Appreciation for ‘angels’

Brookings art teacher Jennifer Moser looks back on crash, recovery

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BROOKINGS – Jennifer Moser might not be able to recall a lot of the immediate aftermath of the car accident she was in on Sept. 2, 2016, but it's something that continues to mark her life as she works hard to regain her strength and thank everyone who's played a role in her recovery.

When a 2001 Oldsmobile crossed the center line of U.S. Highway 14 west of Brookings that Friday evening, it collided head-on with Moser's car. The wreck claimed the life of two people, and Moser's injuries were life threatening.

She was airlifted to Sioux Falls with a liver nearly torn in half, a punctured and collapsed lung, cracks in her pelvis, broken vertebrae, ribs, feet and toes, tibia and femur along with fractured knees and a shattered elbow.

Incoming patients with such traumatic injuries are given a rating on a scale from one to 70 based on the severity of their injuries. At 70, the injuries will prove fatal; her number was in the 60s.

And yet, about seven months later, the elementary school art teacher is thrilled with the progress she's made following 12 surgeries and a regular physical therapy regimen. She’s equally excited to get back into the classroom this fall.

After spending two months at Sanford Medical in Sioux Falls, Moser's been home since Thanksgiving. Now, three days a week, she goes back for her physical therapy, where she works on building up her strength again and getting back her full range of motion in her joints.

Her last surgery, done on Feb. 10, did a lot to help with that by removing extra bone growth from her elbow, femur and knee that resulted from her body healing the broken bones in those areas. Before the surgery, she couldn't bend her elbow or knee. Now, her knee is nearly back to a normal range of motion.

“My trauma doctor told me before I had my last surgery, 'Don't expect to get back a lot. Be really happy with what you get. … Your legs have been through so much trauma that you might not get much back,'” she said.

To her, the work of her surgeons is nothing short of miraculous. In fact, Moser calls those who've helped her heal – nurses, doctors, family and community, to name a few – angels.

Among those she's grateful for support is her husband, Trevor. He's been there through the whole ordeal, worked from her hospital room when able, and he had to take care of all the bills, insurance and other paperwork that came in.

Married to him for six years, she said of him, “I couldn't ask for more. I thought I loved him with everything I had on Sept. 1, and it's a million times over.”

Fellow congregants at Peace Lutheran, the church where she and Trevor worship, have also been helpful, providing rides, helping with meals and lending their prayers.

For five years, Moser has worked as the art teacher at Medary Elementary School and part-time art teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School.

Most of all, it’s the students that she misses.

“I feel like it's my job to love them and show them kindness and help them grow and be happy and be proud of themselves. I miss it.”

And they miss her, as evidenced by the 400-plus Medary Elementary students who sang for her nearly a month after the accident, recorded so she could watch it while at the hospital.

“I cried the whole time. It was so sweet. I felt so supported and felt like God put me here, and this is a way of being rewarded for teaching,” Moser said. “It made a huge difference. I think it helped in my healing.”

In her last surgery, she lost a lot of blood, meaning that she now tires easily as her body recuperates. So, she won't return to the classroom yet this year, but she'll be ready to get back to work this fall.

Meanwhile, art has been a big help, particularly a personal project she's undertaken to thank those that have helped her: making and giving personalized paintings. So far, she's completed about nine paintings for people such as her foot doctor, liver doctor, ER doctor and her rehab doctor.

“For my orthopedic doctor, I painted a picture of my legs in water because I love to swim and he gave me my legs back. I’ve been tying in a lot of biblical quotes. For the ones with the legs, I put, ‘In my distress, I called out to the Lord and He answered me,’ from the book of Jonah,” Moser said. “For my elbow doctor, I did someone with their hands praying, looking at their elbow. I’ve been doing a lot with angel wings, too, because I know I have a lot of angels with me.”

Overall, being able to paint has been therapeutic for her. Of her limbs, her right arm – her drawing arm – was the only one that didn’t need surgery.

“It’s given me an outlet, it’s given me a way to make something to give back to these surgeons and doctors and these people who saved my life,” Moser said.

“I was worried with my nerves being really damaged in my hand, I wouldn’t be able to do these little details that I used to do. That damage is healed, and I can do everything I used to. I think I put more of my soul into my artwork and more of God into my artwork and more of my faith into what I’m doing.”

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.