“It’s just a limb. Take the leg.”
That’s what Skyler Schwegel, a 15-year-old from Whitefish, Montana, told the surgeon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in early September.
“My head’s fine, I’m alive, my heart’s OK,” Skyler had said. “It’s just a limb, take the leg.”
End of discussion. Skyler’s left leg was amputated.
At 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 31, Skyler and his friend Noah were driving home from work and swerved to avoid hitting a deer. Their car rolled about five times. Noah, the driver who had recently received his license, sustained a head injury. Skyler had to be airlifted to Harborview after shattering his pelvis, breaking both arms, his ribs and his spine. His kidneys were impaled. Both of his legs were fractured. And his left one had to be amputated.
For the first time since the accident, Skyler sat in his hospital bed Thursday with the help of a bed chair and was able to wheel around the hospital.
“He’s taking it better than we all are,” his sister Melissa Schwegel said Friday. “We have a big family and he’s taking it better than all of us.”
Skyler still won’t be able to walk for a couple more months because his right leg is still broken. His still has a hole in his abdomen after being impaled by his seat belt. His kidneys are damaged, and the tissue pulled away, leaving doctors concerned of future infection. Skyler has also developed blood clots in his lungs, possibly from being in bed for nearly two months.
In the past two weeks, Skyler has undergone 12 surgeries.
A few weeks ago, to help pull him through, social workers at Harborview, knowing Skyler is a big football fan, arranged to have Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin visit him. What the social workers didn’t know, however, was the Skyler is a hardcore Broncos fan.
“Doug Baldwin comes in and he presents Skyler with a 12th Man sign Skyler has no idea what the heck this is,” Melissa Schwegel said. Skyler was like, ‘Thanks, um, I’m a Bronco fan. I just want to let you know that.’ The room – you could hear crickets. It just went silent.”
Skyler, who has to stare at CenturyLink Field out his window all – a punishment for any Broncos loyalist – was also given an autographed photo of Baldwin.
On Thursday, Skyler endured one of his hardest days yet in his recovery, Melissa said. Despite all the physical pain he had already endured, the emotions seemed too much to bear, and for the first time, he broke down.
“Just losing my leg,” he said, choking up. “It’s get emotional at some points. But a couple days ago I was just moving myself around, and I can lift my leg up now.”
Less than an hour later, Joe Holt, a former Denver-ite, and Matt Rotundie, a disabled former 9/11 cop, walked in. The two are members of the Broncos Sideline Nuts, an online contingent of diehard Blue & Orange fans.
Jessica Cripe, another member of the group who is from Whitefish and whose son who goes to school with Skyler, posted the story of his accident and progress, as well as a link to his .
That’s when Holt and Rotundie decided to take action.
“We thought that since he was getting visited by Seahawks that it was only right that we went there to disinfect the room and give the kid some Broncos swag,” Holt said. “We wanted him to know that we support him, not just the Seahawks. It was really cool that the Seahawks did that, but I thought it’d be really cool to get some representatives there from his own people.”
“He’s just a fantastic kid. … He’s got all these medical issues. Just anything we could have done to help lift his spirits, you know?
That Broncos swag? It all came from Holt’s own stash of memorabilia. A signed John Elway card. A Broncos and Stanford Elway jerseys. A Brian Griese statue. Hats. Pins.
“It’s hanging in my room but it will put a smile on his face,” Holt said. “That’s the way I look at it.”
Holt said that if he weren’t going to the Seahawks-Broncos game Sunday that he’d be at the hospital watching it with Skyler. But having reassured Skyler that he has the full support of Broncos fans seems to have made all the difference.
“I’m just so happy,” Skyler said. “Everybody just has my back.”
And for the record, Skyler says the Broncos will win. “Definitely. That last game (against the Chargers), (the Seahawks) didn’t really do a good job. Broncos are gonna kick some butt this year.”
For updates on Skyler’s progress, check out the Facebook page of his mother, , who is regularly posting updates on his status. Skyler and his family have raised more than $4,000 via GoFundMe, to help with his current and future medical costs. They’re $6,000 short of their goal. To donate, .
