Jeremiah was in a serious car accident. His family has had to travel to and stay in Minot. We all know the expenses that come with this type of situation. Please consider giving to help offset the financial strain for these fellow Christians. This is what Jeremiah’s mom, Jean, wrote about the accident:

A phone call no parent ever wants.

The kind that splits time in two..

before it, and after it.

With every report,

the news grew harder to hear,

harder to swallow,

harder to believe.

Five hours of driving.

Five hours of praying.

Five hours of trying to prepare my heart

for every possible outcome

while begging God it would not be the one I feared most.

And even with a nursing background,

even understanding trauma,

injuries, statistics, and survival…

nothing prepares your heart

to see your child broken before you.

Metal folded.

Glass scattered.

Two young boys suspended somewhere

between tragedy and mercy.

And yet somehow, by the grace of God,

they are still here.

Breathing.

Alive.

Tonight I am holding gratitude

so deep it hurts.

Because both boys survived what should have taken them.

And there are no words heavy enough

for a mercy like that.

We are not out of the woods yet.

The full severity of Jeremiah’s injuries is still unknown,

and regardless, both boys have a long road of recovery ahead of them.

Life changed for them in a matter of seconds.

The paths they had planned were rearranged

in ways none of us could have imagined..

but through all of this,

I keep holding onto one thing

…there is still a path.

And for that,

my heart will thank God

for the rest of my life.

Update from Jean:

First, thank you to everyone who has called, texted, commented, checked in, and most of all prayed over these boys. The support, prayers, and kindness shown to our families over the last two days have carried us through some very heavy moments.

It has been a very long and emotional couple of days with a lot of confusion, conflicting reports, and little sleep, but I wanted to finally give an overall update and share more of what happened.

Tuesday evening around 1830, outside of Tioga, North Dakota, Jeremiah and his friend/coworker were on their way to a work site near Williston. They had both been working long hours and were exhausted. His friend had fallen asleep, and somewhere along that stretch of highway, Jeremiah did too.

While traveling at highway speed, they came upon a semi that was nearly stopped to turn, and they hit the back of it full force. Jeremiah was pinned inside the vehicle, and emergency responders spent over 20 minutes extricating him. Considering how serious this accident was, both boys are doing remarkably well.

Jeremiah’s friend suffered a broken clavicle, an injury to his L1, and a concussion. Thankfully, he is up walking, his pain is controlled, and he is expected to be discharged today. Seeing him moving around after everything that happened has been such a relief.

Jeremiah also suffered a concussion along with significant head trauma. Initially, they believed there may have been a brain bleed, but thankfully that either dissipated or was misread and is no longer a concern.

He badly dislocated and broke his left hand. He also broke his right radius and tore ligaments in his wrist along with tendons in several fingers on his right hand. He underwent two surgeries yesterday with an amazing surgeon, who feels hopeful about how things will heal, though it is still far too early to know what recovery will fully look like.

He also suffered a larger liver laceration they are closely monitoring, along with several smaller lacerations to his spleen.

He has countless bruises, cuts, and soreness throughout his body, but by the grace of God, his spine, neck, and legs, were spared.

Jeremiah has mostly been sleeping, which is expected right now. But we’ve had moments where his personality has come through. He got irritated with me, per usual, and picked on his sister this morning enough to make all of us laugh.

Those small moments have felt huge today. The sound of his voice, his sarcasm, even his attitude. Things you never realize you could be so thankful for until you almost lose them.

There are still many unknowns in front of us, and we ask that you please continue to keep both boys in your prayers as they begin the long process of healing physically, mentally, and emotionally.