Saturday, January 5, 2008

Heartbreaking News

Last night I found out that my visiting teaching companion's husband got in a bad car accident on Wednesday night. He was in a car with his two daughters driving to drop them off to their mom (his ex-wife), and they hit a patch of ice and swerved into the other lane and head-on into an SUV. One of his daughters, who is 18 and who has been living with them, died in the accident. His other daughter is doing pretty well in the hospital, but he is still in really bad condition in the ICU of another hospital. He has all sorts of complications--broken bones, crushed face, internal bleeding, nerves not responding to anything, etc. It's so bad that they might withdraw support from him today. I've been praying for them all day.

Nicolle and Brian are our neighbors and some of the best people you'll meet. They've only been married a couple years and they seem so happy together. Brian is a jokster and would try to scare me when I came to their door. When Nicolle would drive to our visiting teaching appointments, he'd make a noise to pretend like she ran over his toe or hit the garbage truck or something, just to tease her. He is so fun and you could tell they are so in love.

He also is really hard-working, and always busy doing things to help our neighboorhood committee. He has a lot of knowledge and connections when it comes to the issues we have as a neighborhood, and he was always so willing to help out in what we needed to get done. We had a committe meeting this morning, but it was cancelled, because without Brian, there's hardly anything to report. Just a couple days before the accident he had shoveled all the sidewalks from the neighboorhood entrance to where the homes start (probably about a one hour job), and that was definitely not the first time I saw him do this.

Brian and Nicolle are also the ward activities committee chairpersons, and they plan the best activities! They put so much time and effort into them so they will be fun for everyone. Chad and I have felt so indebted to them for how these activities have helped us meet people and feel apart of the ward. On so many occasions Chad would say, "You know who I really like? Brian and Nicolle. They are just the best couple." Needless to say, they are always serving and we love and appreciate them so much.

I feel so bad, because Kristin (Brian's 18-year-old daughter) has been my neighboor for about six months now, and I never got to know her. She seemed so sweet and I regret not reaching out to get to know her more.

Please pray for them. Everyone in our ward is fasting for them tomorrow, but if you could please keep them in your prayers, I would really appreciate it. I'll keep you updated on how things go.

6 comments:

Chris said...

I heard about that on the news. I"m so sorry!!! Life just isn't fair sometimes. I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers Abbi. Let us know how things go.

Michelle Pyne said...

That is a great sadness to hear of their accident. We will remember them in our prayers.

Jessi said...

This is heartbreaking. I don't even like to think about things like that happening. They will all be in my prayers.

Kami Hall said...

That is so sad. I can't imagine a fatal car accident with someone who was close to me. I wish you had gotten to know her better. Let us know how things go with the dad.

Elaine said...

I am so sorry to hear about this. Your ward has had it's share of sad things. I always worry about car accidents every since our family was in that awful one when I was only 10. Things can change so drastically in a moment.

Shana said...

I AM SOOOO SORRY!!! That is sooo sad. It really makes you realize how precious life is and to not take anything for granted!!! You have had a lot of hard things happen in your ward. It makes me so sad!!! I couldn't imagine having to go through this. Please keep us informed! I am sorry!