand Junction. I'm grateful that we were able to do the leg-work of finding out exactly where he was and answering questions regarding contact information so that when Jen and my parents got there, they were able to get right to him. When we got there, he was just getting out of surgery and the ICU needed time to get him hooked up to a myriad of tubes and monitors. He was almost fully ready by the time everyone arrived. I'm so glad. Many of us were able to be there together to be a support to one another. I know I truly benefitted from this and I'm extra sorry that Alisha, Camille, and Nicki were not able to be with us.


Over the course of the next 24 hours, this is what we learned about what happened to Spencer, the miracles that saved him, and what will happen from here. Spencer and his 3 buddies came to Grand Junction to camp and hike. They were headed to see the concentration of nine arches, including Rattlesnake Arch, in the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area near Colorado National Monument. They were accessing the arches via the Pollack Bench Trail. As they were hiking on Saturday morning, they had missed a hairpin turn on the trail they were hiking by about 100 feet. The hiking order at that moment was Spence in front, then Josh, Matt and Rod. For the sake of explanation, if you’ll imagine looking toward a cliff edge from the top, Spence was at the left side of the group and Rod was at the right. Spence happened to be only about 50 feet ahead and went over to the cliff edge. Matt and Josh heard a distinct slipping noise (one they’ll never forget) and immediately looked at each other with disbelief. They yelled out to Spence once, then again much louder and realized what the slipping sound must have been. Because of their respective positions, Josh was the first to the edge (and nearest to Spence) and the first that saw that Spence had, indeed, fallen. He had SOMEHOW fallen off this 30 foot cliff, landing on his left side onto a flat rock bench below. Josh began running back to the right where Rod had found the trail. Matt followed to the cliff edge and also saw the frightening sight. By that time, Rod had begun making his way down the trail which stair-stepped down the cliff face. Josh followed, then Matt. Josh and Rod were able to get to him first. Because of the life-or-death condition that Spencer was in, the decision to go ahead and move Spencer had to be made. The three of them quickly, but ever so carefully, got him rolled over and eventually stabilized on the steep slope just below the flat rock bench where he initially impacted. Matt found a cell phone (Spence’s) and made a 911 emergency call while Josh and Rod administered a Priesthood blessing. Apparently, Spencer was thrashing around and fighting everything his friends were doing. They gave him a priesthood blessing (but had run out of symbolic oil), and had, at one point, separately commanded him to be calm. Immediately, Spencer calmed down. Miracles were witnessed on site, and are a continuing factor in Spencer’s amazing recovery. The power of the priesthood is profound and REAL. Cell reception wasn’t to be had at the immediate site of the incident so Matt scrambled back up the cliff face, found reception and made the call again to 911. All in all, three calls had to be made to 911 because of losing reception. Calls were also coordinated with the search & rescue team and the sheriff’s office. Thankfully, one of the friends helping Spencer was two months into his EMT training and by the time the flight nurses had arrived in the rescue chopper, they told them that they had done everything perfectly. After the medical and search & rescue teams had arrived, medical care was administered, and rope haul lines were established, it took over 20 search & rescue workers, his friends, and deputy officers another hour to get him lifted up the cliff face (note from the picture above that Spence is no small man!) Then Spencer was carried up a moderately steep trail another ¼ mile to the rescue helicopter. Matt, his friend who made the call, was trying to flag down the helicopter when it arrived, but they couldn't see him. SOMEHOW, they were able to lock onto the GPS coordinates broadcast from Spencer's phone, and find their exact location. Matt was able to ride in the helicopter with Spencer and be with him in the ER trauma center up until his surgery, so thankfully, he was never alone.


As far as the work that occurred in the ER and the OR, I'm a little sketchy on these details. Probably because whenever we were talking about it, I would immediately feel nauseated and need to lean against a wall or sit down or something. I was being a HUGE wuss! What I do know is this. Spencer's left eye ruptured. Since we didn't have immediate access to the dictated notes from the eye surgeon, we kept getting conflicting information on whether the eye was actually repaired or taken out completely. Turns out, he was able to repair the front of the eye, but couldn't get to the back (apparently, it's impossible). Recent updates tell us that there is still some leaking from the eye, so if it doesn't seal itself, there is a chance that the eye may not make it. So, even though I've reported that he's lost his eye, that is not true. But we're pretty confident that he's lost all vision in that eye. Any further surgery for this will be done at a later time in Denver.


Spencer must have broken much of the fall with his left hand, shattering the wrist. The hand/wrist was operated on, and put together as best as they could, considering there were pieces of bone missing. If the hand specialist there thinks he can repair it better, he may have another surgery for that. Scans of his other bones indicate that he has some cracks in his pelvis, but nothing else is broken. Not even the facial bones surrounding the eye are broken. Can you believe that? A big guy like Spencer falls that far and SOMEHOW only his wrist is broken. I'm still so amazed by that... it could have been so much worse.


Now for the brain injury. Initial scans show a minor contusion in the left temporal lobe and some smaller bruising sprinkled on the left side of his brain. Despite the major blow to the head, Spencer's vital signs have always been good, even from initial scanning by the EMTs. His heart rate and blood pressure have been normal. When he's not quite so sedated, he's able to put in enough effort to respond and breathe on his own. There's a chance they'll take him off the ventillators tomorrow, but he may remain unconscious for more a couple weeks. He is able to move his extremities in response to verbal stimuli, but his left side isn't responding as well as the right, so they're doing an MRI scan today to see if they've missed something. The neurosurgeon came and talked to the family and explained it all to us. He was very optimistic about Spencer making a full recovery. Because much of the bruising is on his left side, it may impact his speech and language abilities for a while. Just imagine how frustrated I am being one of only two outlying siblings here in Utah when at some near future date, my training may actually be useful to Spencer's recovery. Not that I've got TONS of experience with TBI and aphasia (okay, it is minimal), but I could definitely supplement the services another SLP may recommend. I'm so anxious to see how he'll be affected.


So, that's our story. It's difficult, but we're so thankful for how Spencer, Jennifer, their girls and our family has been blessed. I truly believe that all of these SOMEHOW moments and details are special blessings from God. I don't pretend to know His purpose in all of this happening, but I am full of faith that He was watching over Spencer and protecting him from more serious injuries. I know He has been sustaining Jennifer, their daughters, my family, his friends and loved ones to be able to handle the difficulty of this situation. I know that with continued prayer and fasting, even more miracles may still occur. Right now, I have hope (guarded hope, but definitely hope) for a full recovery with a substantial quality of life for Spence and his family.


Thanks to those who have already helped me so much by helping me with my kids this weekend (Mom, Dad, Emily, Tanner, & Preston) and for all the well wishes and prayers on our behalf. I am so grateful to be surrounded by people who genuinely care. I'd list you all but there are SO MANY and for that, I'm beyond moved. Thank you, thank you, thank you!