STAFFORD, Va. (AP) - Charles “CJ” James Haase has no memory of the Aug. 17, 2015, car accident that left him in a coma for several weeks.
No memory of slamming head-on into a tree or his front wheel flying through the air and landing 50 feet away from his crumpled GMC Yukon.
No memory of rescuers arriving, fighting to free him from the wreckage, calling for a helicopter.
No memory of paramedics struggling to fit him with a ventilator tube because of the severity of his facial and head trauma.
No memory of the flight to the intensive care unit or the team there fighting to save his life.
The 19-year-old remembers only the 16 months of recovery that followed, first in Inova Fairfax Hospital’s intensive care unit, then at the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta. A severe brain injury forced him to relearn even basic functions.
On Dec. 17, he and his family had a chance to thank the first responders at Stafford County Fire & Rescue and PHI Air Medical AirCare who freed him from the wreckage and airlifted him to Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Following a hearty meal of pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, macaroni and cheese and homemade desserts, the group gathered on the large brown couch in the Haase family’s living room.
The comfortable setting served as a stark contrast to the harrowing event they were about to discuss. Speaking to CJ directly, several representatives of Stafford County Fire & Rescue, one member of PHI Air Medical AirCare and members of CJ’s family told him about the events he could not remember.
Several units from Stafford Fire & Rescue had responded to a fire on Dent Road near the Stafford Courthouse area about 5 a.m. that Aug. 17, said Joe Grainger, assistant fire and EMS chief. It was the department’s first call of the day, and he recalls that his units parked at a church nearby.
That put them close to Marlborough Point Road, where CJ would hit a tree within two hours, the same road where he and his family live. Many of the responders were still working the fire about 7 a.m., when the accident was reported, so a Brooke Fire Station unit was only 3.5 miles away.
Rosanna Lonzo, a former firefighter and paramedic who helped CJ on the day of the accident, remembers that the front wheel had blown off the car. It was found 50 feet from crash site.
Rescuers didn’t even realize that CJ was still in the vehicle until witnesses told them.
When they found CJ inside the GMC Yukon, he was pushed up against the steering wheel. The airbag had deployed, but the force of the vehicle’s impact into the tree had caused the front of the car to push into the dash, leaving CJ pinned inside with severe facial trauma. It took fifteen minutes and four responders to free him in a process that included cutting off the seat belt he was wearing.
He was unconscious and gasping. Rescuers recognized it as agonal breathing, a bad sign. They immediately requested a helicopter.
Amy Cantwell, flight paramedic, was on the helicopter that landed in a nearby field to transport CJ. Cantwell remembers it was the last call PHI Air Medical had received that day. She and the other paramedics struggled to fit a tube attached to a ventilator for CJ due to his facial and head trauma, and were unsure of his age, which was 17 at the time.
Mary Washington Hospital was not able to treat facial or pediatric trauma, so they decided to airlift him to Inova Fairfax.
Once CJ had been taken to Fairfax, a state trooper notified his mother, Lori, about the accident, drove her to where it happened, then left her alone. She remembers seeing the site of the accident and being too distraught to explain what had happened when she called her husband, Tres, and daughter, Maison.
She remembers Grainger, the assistant fire and EMS chief, coming up beside her and reassuring her everything would be OK. She was grateful for the emotional support, but she, her family and the first responders were disheartened after receiving news from the intensive care unit.
Doctors didn’t know whether CJ would survive the night. Once he pulled through, he had to be placed in a medically induced coma. His brain injury was so severe that he could be in a permanent vegetative state.
Cantwell, the flight paramedic, remembered the range of emotions she and other first responders experienced that day. The intense morning of the accident, relief after flying CJ to intensive care and his response to the ventilator after having it successfully installed on the helicopter, then hearing the doctor’s grim report.
“It was somber,” Cantwell said, “I was thinking that it wasn’t looking good.”
Cantwell, Lonzo and the other first responders may not have ever heard about CJ’s incredible reversal had it not been for social media.
Cantwell and Lonzo, who knew each other, were surprised to see the Facebook page “Prayers for CJ Haase,” which currently has 1,180 likes and 1,164 followers. They joked that they had become Facebook stalkers, keeping track of each update and growing more and more hopeful as the page documented what ended up to be a miraculous turn of events.
CJ was still in intensive care, but the hospital and his family worked to give him every opportunity he needed to come out of the coma. He was accepted into the Shepherd Center’s Disorders of Consciousness Program. Staff at the center believed that with rigorous rehabilitation, CJ could recover. CJ and his family were transported to Georgia less than a month after the accident, and within two weeks of staying at the center, CJ was out of the coma.
Then recovery began. CJ had to relearn basic functions, like swallowing, talking and walking, that most people take for granted. He had to pass rigorous tests, but put in the work and took each test in stride.
His determination paid off. He spent close to five months, including his 18th birthday, in different rehabilitation training locations within the Shepherd Center. His recovery was so rapid he was able to return to his Stafford home for Christmas 2015 and stay home permanently by January, to finish his recovery there. CJ’s grandparents said he became the poster patient for the center in more ways than one. An image of CJ with a dog is currently on a pair of elevator doors at Shepherd Pathways, its outpatient rehabilitation program.
Now, CJ is quickly becoming able to do all of the things he did before the accident, and more. He takes guitar lessons, can drive if a family member is with him and will graduate from high school at the end of this school year.
“I didn’t want to stay (at the Shepherd Center) forever,” CJ said, “so I worked really hard to pass the tests.”
He says his memory is not as good as it was, and he has not been able to return to the motocross racing he enjoyed before the accident. But his determination and resiliency have taken him far, and he’s working to put the accident and its effects behind him.
“I’m looking forward to being a regular citizen again,” he said.
His family invited the first responders to their home to thank them for saving him the day of the accident, and the lighthearted afternoon served as an emotional reminder of how differently the accident could have ended.
“I hope you guys know how much we appreciate everything that you do,” mom Lori said.
The family and responders still don’t know what caused the accident. But everyone is grateful for CJ’s recovery.
All of the responders present on the day of CJ’s accident received awards from Stafford County Fire & Rescue. Cantwell invited the responders and CJ’s family to a conference with AirCare in March. He, his family and the responders were honored.
Responders also gave CJ two patches from the department and a challenge coin.
Lieutenant Sean Seawell, who helped rescue CJ the day of the accident, said first responders are used to expecting the worst. They are as much in awe of CJ’s story as his family.
“We don’t see this kind of outcome,” Seawell said. “This is just as amazing to us as it is to you.”
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Information from: The Free Lance-Star, https://www.fredericksburg.com/
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