Sarah never saw the truck that ran the red light and crashed into her car. In fact, she has little memory of the six weeks following the accident. Her husband John remembers every moment of it, especially the phone call from Mission Hospital telling him that he needed to come to the hospital immediately.

“My heart just broke when I first saw her. She was lifeless, on a ventilator and hooked up to so many different monitors and tubes,” remembers John. Her injuries were extensive. Her pelvis, both collarbones, a shoulder blade and her leg were all broken. Sarah had difficulty breathing because her lung was punctured and six of her ribs were shattered, requiring titanium plates and screws to realign and bridge them together again.

“Sarah’s care team was just extraordinary, seamlessly coordinating her care. They always respected her dignity and were so kind, so talented,” recalls John. “Sarah had so many different specialists caring for her initially, I felt as though we were using every piece of technology and the expertise of every department in the hospital.”

It was a long road to recovery, but Sarah was finally able to leave the Intensive Care Unit and then ultimately progressed to Mission’s Acute Rehabilitation Unit.

“The nurses were angels,” shares John. “When Sarah arrived at the ARU, one of the nurses told me, ‘We are here for Sarah and you. Day and night, we’re here to provide whatever you need.’ And they definitely did.”

Every day, Sarah got stronger and spent more time out of bed, walking and moving. Eventually she was able to go home.

That’s when John and Sarah really started talking about how they could express their enormous gratitude to Mission Hospital and all her caregivers. They saved her life multiple times and restored her quality of life through their skill and dedication.

John and Sarah are now treasured members of our Summit Society and Guardian donor recognition group. We are honored by John and Sarah’s generosity.