I had contacted everyone I knew. I didn’t know what to do next. Until “another call” came at about 8:30am. This call was from the Marine Headquarters in DC. The Marine on the other end said that the doctor in Thailand had requested that Kevin’s family be at his bedside. And as fast as possible.

Now my mind was reeling. What would I do with my daughter? What about work? How would I get there? The Marine said that up to three family members could go. He said he would give me an hour and in that time he would make the flight arrangements. He needed to know which airport was closest and how many would be going. Then he said my daughter was allowed to go too since she was 13 at the time. So that was a load off my mind not having to worry about finding a place for her to stay. At this time we had no idea how long we would be gone.

You see, whenever the military offers to fly a family 23,000 miles around the globe it’s usually to a death bed so that the soldier doesn’t die alone. So without  using words, the doctor has told us that he didn’t expect Kevin to live. And obviously the military doctors agreed with this diagnosis in order for them to call DC and get the ball rolling on our transportation over there. When the Marine at Headquarters called back, he advised us to go and have passport photos made. We would fly to DC first and go to the Passport office and get our passports expedited and having the photos ready would be beneficial in the process.

So now I was on the phone and the computer telling everyone that we would be going to Thailand and that we had no idea how long we would be gone. I was excited about going though. I just knew if I could touch Kevin, just to be in the room with him, that he would be ok. Maybe it’s the mother in me, but I knew I would make it better. So now to get passports and pack.

I had a job where I was paid a salary and business was very slow so it was easy for me to take off work. My husband was working for a dealership that had just closed two before on Friday. He was supposed to begin a new job the next day, Monday. He called the new place and they told him to take all the time he needed that he would have a job when he returned. It just so happened that my daughter was to begin Spring Break in a week and the next week after that were exam practices. So in essence she wouldn’t be missing much school either! And, I had just gotten my pay check with two weeks of bonuses on it. That check was almost $2,000 above my salary. I say all this to show how “God”, “the Divine”, “Spirit”, “the Universal Life Force”, whatever you may call it works in our lives.

I had NEVER been on a plane before, but I was packed and ready to go in a flash. We had made arrangements for someone to come over and take care of our dogs and to water the plants, get the mail, etc. We had called all our family and friends. My brother-in-law brought us his laptop in case we were able to get online and send back details. We left for the airport. The flight to DC was on a tiny plane and lasted less than an hour. But I did ok for my first plane ride ever!

We arrived in DC around 8pm and were transported to the passport office. We arrived around 9:30pm. After spending two hours there, my daughter and I had our passports. My husband owed child support in Ohio and the state would not give him permission to leave the country. The Marines said they would take care of it in the morning. It was 11pm now and we left heading for a place to grab food and to find our hotel for the night.

We got to the hotel to find that our reservations had been for a different address! We got that worked out. We just happened to be staying at the chain I worked for. We ate and laid down. We did sleep for a couple of hours too. When we spoke with the Marines on Monday morning they had NOT been able to persuade Ohio to let my husband go. So here we sit in DC. Our plane is to leave in two hours and we can’t go! If the government couldn’t get the hold lifted, what were we to do now?

I did what anyone would do. I got angry. It wasn’t that hard. After all I had been through in the last 28 hours it was easy. I called Ohio myself and spoke to many different people. Each time I asked to speak with a person who had authority to release my husband. Each time I got someone else that didn’t know what to do. I didn’t give up. I was determined that I was not going to go through this alone. My husband is my rock. I needed him to lean on so I could be strong one. I finally got to speak to a person who could help us. A wonderful man named Mr. Davis. The hotel faxed him the travel orders and he got his supervisor to lift the hold!

Now I must confess that I got very angry. I cried rivers! I yelled. I explained. When I finally got to speak with Mr. Davis I asked him if he had kids. I also told him that this delay may cause our son to die alone half way the world! I told him that I needed my husband with me. I implored him to help me before it was too late. All the time I was on the phone I was praying and asking that the right person be sent to me. And he was.

We called the Marines back after talking to Ohio for over two hours and gave them the news. They came and took us back to the passport office. We got Warren’s passport finally! We went on base to eat and wait while new plane reservations were made. We went to Dulles Airport and waited for our flight to leave. We were flying to London and then on to Thailand from there. 13 hours to London, then an hour to change planes and another 10 hours to Thailand.

We were called to board our plane. As we walked to the gate, the cell phone rang. It was the military doctor in Thailand. He said that Kevin was taken for emergency surgery on the right side of his brain this time. He was having a lot of bleeding. Since we were going to be in the air, we would have to wait 23 hours before we would find out anything about this surgery!

The most horrible night of my life so far started with a phone call. You know the kind. The one that comes in the middle of the night when you are sound asleep. The sound of the phone startles you to a half dream state. In the pit of your stomach you just know it’s bad news. That is precisely the call I got On March 8, 2009.

On the other end was the commander of my oldest son’s Unit in Japan. My oldest son’s name is Kevin. He joined the Marine Corp in 2006 and went to Japan in 2007. Now he always called around 4 or 5 am, but this call came at a little after 1am. 1:18am to be exact. The commander said that Kevin had been in an accident and was hurt really bad. He also said that the doctor in Thailand would be calling with more information and asked that I get up and get awake so that I would understand what the doctor was to tell me.

As soon as the commander said he was from my son’s Unit, I asked my husband to turn on the light. Why? Maybe if I had the light on I would understand what he was saying. Maybe with the light on the darkness of his words would disappear. Maybe if I could see, the feeling in the pit of my stomach would go away. Maybe, just maybe, the light would make things better. It didn’t.

The call came from Thailand a few minutes later. The man on the other end was a Navy doctor who was at the hospital with Kevin. He told us that Kevin was badly injured. That he was in emergency surgery. He had been in the OR himself to observe before he called. He said the surgery was going well and the neurosurgeon was very skilled. He promised to call in a half an hour when the surgery was over.

My husband and I went into the kitchen and made coffee. We went over and over what little the commander and doctor had said. We had no idea why Kevin was in Thailand instead of Japan. We decided not to call anyone else until we had answers. We were very anxious to get that next call. 30 minutes went by and no call. We made a second pot of coffee. An hour passed and still no call. Another pot of coffee was made. At 3am we got the second call from the doctor.

He gave us the details. Kevin’s unit had deployed to Thailand a week before. Although no one knew the exact details of the accident, they did know that Kevin was brought to the hospital by a local man. He had a fractured skull, black eyes, abrasions and bruises on his face and arms. It was determined that the “tuk tuk” he had been riding in tipped over and Kevin flew out the back and landed on the street hitting his head. (A tuk tuk is a motorized 3 wheeler used as a taxi. It has an open back seat, kinda resembles a rickshaw.)

The doctor told us he had waited so long to call because once the surgery began there was a lot more damaged found than the CT Scan showed. Now, I had been a nurse 14 years ago so I understood some of the words the doctor used. Although I “knew” the meanings, I couldn’t understand them. I can’t really explain it. Suffice it to say I had to repeat them more than once to understand them in relation to my child.

Kevin was in a coma. The neurosurgeon had to remove 1/4 of his skull. The coma was medically induced. Had he gone into a coma on his own, there was a chance he wouldn’t come out of it. And of course his brain didn’t need the stimulation. He was on a respirator. He had wires all over his body. IV’s too. Now for the hard part…waiting. Only time would tell. The first 24-48 hours were the most dangerous. The doctor would be calling with updates.

3 days after the accident

After finding out the facts, we began to call others and give them “the news”. Let me go back to the first call for a minute. As soon as the call from the commander had ended, I immediately lit a candle and said a prayer. I believe in healing energy. I believe that all my prayers are answered. So after the last call I asked others to pray too. I asked that they pray for Kevin to be healed. I called my family. I called friends. I got online and sent a message to every group I was in and to every person on my messenger list and to every person in my email contact list. I also posted the request on every social site I was a member of. I spent well over an hour calling, talking, and typing. But I knew Kevin would be ok.

Then, another call came.