I boarded the red-eye with silent nausea. My mind was occupied by fear. It took too much energy to act normal, so I stared at the wall, hummed to myself, and practiced deep breathing exercises. I could not stop thinking about Josh’s broken neck and our newest piece of information from our contact with the Department of the Army: Josh was unconscious after the moment of impact. What if he wakes up and doesn’t remember anything? What if the break in his neck paralyzes him? Will he recognize me at all? My face was stoic and motionless, but hot tears continuously ran down my cheeks. All the things I had imagined could possibly be coming true. I didn’t sleep the entire flight from San Jose to Atlanta.
At this point, our entire families knew about Josh’s injury, but information on Josh was developing and changing with every phone call. Finally, we told our Army contacts that unless we were flying, they should expect a call from Cathi and me every two hours. With the need to keep the lines open for updates, I was encouraging people to spread the word until we knew more. Before we took off for Atlanta, there had already been a segment on the local news channels. Once we landed in Atlanta, something made me want to get on Facebook and see how many people knew. I was receiving phone calls and texts from literally thousands of people. I knew social media was going to be even more chaotic, so I had silenced all of it before we took off. Maybe it would make me feel better… at least there would be fewer people to tell? After nine hours of crying and not eating while traveling, hopefully fellow travelers assumed that I had a late night at the bar and would leave me alone long enough to see what was going on. I went into the airport bathroom, splashed some water on my face, and walked toward the terminal of (hopefully) my last flight of the day. I plopped down in my seat next to my equally exhausted mother-in-law and logged onto Facebook to see what kind of damage had been done on the World Wide Web. I had about a million notifications, because by this time all of North Alabama knew about Josh. His story was on TV and radio and in a few newspapers. Then I saw a message from the medic who deployed with Josh. Everybody called him Doc.
June 1, 2012 7:07 am
From Doc:
Hey, I don’t know if you remember me. We met at SGT Kearny’s BBQ right before we left. Anyway, I’m the medic who worked on your husband right after the incident. He was definitely my best friend out here. It sucked for me, and I can only imagine how you’re taking it. He asked me to send something to your address as soon as I can, and I didn’t want to send it with the rest of his stuff because I don’t know if that will actually make its way to you. So if you don’t mind sending me your address, I can get this to you as soon as I can make my way to the postal service out here. Take care! Please keep us updated as well.
7:14 am
From Paige Alyce Wetzel:
Wait. So you spoke to him? We have been told he has been unconscious since it happened.
7:19 am
From Doc:
I had him under my care for the first 32 minutes after the injury. He was completely awake and having a convo with me the whole time. In fact, he was joking around and in good spirits the whole time. It was crazy to me.
When they evaced him, they might have intubated him so he doesn’t feel the pain after his body comes out of shock. And that may be what they meant about him being unconscious since they received him—because of the drugs they gave him.
7:19 am
From Paige Alyce Wetzel:
You do not know how much I needed to hear that. Thank you for that. I have been scared out of my mind over this because I was so afraid we would be dealing with a brain injury as well. Omg thank you so much. I owe you.
7:20 am
From Doc:
I hope that eases your mind to know he was awake and completely alert.
You don’t owe me anything. You deserve to know.
I can tell you what he was saying to me if you’d like to know.
7:21 am
From Paige Alyce Wetzel:
Please
7:23 am
From Doc:
Well, when I got there, I asked if he knew who I was. And he said, “Yeah, Doc. Did you see the flip I did?” I said no, I didn’t. And he said, “It was a pretty sick flip.”
He wasn’t screaming or complaining at all.
He put his fist in the air, and when I asked what he was doing, he said it’s what athletes do when they get taken off the field after an injury.
7:24 am
From Paige Alyce Wetzel:
Wow. Yep that’s him! Omg you are an angel. Thank you!
7:24 am
From Doc:
Then I gave him a medical lollipop to help the pain. I had always told him it’s grape flavored because he was the only one in my platoon who I can’t give morphine to since he is allergic. I told him the lollipop is just for him, so when he put it in his mouth, he complained because it wasn’t grape and had no flavor.
7:25 am
From Doc:
We talked a lot about the BBQ we want to have with you and my wife when I get home.
He also said, “Doc, I know my legs are gone.” I said, “I’m not going to lie. They aren’t there.” And he said, “It’s okay. I’ll have a really cool
