As I am stuck here at home I thought I would type up a little bit more about what happened today.
A few months ago my parents decided to get rid of the old tv tower at our house. They were only able to find one man who was willing to contract to do it. For $550 he'd remove it with his own manpower, but for $100 less he'd let us come up with our own help to move it.
He came today. My brothers & TTBK were supposed to help my dad with the lifting & moving part of it, while the contractor manuvered the tower.
TTBK got called in to work today & you have no idea how many times I've thanked God that he did. He could have been there. He could have been injured, maybe even killed. We cannot live in the past, but I will never fully understand what all transpired today, nor its purpose for shaking up all of our lives.
My 3 brothers were apparently holding onto the metal tower when it somehow slipped & landed on a live power line.
My parents, I must point out, are amazing people. My father pushed my one brother, Thomas, out of the way, when he realized what was happening & Tom only ended up with minimal burn damage as a result. My father was shocked in the process, and refused medical attention, of course.
My other two brothers, Sam & Jake, were stuck to the tower, by their hands & my parents were pulling them off, both getting shocked in the process.
My mother not only performed make-shift CPR on the two boys, but also put out the fire that had started in Samuel's hair. It is very possible that she helped keep them alive while the EMTs were on their way.
I was at work when I noticed that two of my sisters & my mother had all called my cell phone & I had an urgent message. My mother's message only briefly explained that the boys had been eloctrocuted & that they still had heartbeats. When I heard that, I broke down, sobbing.
Luckily TTBK works right across the alley from the vet clinic & he had been contacted by one sister. He came over to get me & we raced home, not really knowing what all had really happened... only knowing that my brothers had heartbeats.
To say this was scary.... yeah...
We arrived home to a rather chaotic scene of firemen & police. It appears the contractor will be under some investigation. The police seemed very suspicious of him.
My mother had driven to the hospital with my brother, Tom. He is still being kept there overnight because he had blacked out for a few moments. His burns are very minor & they plan to release him in the morning.
My other brothers were airlifted to the closest burn center & at the time all we knew was that they were stable enough to be moved. A good sign, but we still had no knowledge of prognosis.
My parents were going to drive to the burn center, by themselves no less, but us kids put our foot down & forced them to let one of my sisters make the drive for them.
The waiting & not knowing just kills you. It really does.
There were moments when it felt as though a sixth of our family was going to die. We were all so terrified.
The outpouring of concern from neighbours, church members, even complete strangers has been amazing & very much needed. We're all still a little shocky.
My parents & sister were able to see Jacob tonight. He is tired & a little painful. He doesn't remember a thing, which I think is a blessing. We still don't know about his toe yet. They just wanted to get him stabilized.
As of right now my family hasn't been allowed to see Samuel yet because they are still working on him. (He got the brunt of it, from the sounds of it.) He did wave his arm at my mom when they wheeled him past... we will take that as a good sign.
Words can hardly express the dread, then relief, the concern that has been flooding all our hearts & minds.
My brothers are safe, but there could be a very long road to recovery ahead of them.