05/23/2025
May 14 is yet another day that will not be forgotten in the lore of the Johnson family.
Brandon was out of town for the week and I was preparing to drive for a school field trip when the unthinkable happened: our van reversed out of our slanted driveway while Reagan and Millie were loading things into the back end. The girls were run over and dragged across the street.
I was able to pull both girls out from under the van, a neighbor called 911 and my brother and sister-in-law, who live across the street arrived within minutes as well. The girls were both conscious and coherent, but injured and traumatized.
The emergency teams were there in minutes and both girls were loaded into ambulances. I drove my other two kids to the hospital and called Brandon on the way.
Worst phone call ever.
We ran into the ER and then I waited for the most agonizing 7 minutes to be allowed back to see my daughters. My parents arrived before I was called back and were able to sit with our two unharmed children.
I was told Millie was going to be airlifted to Childrenās hospital.
My brother and his family arrived and I was finally able to see my girls.
I had just a few minutes to decide that I would fly with Millie and leave Reagan in the care of my family. Iāve never felt so terrible as a mother, leaving my child. My brave and darling girl understood (her injuries were less severe it seemed) and she was surrounded by people who love her deeply.
My other two darlings were crying as I hugged and kissed them goodbye, also tucked into the safe arms of family.
Up and away, Millie and I took our first helicopter ride ever. We arrived at Childrenās in less than an hour.
Millie was assessed in trauma and then run through CT where they were able to confirm that she had no immediate surgical needs, no brain injuries or bleeds, praise God. She moved on to X-ray where they determined she had a broken femur and broken collarbone, a facial laceration plus terrible road rash.
Meanwhile Reagan was assessed and was also cleared of any brain or internal bleeding. Her X-rays showed a broken ankle and she also had road rash. Because her ankle break involved the growth plate she would join us at Childrenās. My mom rode with her via ambulance down to Minneapolis.
Millie was prepped for surgery, they would repair her broken femur and her facial laceration in the same surgery. The collarbone would heal on its own.
Meanwhile, Brandon is desperately trying to make his way back from Missouri. He was able to make a flight switch and somehow made it to the airport on time. He made it to Minneapolis just over 5 hours after I had called him and just in time to hug and kiss Millie before she headed off to surgery.
No sooner had we sent her off than my sister in law arrived with a bag of things for me and emotional support.
We headed down to the ER soon after to meet Reagan and my mom who arrived late in the afternoon.
I spent the next 7 hours sitting in the ER with Reagan waiting for a room while Brandon met Millie after surgery. Reagan would have surgery the next morning.
It was decided that Brandon (and my mom) would head home to be with our other two kids for the night and my sister in law (who packed me a bag but had nothing for herself) would stay the night with me so each girl had someone with them in their room. Not a lot of sleep was had by anyone that night.
We spent 4 days at Childrenās before being discharged on Saturday in the late afternoon.
I donāt even know how we could have managed this without our incredible village. Everyone sacrificed for us and our kids. We could not have made it through without them.
And the outpouring of support from our community has been incredible as well.
We canāt even express how grateful we are that the girls were not more seriously injured. This will not be an easy road of recovery physically, mentally, or emotionally, but we will all recover.
Truthfully, we arenāt okay yet. We are taking it day by day and only by the strength of the Lord are we even doing that.
But thatās all we need isnāt it? Strength for today.
