By Susan Adkins
Editors note: The Daily Universe is helping students get to know one another. Once a week we will be spotlighting students who have interesting stories. Stories can be anything from extraordinary, life-changing events, to a student''s funny hobbies. Please help us by submitting your story to elizabethadkins@byu.net
Looking at Greg Freestone today, one would think he is a normal 18-year-old guy. It is his first year in college, and he is preparing to go on a mission as he works a part-time job on campus. No one would ever guess that on his twelfth birthday, his life was changed forever.
Despite losing his father in a fatal accident, and suffering through months of rehabilitation, he has overcome the odds and is preparing to serve a mission. On June 19, 1999, Freestone was with his family vacationing at Lake Powell. They celebrated his birthday by eating a birthday breakfast on the beach and watching the sunrise over the walls of the canyon surrounding the lake. While it was time to pack up and be back to the marina by 9 a.m., the family pulled their limited edition Chaparral, a 23-foot boat, out of the lake and began to clean it. It was the boat''s second trip to Lake Powell, but no one knew it would be its last.
With the boat hooked to their 1997 Ford F-250 extended cab, they were off. Freestone''s dad, Lynn, was driving while his mom, Sherri, sat in the front seat. He and his brother were in the back. His sister was riding with their Aunt Paula, who was following in her own car. About noon that day the Freestones were at mile marker 117 on Hwy 89. Check AP for highway
'My dad reached over, putting his arm around my mom and said, ''Do you know how much I adore you?''' Freestone said. 'Those were the last words that he ever said.'
In the distance a family from Montana, riding in a blue van, was barreling towards the Freestones. That family had been traveling through the night, and the driver had drifted to sleep. As the van crossed the yellow line on the desolate highway, Lynn did all he could to prevent a head-on collision.
'The sound of the collision is something that I will never forget,' Freestone said. 'The sound of twisting metal and shattering glass filled the air.'
Initially, the two vehicles collided, but there followed a second collision. The impact of the two vehicles knocked the boat trailer loose, which launched the boat into the air. The boat landed on the driver''s side of the F-250, shattering the cargo carrier and crushing the roof as the boat slid down the truck''s side and onto its hood. Then there was silence.
Freestone''s mom broke the silence. She called to her husband over and over, her voice sounding more and more panicked. Aunt Paula ran over to the mangled truck and pulled the passenger door open to allow Freestones''s mom and brother to leave the vehicle. But Freestone was still trapped, and his father was motionless.
'All I could see was the back of my dad''s head, which had yet to move from the time of the impact,' Freestone said. 'He had only one visible injury, a small cut, about a half inch in length on the top of his head. ... He was not moving and it was then that I realized that he was dead.'
After a one-hour wait, paramedics and firefighters arrived at the scene. Using the Jaws of Life, Freestone was freed from the mangled truck two hours later. He was loaded into an ambulance on a body board and driven to the closest hospital - Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch.
After being X-rayed from head to toe, the doctors discovered Freestone''s neck was broken. He had five compressed vertebrae and four crushed vertebrae, as well as a broken ankle. He was then transported to Primary Children''s Hospital by Lifeflight where he received seven staples in the top of his head and 203 stitches on his face. The doctors made a plastic shell that molded to Freestone''s body from his neck to his hips. He wore this plastic shell for the next five and a half months whenever he was not lying on his back.
Freestone was sent to the rehabilitation center where they focused on teaching him how to walk. It was difficult learning how to walk again, he said, since being vertical made him nauseous.
On July 1, 1999 he was released from the hospital and was welcomed home by his friends and family with a belated birthday party.
Co-worker, Rachel Nelson, 19, from Salem, Ore. said she was shocked when she heard about Freestone''s story.
'I imagine it was tough and it gives me more respect for the boy,' she said. 'People don''t survive accidents like that on accident.'
It is a miracle he is alive and walking, Freestone said. The scars left on his face are the only visible reminders of the accident. His mom said she feels the accident provided a positive change in his life.
'It is a rare moment that he doesn''t have a smile on his face and a great attitude about life,' Sherri said. 'I think he has realized that we all have the power to decide what our perspective on life and its trials will be. There is plenty of good in life to see if we seek it, and Greg seems to always find the good and he enjoys every moment of life.'
She added: 'I also think that experiencing the accident and the loss of his father has forced Greg to develop a new sense of confidence. Nothing seems insurmountable to Greg. He loves to take on a challenge. He seems very excited about his future and he is certain that he will accomplish many great things.'
Freestone is from Sandy and is majoring in computer science. He is currently preparing to serve a full-time mission in the Mexico City East mission at the end of spring term.