it started as a normal day...

Moms Sharing Miracles is a blog series dedicated to stories of Dayton Children’s patients shared by their moms! If you have a story to tell please email us at stories@childrensdayton.org .

By: Kelly Poplin, Evan’s mom

Monday, July 26, 2010 started as a normal day. I took the boys to the sitter’s home (a very close friend) and then off to work I went. The evening before we had just returned from a fun-filled weekend of boating, water-skiing and camping at Lake Cumberland. Only God knew what was in store for July 26, 2010!

Around 11:15 Monday morning I had just finished speaking with one of my customers in New Mexico and my personal cell phone began to ring. The sitter’s name appeared and I was expecting an update on the movie she was to take my boys to that afternoon. Instead, I immediately heard my friend’s voice and knew instantly that something was quite wrong.

I heard my youngest son screaming in the background and lots of commotion. My friend proceeded to tell me that there had been a bad accident and the ambulance was at her home. I recall letting out a horrible scream and went running out to my car; thankfully one of my good friends and work colleague ran after me and drove me to Dayton Children’s Hospital. My husband was working in Cincinnati at the time and drove as quickly as possible to meet us at the hospital. We arrived before the ambulance did and it felt like forever until I was able to see my baby boy who was 6 years old at the time.

Upon arrival I was able to get more details of this horrific accident. The 9-year-old grandson took the keys to his grandfather’s Kubota Utility Vehicle and took our son for a ride. As my now 11 ½ year old describes it “He went up the hill and took a tight turn around a tree and it flipped on top of me.” Our son’s entire right side of his body was trapped under the Kubota crushing his leg.

Evan was immediately admitted to the emergency room and had several x-rays and tests. I remember it like it was yesterday. Dr. Michael Albert, orthopaedic surgeon, kept asking where Evan Poplin was as he needed to do surgery immediately! After four hours of surgery a rod was inserted into his right arm as the humorous bone was broken and four rods (external fixator) were placed into Evan’s right leg as the tibia and fibula were also broken. Evan had to have a fasciotomy due to the extreme swelling. On Friday, July 30 he had another surgery for the two incisions, however, the doctors were only able to close one due to the severity of his injuries. Evan had a wound vac placed on his leg.

After spending a total of nine days at Dayton Children’s Hospital we were finally able to bring Evan home. He continued to have the wound vac on and a home health care nurse came every three days to change and clean it.

There were a total of three more surgeries and he started his first grade year in a wheelchair. Evan remained in the wheelchair for approximately three months. His last surgery was on October 11, 2010 and Dr. Albert removed all of his hardware (pins from his leg and the rod from his arm). Evan was so excited that he was able to keep the hardware as a memento…thankfully it was all cleaned!

Evan received a cool blue and green cast on his leg and had two stitches in his arm where the rod was removed. It was so great seeing Evan out of his wheelchair and on a walker.

On October 27, 2010 I picked Evan up from school as his leg was extremely swollen and red. After being evaluated by his doctor we were told that it was most likely an allergic reaction to the cast. The good news is the x-rays showed that Evan’s bones were healing and looked good.

On December 4, 2010 Evan went to school without his walker! Evan had approximately four months of physical therapy and began a gymnastics class in February 2011! He became a competitive gymnast for two years and made it to state and regionals. Evan also played spring baseball and upward flag football within one year of his accident.

Today, five years after Evan’s horrible accident, we are still so thankful and blessed for the wonderful care Evan received at Dayton Children’s Hospital. The staff were always very pleasant and made us feel like Evan’s care was their top priority. Evan continues to be involved in several activities including Taekwondo (almost has earned his black black), baseball, flag football and basketball.