Little Wonders

Nolan's brothers arrived around August 11th and spent the next couple of days sightseeing and hanging out at the beach. On August 14th Nolan wanted to take them sailboarding so they rented a couple of kayaks, grabbed Nolan's sailboard, and headed to the Marina on base. It was a beautiful summer day, with just a light breeze, perfect for windsurfing. I had stayed home to work on some schoolwork and after a couple of hours decided to take a break and go outside to water the plants. Far off in the distance I heard some thunder, which I thought was odd since there was not a cloud in the sky. I went back in and within 15 minutes the sky had turned black, rain poured down in sheets, and there was thunder and lightning flashing everywhere. I started getting worried about the boys and was about to go looking for them when my neighbor, Chris, knocked on the door. He was from New Orleans and knew how dangerous these sudden Southern storms were and was worried about Nolan and his brothers. He offered to go to the Marina to check on them and I was relieved and grateful for the offer. Thirty minutes later Chris came back and said that when he got there he was informed that there were 3 brothers out windsurfing and one of them had been struck by lightning and taken to the hospital. Somehow I knew it was Nolan so Chris told me to grab my things and he would take me there. The storm was like nothing I'd ever seen before and if the winds would have picked up, I'm sure it would have been considered a hurricane. We were told later that the lightning was coming down faster than the rain that day and driving to the hospital was like driving through a river. All the stop lights were out and the sky lit up like fireworks. When we reached the hospital we found Nolan's brothers waiting inside and they quickly began to tell us what happened...  Nolan had sailboarded, and they kayaked out to a small island across from the Marina. While they were out there they noticed some dark clouds far off in the distance and decided they'd better head back. As they were getting ready to go Nolan's sandal strap broke so he traded sandals with his brother, Chad. He wasn't happy about this because Chad's sandals were a bit thicker which would make it hard to pull his foot out of the sailboard strap when he had to  move to the other side of the sailboard to change direction, but he didn't have a choice and reluctantly put on Chad's sandals. They were about half way back to the Marina when it started pouring rain and the lightning came. Nolan yelled to his brothers, "We have to get out of here, this is suicide" and not more than a few minutes later, Chad and Darin heard a loud pop and looked back to see Nolan, unconscious, his body smoking in the water. He didn't have on a life jacket, and the only thing keeping him from sinking to the bottom of the bay was the sandal he had switched with Chad. It was determined later that the lightning must have struck the mast of the sailboard, which was in shreds, and went in through Nolan's hands and out his feet. Chad and Darin didn't know what to do so they jumped out of the kayak to go save him and then back in to the kayak to go get help, then out and in... until, gratefully, they saw a speed boat come to Nolan's rescue. On that boat were 3 men... Bruce Shank, the #8 pilot for the Blue Angels, Pat McMahon, the Blue Angels flight doctor, and Paul Mollere, a Navy doctor. Apparently a girl who worked at the Marina saw Nolan get struck and just as the boaters were pulling in to shore yelled at them to go back out there and help him. The storm was still howling around them so these men risked their lives going back out to rescue Nolan. When they reached him, Pat McMahon jumped out of the boat and undid the strap holding Nolan's foot in place and instantly Nolan began to sink. Panicked, Pat dove down to find him in the murky water and, luckily, felt Nolan's leg brushed against his cheek so he grabbed onto it and pulled him to the surface. Bruce pulled him out of the water and onto the boat, and Paul immediately started CPR and continued it until they reached the Marina and were able to call an ambulance. They continued CPR until the ambulance arrived all while Nolan's brothers begged them not to give up on their brother. Chad knelt down and gave him a Priesthood Blessing and they prayed until the ambulance came. It wasn't until Nolan was in the ambulance and on his way to the hospital that his heart started beating... at least 45 minutes from the time he fell unconscious. Once at the hospital he was taken to a back room in the ER and that's were we found him after I was reunited with his brothers. At first sight Nolan didn't look too bad off. He was still unconscious and his body was shaking from shock, but there was no visible signs that he'd been struck by lightning. Talking to the doctor I realized how much worse off he was than I thought...  all of his lightning burns were internal, which meant that his body was going to start swelling so they needed to do Fasciotomies (cut down his arms and legs to relieve the pressure) as soon as possible. They also said that they needed to get him to a bigger hospital and called Life Flight to take him to the burn unit at the University of Southern Alabama. Once he was on his way, Chad, Darin, and I  got in my car and drove an hour to Mobile. We didn't have cell phones back then so we called our families to tell them what happened once we arrived at the hospital. Nolan's parents immediately bought airline tickets and jumped on the first flight they could find, which was arriving at 2:00 in the morning. There wasn't much else we could do so we settled into the waiting room and tried to get some sleep. It was the first time that I had a chance to really pray and try to comprehend what had happened. Although I had an enormous amount of anxiety, deep down inside I felt like Nolan would be okay, he did after all, survive a lightning strike. Nolan's parents arrived and we all sat anxiously in the waiting room for the next few days. Doctor Woods, a college intern, and someone we became very close with, came in and out reporting his condition which was barely stable at best. We took turns going in to see him when we were allowed, and met with Nolan's flight buddies who would take their practice flights to come check on Nolan. Nolan's flight Commander and the Commodore came to visit on the third day and while we were visiting with them Doctor Fry, the head of the burn unit, came into the room and asked if she could talk to me. The minute I saw her I knew something was wrong. As I said before, Dr. Woods was usually the one we talked to about his condition, so I knew this couldn't be good. Up until now I still had a feeling that everything would be okay, especially when I prayed. I always mention this because this feeling didn't coincide with what the doctors were saying... they were saying he was barely holding on and that his prognosis was grim, so how could I feel peaceful about it? Nonetheless, whatever it was that I had been feeling disappeared when Dr. Fry walked in and I panicked. She told me he wasn't doing very good... the oxygen they were giving him was at 100% and his lungs were still failing so she told us we should probably go in and say our goodbyes. I was stunned and confused... how could this be when I had felt so certain he would be okay? Had I just been in denial? Just then my mom called. I didn't really want to talk to her right then because I was too upset, but someone handed me the phone anyway so I told her what was going on and she, with all the confidence in the world, told me he was going to be fine and that I needed to go in there and tell him he needed to stay. Slowly the peace resumed and with new found determination we went in there and started begging Nolan to fight for his life. Nolan's dad and brothers gave him another Priesthood Blessing and Nolan's mom and I whispered words of encouragement. By the time we left the room I felt completely calm. In fact, I felt so confident he'd be okay that I think I was smiling, which, I'm sure looked out of place to all the doctors and nurses watching us from their stations. I'm sure they felt sorry for me and figured I couldn't comprehend what was about to happen, however, deep down I knew that he'd be alright. Not more than 30 minutes later, Dr. Fry came back in to the waiting room and said that he was doing much better. He still wasn't out of the woods yet, but he was doing better. We breathed a sigh of relief and prepared for the coming week which was filled with more problems. One day his kidneys were failing so they had to start dialysis. Another day he had an infectious disease so they had to pump antibiotics and keep his fever down. The next day he was so swollen we could hardly recognize him. It seemed with every battle he had to fight, I had to ask God to remind me once again that all would be well. Eventually his body stabilized and another week later they were able to bring him out of the induced coma they had put him in and wake him up. We were excited about this, but were reminded that because he was without oxygen for so long in the beginning, his mind might have suffered some brain damage. This was something we hadn't thought of so we held our breath while they woke him up. Besides the fact that we had to retell the story a few times before he remembered, he seemed fine and they began to work on getting him better physically. At this point he could only move his head and was bandaged from his neck to his toes so the next 6 weeks consisted of physical therapy, and going twice a day to get his wounds (from the Fasciotomies) cleaned, which was excruciating. Eventually he had to have skin graphs (skin taken from his thighs) to cover the wounds, which was also very painful, but he was grateful to be done with the wound cleaning. It was a great day when his hip flexors returned and we knew someday he'd be able to walk again. After two months of being in the hospital he was doing well enough to be sent back to Utah to continue his recovery. We said a tearful goodbye to our amazing doctors and nurses, especially Dr. Fry and Dr. Woods, and our ever cheerful physical therapist Dawn, who we adore and still stay in contact with today. We then boarded a military flight and headed home to Utah. Nolan was still in a wheel chair when we arrived home and had months of physical therapy ahead. He was medically retired from the Air Force, which brought much heartache since it meant he couldn't fulfill his lifelong dream of being a pilot, but was grateful for all they had done for us during this hard time. Within a year Nolan was walking again and had even enjoyed a few mountain bike rides. He still can't feel his feet, has a lot of nerve damage, and huge scars from the skin graphs on his arms and legs... which I think he actually likes to show off, like battle wounds😉, but has done amazingly well considering.

The following spring after Nolan's accident, we were invited back to Pensacola for a ceremony where Bruce Shank, Pat McMahon, and Paul Mollere were given the highest combat award next to the Purple Heart for saving Nolan's life. It was held at the Marina where the accident happened and we were honored to be able to attend. Nolan gave a heartwarming speech of gratitude for the 3 heros who saved his life, and the Admiral talked about how he wasn't usually a God fearing man, but this was a miracle if there ever was one and praised them for their bravery. I have to agree with the Admiral about this being a miracle... from Nolan's sandal breaking, to surviving a lightning strike, to being rescued by 3 men (2 of which were doctors), to being resuscitated after at least 45 minutes with no brain damage, to going from dying to being revived within 30 minutes of prayers from friends and family of all faiths... there's no doubt that there had to be some Divine intervention. 

Ten years later I threw a surprise party for Nolan and put together a video with all of the pictures from the accident. I added songs like I Just Want to Fly and Dead Mans Party to set the tone, but the one I think captured the moment the best was the end song Little Wonders...

"It's the heart that really matters in the end..."