Accident

Nathan Grice is a young man in our community in his early twenties. He is the second oldest of six children. He is a believer with a strong testimony for Jesus. This morning we received word that he was in a car accident on his way to work! Below I’ve pasted an email we received from his older brother Ryan as well as a picture of the vehicle. We received the email around noon today. Since then he has gone into surgery and may be there even now.

“Hello everyone!

Just wanted to give you a little more thorough update since I'm home now and have been able to accumulate a little more information. I assure you, it was a rather shocking phone call that I received from Mom on the jobsite! I pray none of you will ever have to feel that same surge of shock, pain and disbelief. God's grace is sufficient in the hour of need, and His sweet comfort has been present throughout it all.

Here are the details as best I can gather... I will not vouch for a hundred percent accuracy, as I've been known to make mistakes and hear wrong! Some of the details may be corrected as I get further information and talk more to the people involved.

Nathan's accident occurred this morning at the intersection of Hwy 71 and Hwy 92 when Nate was on his way to a job in my car. Apparently he pulled out in front of an oncoming car and was struck on the driver's side fender and door.

I took a picture of it and included it here so you can see the extent of the damage.

The driver of the other car is a Christian man in his fifties who is from out of state. He only sustained minor bumps and bruises, as he had swerved to try and avoid Nate's vehicle. He was very apologetic and encouraging to us, and insisted on praying with Mom when she visited him in his hospital room.

After the car was hit, it swerved about a hundred yards through the ditch and nearly ended up in the corn field on the east side. It's a blessing that it went off the road, instead of into oncoming traffic! In a way, I can see God's hand in this as well, as a steering tie rod was shattered at impact, and it's doubtful with that sort of damage if Nate could have guided the car into the shallow ditch and away from traffic, even if he had been conscious at the time. There is a larger ditch on the other side that could well have rolled the car a few times, had he gone down into it.

A neighbor of ours was the first to stop, and checked on both vehicles. She then stopped up at our house after the occupants of both cars were safely on their way to the hospital in Atlantic. If she had not came by to let us know, we may not have found out until he'd been in the hospital for quite a while. May God bless her for stopping and helping out in the mode of a Good Samaritan, when she could have easily passed by.

He was coherent by the time he arrived at the hospital, but was extremely confused and agitated. He can recall nothing that happened all of today. He recognized Mom, Dad and a few other relatives who were present. The doctors and nurse teams were disturbing to him, as they were unfamiliar, but he seems to have calmed down a bit as Mom and Dad explained the situation to him.

The hospital in Atlantic examined him and found no exterior injuries except for a bump on the side of his head where he hit the door. After some x-rays of his head, chest and pelvis, they found a v-shaped crack running up from near his ear. It has been causing him considerable pain, and even a dose of morphine was unable to quell it.

The x-rays revealed minor hemorraging, but nothing too serious given the magnitude of impact. There is some swelling, and so they were careful to keep him awake and talking so they could be assured of no further damage.

After a further examination they elected to Life-Flight him to Omaha's UNMC Hospital, which has a dedicated neurological team. Atlantic didn't feel that they could properly address a trauma fracture of this order, and thought it would be best to send him where he could get the best care.

The preliminary prognisis is hopeful, but he may require a series of surgeries to relieve pressure, and then to install a plate. As it is a v-crack, it is doubtful if it could heal properly without the support of a plate.

So, he is on his way (and may have already arrived) at UNMC. Please pray that God will guide the hands of the doctors, surgeons and nurses as they seek to mitigate the injury. Lift Nate up in prayer for the pain as well, as it's nearly unbearable even with drugs. Pray that he will make a full recovery and be the stronger in Jesus for it.

Also, I would ask that you lift up our family before the Throne of Grace in the time of need. It's very hard on all of us to see our good, strong, bold, happy Nate reduced to a confused, helpless and hurting man like this. It's quite hard to believe. :'(

We know that God has allowed this to happen, and we GLADLY say "AMEN!" to His will, no matter what the outcome. His faithfulness is everlasting, and will keep us till we see His face in the fair land of Grace and Glory, when "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you feel would like to know. We will try to keep the updates coming as we receive more information.

Rejoicing in Jesus Christ,
The Same Yesterday, Today and FOREVER!
RYAN GRICE”


Below I’ve pasted a later email we received about a website they have set up for him:


Dear Family and Friends,
To keep you up to date on Nate, I created a CaringBridge website. You can follow Nathan’s progress and show your support.
Visit Nathan’s website in two easy ways: 1. Visit the CaringBridge website by clicking the link below. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathangrice 2. Enter the website name, nathangrice, at http://www.caringbridge.org/?utm_source=siteannounceLOW&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=home.

Show your support for Nathan• Visit and keep up to date.• Leave a message in the guestbook.• Receive e-mail notifications when the journal is updated.
Thank you.
Ryan

As Ryan said please pray for Nathan and his family as they go through this time.