This picture was taken of Dayton 2 weeks prior to the accident.

This photo was taken 2 weeks prior to the accident.

On June 22nd, 2010 Amy and her son, Dayton, went for an evening bike ride after a long hot summer day. The bike ride turned into a nightmare when they were struck by an SUV. They left there house at approximately 8:45 pm and rode to her mom's house where they had her put some cold water bottles out for when they came back around the loop that they were riding. They started back on the road for what they thought would be a relaxing bike ride to end a long hard day of working in the yard. They rode down to the new edition of Clark St. and were going to come back around to Union Ave. and stop for a water break at her mom's house before heading back home. Within 10 minutes of their bike ride the horror had started and they had no idea that it was coming. Mother and son riding bikes and talking to bond had no idea that their lives were about to be changed dramatically. She always had her children ride in front of her so she could see what they were doing at all times, this time it saved her sons life. They were riding in the space outside the fog line of the road near the grass.
On this full-moon night they were enjoying their ride when out of the moon-lit darkness came a vehicle. She yelled to her son to get in the field and then she was struck by this monstrous vehicle. She remembers turning around and looking at the vehicle as it hit her. There was no way to avoid what was about to happen to her. When the impact hit her and her bike, the front tire exploded and the spokes from the tire punctured her son in the back. Luckily the punctures were minimal and did no damage to his lungs or any other major organs. He was thrown to the ditch and she was hit with  the center of the vehicle when the driver of this SUV swerved and crossed the line. She was thrown from her bike to the center of the road where the driver just missed running over her when he then swerved to the other side of the road. Her son popped up out of the ditch and ran to his mother's side and repeated over and over, "Mom, Mom, Mom". When she realized what had just happened to her she instructed her son to call her mother and the driver of the SUV to call 911. The driver was unable to explain anything to the 911 operator so as she lay in the road bleeding and not knowing if she was going to live or die; she explained her injuries and the situation to the 911 operator. She placed her hand at the back of her head and then looked at her hands and realized she had injuries worse than originally thought to be. She told the driver of the SUV to give her something to apply pressure to her head wound, he gave her his shirt. She then began to panic and begun yelling, "Oh my GOD I am bleeding and it is really bad, somebody do something I am bleeding."
The first to arrive on the scene was Chris a paramedic with the Litchfield Fire Department. He stated the shirt she had been using was soaked with blood and instruct the driver to go to his vehicle and get his shirt out of the back seat. Amy stayed on the phone with 911 til this paramedic had arrived on the scene. She had never been so relieved to see a familiar face. He began working on her immediately. When her mother arrived on the scene she looked at her and stated, "I see you finally made it". Her mother asked what had happened she replied with, "I think I was just hit by a car." Having not seen the actual size of this vehicle that hit her, she had no idea how lucky she really was. As the paramedics work on her and her son things moved so fast that she didn't realize the extent of her injuries. They told her that she would be air-lifted to Memorial Medical Center where the Trauma Team was currently working. Her son was being transported by ambulance to the local hospital.She never wanted to fly and now she had no choice her life depended on this flight. She never lost consciousness according to the paramedics, although she does not remember every detail of the accident, she does remember the horrific moment when the SUV struck her.
She remembers the helicopter ride to the hospital which took 20 minutes, to her it felt like an eternity. She arrived at the hospital and the Trauma Team was ready for her and began working quickly taking CT scans, X-Rays, and blood for labs. She screamed and yelled at the staff the entire time as she was in such pain and the team could not give her anything until she was fully assessed for injuries. She felt as if she was dying, that her heart was beating so fast that it was going to explode and she couldn't breath. She had sustained lacerations to both of her kidneys, fractures to her L1 and L2 left transverse processes, road rash and bruises from head to toe. Her fiance and sister entered the room and their eyes filled with tears. He leaned over to kiss her and she told him to make sure that they know that she is a NOT a DNR(Do Not Resuscitate). He told her that he knew that and kissed her again afraid of touching her with the pain that she was in. They were asked to exit the room as they were ready to transport her upstairs to an IMC(Intermediate Care) room. Her fiance kissed her and told her that she had scared him , that he thought he was going to lose her.
When she got to her room upstairs she had so many family and friends waiting there for her to arrive. She couldn't remember everyone but appreciated everyone that was there for her. The first night was a very rough night with the pain that she was in but her fiance and her niece, Sarah, stayed with her. She didn't know the long road ahead of her. They continued spinal precautions on her for the first 5 days after the accident, she had to wear a very uncomfortable collar to hold her head and neck still. For these first 5 days she was in and out as visitors came in. She was on oxygen due to her oxygen levels continued to drop below normal. She counted on the nurses for everything including her first bed bath. The nurse manager that day, Deb, was the most wonderful she had ever met. This nurse washed and washed her hair til she got all of the blood out and was able to comb through her long curly hair. She didn't rush and she took care to make sure that she didn't hurt her and that she was able to relax with the warm water. She felt that this nurse was an angel gift from GOD. This nurse continued to check on her as often as she was there, until the day of discharge. She ended up spending 7 1/2 days in the hospital with many follow-up appointments ahead of her with specialty physicians to follow the problems that she had from the accident.

This leg was bruised from the upper thigh to the heel. This photo was taken 3 weeks after the accident.

There was road rash and bruising on this leg as well with the left heel being the worst injured of the lower extremities.

This wound was deep into the muscle where tendon was showing through. When I got home from the hospital I started wound treatments on it twice a day due to purulent drainage coming out from under the scab. It has healed into a nice scar after 6 1/2 weeks.

With the kidney problems that I was having I continued to have gross edema on the left side of my body on a daily basis. I visited the E.R. for this and the friendly E.R. doctor told me that until my kidney function returns to normal I would have occasional swelling. This didn't make me feel any better due to this was the side that the majority of the pain was on.

My nice hospital photo, my hemoglobin at this time was running around 8.1. Normal for women of my age is 12-16. They contemplated transfusing blood and decided that with my age and health prior to the accident to put me on iron and give the kidney's time to heal themselves.  After 6 weeks of taking Iron tablets twice a day my hemoglobin has reached a level of 13.1. Yeah!!! No blood transfusion for me. My kidneys have no active bleeding at this time and are showing signs of healing. That is also good news, this rules out the idea of dialysis.

This is Amy and 3 of her boys trying to have a good time at the St. Louis Zoo 5 weeks after the accident. The places that she could go were limited due not being able to walk through the zoo with the fractures in her back not healing. The 4th child took the picture. In this picture is Amy Durbin, Dalton Davidson, Dayton Durbin, and Christopher Durbin.

his is my back 4 days after the accident when they finally allowed me to sit up for the first time since the accident.

This is my head 2 weeks after the accident. Hurts badly but seems to be healing okay. I pray the hair grows back, but at least I still have the comb over do. 

Since she has been home from the hospital she has needed constant help to get around, whether by her fiance, oldest son, or her walker. She can't walk for long distances, she then has to use a wheelchair. For the first 5 weeks she was unable to take a shower without someone in the room with her because of her poor balance. Dressing changes everyday and some of them twice a day. The scars remain as well as the memory and nightmare of that night. She continues to be unable to work and the financial burden has put a strain on her family.  
     She goes through everyday with pain and the memory. She has had many follow-up visits with her doctors and there seems to be no end in sight at this time. Not being able to do things without the assistance of a family or friend, the embarrassment of having to use a walker at the age of 33. She prays everyday for the nightmare to end but everyday it seems as though another brick wall is put in front of her to hurdle over or tear it down. Since the accident she has fears of her children riding bikes and that is not allowed at this time. She told them when her fear goes away she will allow it again but it is not them that she does not trust but the driver's on the roadways. Her kidneys are healing with no active bleeding at this time (2 months after the accident) and her hemoglobin has returned to a normal level. Unfortunately the fractures in her back have had no change since the accident, they are neither worse nor healing. She continues on pain medications routinely due to the extreme pain that she is in everyday. Since the accident she has been unable to drive or work and last week on August 10th, 2010 she was given the okay to drive locally with someone in the vehicle with her. No long distance driving for her yet. She was also given bad news on that day that she will continue to be off of work for at least another 3 months. She worries everyday about how she is going to financially take care of her children with no income. She is unable to work and her 3 youngest boys' dad has failed to pay her child support in over a year and continues to not pay her anything. It amazes her everyday how one relaxing bike ride can ruin everything in a persons life. She continues to struggle with healing and raising her boys as well as trying to keep a roof over their heads. She has had to beg and plead with some of her debtors to understand the situation that she is in. 

As the days go by she continues in pain but makes the best of everyday that GOD has given her. She has been looking into bike trails in Illinois that would make things safer for all to be able to ride. If anyone knows of any or how to start a petition for the town to build a safe bike trail let her know. The safety of the bicyclist is a goal that she has at this time. There are bike trails all over Illinois and yet with the growing population and size of this town there are none here.