In Loving Memory...Judith Symes Larsen

I can hardly believe that 21 years ago, Brad's mom died. It seems like forever since we saw her, yet I can remember the details of the week vividly!?! I am going to write some of the details down so my kids will know what occurred.
Brad's little brother, Bracken, was taking his mom to a doctors appointment in Ogden, it was a beautiful, sunny, fall day Thursday, October 13, 1988 at 2:00PM. Judy had recently had bunion surgery and it was a follow up appointment. Bracken had just gotten home from a meeting at the U of U for the baseball team, he was going to tryout, he was such a talented athlete. They were on the mountain road by the gravel pit and a dump truck made a left hand turn in front of them. It took the EMT's an hour to get Bracken out of the car. They got Judy out and took her Ogden Regional and did surgery immediately to try to stop the internal bleeding. Bracken was taken to McKay. He also had surgery immediately. They both had severe injuries, internal bleeding, Bracken's face was shattered, his leg was crushed, Judy had internal bleeding, broken ribs, arms, legs. Neither were wearing seat belts, because it was before they were enforced and no one really wore them back then.
Brad said he remembers when he got out of his car from work, he was working for Stan Rasmussen, doing brick, his dad came out and told him they needed to go to the hospital right now, that there had been a bad accident. He remembers the look on his dad's face and the worry and concern. He had been waiting for the other boys, Brian and Brad, to get home from work before he went, I am sure he didn't want to go alone. Brad quickly showered and they left. This was way before cell phones were invented, so it was harder to get a hold of people.
I was taking a night class at BYU, and I remember Cathy coming and peeking in the door and getting me out of class. We drove home from Provo as fast as her Pontiac Firebird would take us, which was fast! We went straight to McKay, Bracken was in ICU and I will never forget seeing him for the first time. WOW, he was hurt bad. Cathy was so strong and so worried, it was heartbreaking to see all the people you love go through this... Then we went to Ogden Regional, to see Judy. The Larsen family was split, Brian and Brad spent most of their time at McKay with Bracken along with Cathy. Jack and Brent spent most of their time with Judy, and this is where I was most of the time too. I couldn't go in to see Bracken, because I wasn't "family". But my mom was a part time nurse at Ogden Regional and they would let me in to see Judy. My mom would come every night after work and spend hours and get an update on Judy's condition, she then would explain things to Jack so he could make decisions. My mom was such a strength to Jack in his time of need and they are still very close today because of the time she spent with him. She did the same thing with Bracken too.
Bracken was in such good physical condition that he probably wouldn't have lived, if he hadn't been so fit. He was a fighter and after all the surgeries, he seemed to recover, it was slow and horrible but after a few weeks he was able to come home. He had his mouth wired shut for months, he had to eat everything from a blender. He literally starved. I remember after a while they blended roast, potatoes..it looked sick, but he was so hungry he loved it :)
Judy wasn't so lucky, on the following Wednesday, they were doing surgery to go back and set her broken bones, it took that long for her to get 'out of the woods' enough go back and do the surgeries. During the week, she got so good at communicating with us by pointing to letters to make words, and writing notes. She had her mouth wired shut too. But she would mouth words to us. She came out of the surgery OK, but then she got, ARDS, adult respiratory distress syndrome and by Friday afternoon she was in full distress. That afternoon, I was going back to BYU, to finish pledging for the sorority, and Brad and I went in so I could tell her good bye, and I think we were the last ones to see her conscious, I will never forget, she mouthed the words to me, "Take care of my boys".... then her eyes rolled in her head and I don't think she was conscious again. I left knowing that she wasn't good, but thought she would be OK, but after I left, when I got to Provo, I called and they said she was really bad so I drove back to Ogden, and got back at 9:00 PM. She got worse and they worked on her for hours, meaning they did CPR and pounded on her poor chest with her broken ribs, she was in pain and finally at 2:00 AM, she passed. While we were all at Ogden Regional with Judy, Bracken was in McKay. He had a coach, Brent Lund, his wife was a nurse, and she told the family that she would stay with Bracken, knowing what was going on at the other hospital. She sat with him for hours, he was very restless, she said and then at about 2:00 AM, she could feel the peace and could literally feel another person in the room, and she stepped out of the room. She told the family this as soon as she saw them, she knew exactly what time Judy had died. She could tell that she had come to see Bracken, she had a special place in her heart for Bracken, some would even say, he was the favorite, but no one cared because everyone loves Bracken. We teased him, saying he was the girl she never had...but he was just her baby.
Judy's funeral was October 26, and Bracken was obviously still in the hospital and I think Cathy stayed with him. Its funny how its been so long yet I have such memories. It was one of the most difficult weeks, but I think this is what changed my life. I will never forget and I am grateful I knew Brad's mom and I love his family. Tragedy does this to families, it makes you stronger and closer or not, I think the Larsen family was made stronger at the time. People always ask if Brad went on a mission, and he didn't, when this happened he was 19, almost 20, he didn't NOT go because he wasn't worthy, but he was afraid and I truly believe he was a huge strength for his family during this time. I have always felt it was 'his mission' to be there for his dad and his brothers. The only people who are active in the church today, in Brad's family, are Bracken and Brad. Bracken went on a full time mission just 1 year after the accident.