Senior Zack Roehl was badly injured in an accident on Monday, June 23, fracturing every bone in his face, bruising his lungs and putting him in the ICU in critical condition, according to senior Russell Gardner.
Gardner, one of Roehl’s closest friends, said that Roehl, a nursing major, works at 12 Stones Ranch in Decataur, Ark., during the summer and was driving a Rhino (a vehicle like a large ATV) on his way to lunch when he took a left turn too sharp or fast. The turn ejected the passenger from the Rhino but Roehl remained inside the vehicle as it flipped over one and a half times before managing to crawl out from under it and collapse.
Within three minutes, paramedics arrived at the scene and within 10 minutes a helicopter was there to airlift Roehl to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
“Two weeks before the guy that owns the ranch happened to have had all the firefighters out to show them around the ranch so they knew where everything was in case anything happened,” Gardner said. “It did not look good at all, (Roehl) had stopped breathing and they did not expect him to make it.”
However, Roehl slowly became more responsive and began to open his eyes and raise his hands. According to Gardner, the doctors believe that he was able to begin recovering because the paramedics gave him a drug that temporarily paralyzed him.
More than a week after the accident, Roehl is still in serious condition and on a ventilator. He also suffered three minor strokes before arriving at the hospital and the damage from those has not yet been determined.
“Both lungs are badly bruised and his left leg below the knee didn’t have any feeling until earlier this past week,” Gardner said. “He’s a fighter.”
Miraculously, Roehl does not need surgery on his face because although every bone was fractured, they were not misplaced and therefore can heal on their own. Near his left temple it was millimeters from cutting a major artery.
Tuesday, July 1 was Roehl’s 22nd birthday and Gardner just asked that people continue to reach out. The U.S. Soccer official Twitter account (@ussoccer) tweeted out an encouraging message to Roehl 20 minutes before their game against Belgium on Tuesday, telling him to “keep fighting.”
Senior Chelsea Cloer went up to visit Roehl over the weekend and was not able to talk to him or even interact with him.
“When I was there he was sedated after having a rough night, no one was allowed to stimulate him in any way so I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t talk to him or like hold his hand,” Cloer said. “In the end though seeing his chest going up and down and seeing him breathing was worth the visit … Zack has a long way to go but he has an army of prayer warriors behind him.”
Senior Lara Couch was one of five students who flew on the Harding plane to visit Roehl. She was in Searcy working at Uplift when she found out about the accident.
“When I got the call from Harding asking if I wanted to fly on the plane to visit him, I was ecstatic,” Couch said. “We went back just a few at a time to go see him. When I saw him, I imagined it to be much worse than it was. He looked good, he really did. From practically brain dead to being able to open his eyes and look at his friends was just a miracle.”
Couch said that when she saw Roehl on June 26 he was able to squeeze her hand even though he could not say anything.
“It was hard to see him in that much pain but I knew that he was going to get better,” Couch said. “Even with the few set backs he had, I knew God was laying his hand on Zack and healing him.”
Junior DJ Lawson visited later in the evening on the same day as Couch. He and four friends went to pray at the hospital as well as talk to Roehl’s family.
“The family was very happy to see us even though we don’t know them personally,” Lawson said. “He was asleep during our visit but he looked good.”
Visit www.carepages.com/carepages/Pray4Zack/ for more updates on Roehl.
