BYU student in a coma days before wedding

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Jared Workman with his fiancée Audrey Buckley. Workman and Buckley were engaged to be married on May 1st. (Jenna Workman)
Jared Workman with his fiancée, Audrey Buckley. (Jenna Workman)

BYU student Jared Workman was riding horses on a farm in Nephi where he worked on Saturday, April 25, when his horse bucked him off and onto the ground. Three nearby horses became spooked, kicking Workman in the head.

Workman was with his family and fiancée when the accident happened around 12:30 in the afternoon. His family took him to an emergency room in Nephi before the life flight transported Workman to Utah Valley Hospital.

“Saturday was a day of bad news,” sister Jenna Workman said, “but all other days have been good days.” She learned about the accident while meeting her family to take Workman to the emergency room in Nephi. After arriving in Provo, doctors found that Workman had suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhaging.

“We keep asking when he’ll wake up,” Jenna said, “but the doctors say that every situation is different.”

Workman has been in a coma since the accident but the family is more optimistic now then they were when Workman was flown to Provo. Doctors continue to check responsiveness to light, sounds and touch to assess Workman’s condition. “He’s been getting progressively better,” Jenna said, “It’s kind of a gradual thing. Every hour, they see how he reacts.”

His family arrived from the night before the accident of the 29 year old native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The family was visiting Workman in preparation for his scheduled wedding to Audrey Buckley on May 1 at the Salt Lake Temple. An announcement on Workman’s Facebook page says the wedding is being postponed due to the accident.

Workman has been making progress. When a doctor asked Workman to give a thumbs up, Workman managed to move his thumb. He is responding progressively each day.

Brian Heckel is a nurse in the Neuro/Shock-Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where Workman is currently in care. Heckel has 18 years of experience in the medical field.

“Comas can last from days to weeks to years,” Heckel said. “Each case is different and has multiple variables.”

“Younger people regenerate cells faster, so rehabilitation is usually easier for young people,” Heckel said. “Of more significance, however, is the severity of the injury. The sooner the person becomes responsive, the better the long-term prognosis.”

The family is trying to raise money, because Workman didn’t have insurance at the time of the accident. He had canceled his single student health insurance while transitioning to married health insurance but was injured in between that time. His family is accepting donations at the Jared Workman Fund.

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