Real People: Couple's love endures despite trying accident
| Saturday, Feb 13 2010 01:31 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Feb 13 2010 01:31 PM
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Andy Smith, with his fiancee Katie Johnson. Smith is recovering from major injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.
Andy Smith, with his fiancee Katie Johnson. Smith's serious injuries from a motorcycle wreck have only brought the young couple closer.
Survivors of horrific events often say they blacked out in the worst moments and so were spared traumatic memories. Not so with Andy Smith, who remembers with absolute clarity every detail of the moment his life went up in flames.
Smith was riding his motorcycle to work July 15, traveling west on Truxtun Avenue, where he didn't notice that traffic had come to a standstill. Police estimated he was going about 60 miles per hour when he slammed into the rear of a pick-up truck.
The impact of the crash broke 13 bones in Smith's body, collapsed one of his lungs, and ruptured the motorcycle's gas tank. The flowing gas ignited, immediately engulfing the young man in flames. Writhing on the ground and beating wildly at his body in a futile attempt to douse the fire, Smith knew he was burning alive.
"I kept yelling out for Jesus to take me," he recalled. "The pain was torture; I felt like I was melting. I remember leaning into the flame to get it over faster."
But Smith survived the fire and the seven months since, making what his doctors, family and friends are calling a valiant and remarkable recovery. Smith, 27, spent six months at Fresno Community Regional Medical Center's burn center and is now back in Bakersfield where he continues to recuperate.
Smith agreed Thursday to share his story, his reason for living by his side.
"She is the reason why I fought," Smith said, reaching for the hand of fiancee Katie Johnson, 25, a fourth-grade teacher. "I don't really care what my future holds as long as Katie is a part of it."
Retelling the tale is difficult for the couple, but they say they're compelled to share what's come out of their trial. That trial began for Johnson about two hours after the accident, when a friend called to say Smith was in surgery at Kern Medical Center. When Johnson arrived, she found her betrothed in a critical state, with third and fourth-degree burns over 60 percent of his body. Once stable, he was airlifted to the burn center in Fresno, where the fight to save his life continued. Doctors there put Smith in an induced coma, where he remained for two weeks.
"After two weeks they said they thought Andy would live, but they warned us of setbacks and infections," Johnson said.
Infections, as it turned out, were an issue, forcing doctors to perform a below-the-knee amputation of Smith's left leg, as well as two fingers on his right hand. Smith says he wasn't fully aware of the extent of his injuries until he awoke in his hospital bed and tried to stretch the leg that was no longer there.
"When I saw my leg I thought 'wow, this is a bad deal,'" he said.
Smith's doctors also expressed concern that he would emerge from his coma in a permanent vegetative state, but Johnson says she never doubted that the man she knew would come back to her.
"When the doctors warned he might be like a 3-year-old, I thought 'No way,'" she said. "God pulled Andy out of that fire, so I knew that he would save his mind as well. I knew he had a purpose for Andy."
That purpose has been made plain to Smith through 16 surgeries and seemingly endless days of physical and occupational therapies. A Christian prior to his accident, Smith said he's grown "even more passionate about Jesus Christ" and intends to "serve him with a leg or without."
"The Bible says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and it's true," he said.
Steve Downs, executive pastor at RiverLakes Community Church, where Smith attends services and works as facilities manager, said the initial shock and sorrow over Smith's accident has given way to joy and gratitude.
"Andy's doctors told us they never expected him to heal this fast or come back this strong," Downs said. "I know that God has the capacity to take something that seems so bad and make it into something glorious and I've seen that transformation these past months in Andy."
Smith and Johnson say hundreds of people have followed Smith's progress; many have shared with him how their own lives were impacted by his struggle.
"I wouldn't wish what I've been through on my worst enemy, but I thank the Lord for equipping me with a special understanding that those who haven't been through something like this cannot have," he said.
The couple believe their shared purpose also includes a wedding, though they aren't yet sure when that happy day will be. They had planned to marry in November.
"I am not getting married till I can walk down the aisle with her," Smith says, looking fondly at his bride-to-be. "I owe her my hand for everything she's done. I may be gimping a bit, but I'll be walking when it happens."
For now, the couple are content to talk, pray and, at times, cry together. They will celebrate Valentine's Day with a quiet dinner at Urrichio's, where conversation isn't even a necessity, Smith said.
"We just want to get out and be together," he said. "We may just sit and stare at each other."
