MIRACLE ON 34 (2)

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series about the recovery of Amanda Standley of Prescott from a head-on collision with a semi three months ago on Highway 34.

On his way to Omaha the morning of April 6 to find out the fate of his wife from a head-on collision with a semi trailer-truck, Chris Standley kept reassuring himself.

Responders to the accident scene, at first surprised that Amanda Standley had survived a head-on collision with a 2000 Freightliner truck driven by Vernon Major of Essex, had diagonsed initial injuries to Standley after using Jaws of Life to pry open her 1996 Chevrolet Lumina.

“I thought, well, chest injuries and a broken leg,” said Chris, traveling with his parents and sister, Megan. “We can live with that.”

It wasn’t that simple. Damage to internal organs was severe from the force of a head-on collision at highway speeds.

“I didn’t have any concept of what happened,” Chris said. “I hadn’t even seen the car yet. It wasn’t until I got over there, and the trauma coordinator, Megan Sorensen, sat us down in the emergency room and gave us an update. She said, ‘(Amanda) is very critical. We don’t even know why she is still with us.’ They said there was no reason she should be alive.”

She was bleeding internally from her spleen, and her liver was severely lacerated.

Internal bleeding

“They told us her liver was less than a half-inch from being cut in two,” Chris related. “They said they could pop out the spleen that was bleeding, but the liver was damaged so bad there was a risk. There are three arteries from the liver to the heart, and if they bumped one of those arteries that were so damaged, she could bleed to death within a minute.”

At that point, Amanda Standley was on her way to a series of medical miracles. Scanned images taken after she was treated for an aneurysm (bulge in the artery) in her carotid artery in her neck, showed something that stopped the Creighton medical staff in their tracks.

“Creighton has one of the world’s best liver specialists, and he was on call to treat Amanda that day,” Chris said. “On the next Monday, a week out from the accident, he showed me all the scans and pictures they had taken on the first day. He had explained there are three main arteries connected to the liver, but I was seeing only two in the pictures. They had also said if you lost one, you’d be dead in a minute.”

Amanda had survived despite the loss of one of those three arteries.

“One got cut off and separated,” Chris said, “and it clotted on its own. He said they don’t know why that happened. She only has two arteries now, and the bleeding had stopped.”

There is no explanation, Sorensen said, in speaking to a nursing class she was teaching at Creighton.

“She told them to look at those pictures carefully, because they would never see them on a living person again,” Chris said. “Then four days later, on Thursday, her liver had already come back together and was healing itself.”

The long road back was not over, but the major life-threating hurdles had been cleared.

For three days Amanda had been in an induced coma, so she wouldn’t move and jar the fragile condition of her liver, among other internal disorders.

Becoming conscious

“I remember waking up, but I don’t remember a lot of the next three or four days,” Amanda said. “I didn’t remember the accident, or even being at the YMCA. I do remember giving Chris a kiss when I left for the Y.”

Trauma physicians said loss of memory in such an incident is not unusual.

Amanda had a slight skull fracture, which may have been a blessing had she experienced severe brain swelling. As it was, there was no discernible brain injury. The crash had left her left femur (upper thigh) bone sticking through the skin high on her leg, and the compound fracture was repaired with insertion of a rod. She also had a broken sternum, which proved to be the most painful aspect of her condition, along with broken ribs.

On April 11, five days after the crash, Amanda was moved out of intensive care. Two days later she was walking with the aid of a walker, before a nine-week stint on crutches.

After a 15-day hospital stay, Amanda went to Alegent Health Immanuel Rehabilitation Center in Omaha. While her medical condition was stabilized, she had much physical therapy work ahead of her.

Swallowing and speaking were difficult from the injuries to her sternum and neck. A bundle of nerves in the neck area had been damaged.

“When I came out of the coma, I kind of knew what was going on as people started to tell me about what happened,” Amanda said. “I know I’m fortunate to be alive. I’m grateful for all the people that were there to take care of me, every step of the way. I’m so thankful that the semi driver was OK and nobody else was hurt. God truly blessed us.”

“Originally I thought it would have been more convenient for her to be taken to Des Moines,” Chris said, “but as it turned out they had an unbelievable liver specialist who was on call that day at Creighton. It all worked out.”

Friends and visitors from First Baptist Church — where Chris and Amanda first met — made frequent trips to Omaha. Amanda found the visits encouraging, as she gradually improved her ability to swallow and speak. Others kept up on her progress through a Caring Bridge Web site.

Amanda’s parents, Kelly and Jolene Kiefer of Allerton, had been at her side during the recovery. Her mother stayed with her at the rehabilitation center.

On April 29, Amanda was released to go home.

“We had a big party,” Chris said with a grin.

Having lost 25 pounds, Amanda was still weak, though, and needed help for everyday chores.

“I’m still not as strong as before,” Amanda said. “When I got home I couldn’t even lift Hazer into his high chair. But each day it gets better. I go to Corning for therapy two times a week for my leg.”

Chris farms with his father and raises 80,000 chickens between 49 and 55 days old. Amanda had been a full-time helper in that operation, and for weeks Chris was home only occasionally. Family members, farmhand Corey Browning and friend Jason McManis of Corning picked up the slack.

“We are so grateful for everyone who pitched in,” Chris said. “You could barely tell I was gone.”

Now, Amanda is back helping with the chicken operation. She transported children to Bible school in Creston in June, her first time behind the wheel since April 6.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Amanda said. “ I don’t remember the accident. I was a little nervous, though, because I hadn’t driven in so long. I joked about pulling off the road if a semi would come. But it was OK.”

Cracking a joke a few weeks after crashing head-on into a 30,000-pound semi. Truly, a miraculous renaissance.