Jeanette Cruthis: A Case Study

On December 31, 2013, Jeanette Cruthis was on her way to an ordinary basketball practice. It was a cold, snowy day and the roads were very icy. Before leaving her house, her neighbor had warned her to drive safely because the roads were slick. This was the day that Cruthis went through a life changing experience that changed her outlook on family forever. Cruthis recalls that as she was driving, “I felt the car skid a little bit, and then I lost control and I couldn’t turn the wheel.” She remembers that when the car started to swerve, “I tucked my feet under the seat because my dad told me never to hit the brakes in this situation. I tensed my arms up so I didn’t touch the wheel and cause any more damage than was about to happen.” The car began to spin in the opposite direction. “I spun about three times before it drove straight into a ravine. It (the car) flipped over once, and then all I remember was the car being at the bottom of the ravine, blood being everywhere, and my head out the window,” states Cruthis.

After this had occurred, Cruthis dialed 911 and told the responder everything that had happened. This was difficult
because Cruthis had been crying so much. She was quick to think, “There was blood everywhere and I didn’t know what to do. Then I realized that it was coming from my head, so I put my hand in my sleeve and put it on my head to stop the blood.” She also mentioned, “While I was in the car, absolutely nothing hurt. I was just freaked out because there was so much blood and I knew something had to be wrong.”

After sitting in her car a while feeling very helpless, Cruthis heard a woman say, “Everything is going to be okay.” A man named Timmy had driven by and heard her cries and immediately stopped to help. He then saw his brother, Willy and Willy’s wife, Ashley driving by and waved them down to help too. They thought right away to get her somewhere warm. Conveniently Timmy and Willy’s mother lived close by. Once they had realized who Cruthis was, one of them rushed to her house to tell the news to her father. Then, her father came to the house where she was and tried to keep Cruthis calm. Eventually, the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital in Albany, Missouri. While in the hospital, Cruthis states that, “They were wiping all of the blood off because they couldn’t figure out why there was blood all over my legs. Then they realized all of the blood was just coming from my head.” The Albany staff decided that they were not properly equipped to handle this situation, and sent her to the hospital in St. Joseph. Of course, Cruthis would need stitches put in her head. After doing an MRI, the hospital found that her neck and back had been fractured. “After being here for a while it sounded as if the room was filled with family and friends” Her family from Illinois came out to see her. Her brother, sister, and parents were there as well. Cruthis said, “I was in the hospital room feeling very out of it, because I was very drugged up and a lot of people came to visit from school, including my family from Illinois. At one point at the hospital my brother got me a drink from Starbucks. He connected a bunch of straws together because I couldn’t bend my neck to drink it and it worked. This was my favorite part in the hospital. “ Cruthis considers herself to be very fortunate throughout this experience.
She said, “I remember sitting in the car by myself, thinking, ‘my neck could be broken. My back could be broken and I could end up in a wheel chair or I could die here alone right now’ and none of those things happened, so I feel very fortunate.” Everything seemed to turn out well for Cruthis. Her experience was intense and included many emotional situations. Cruthis said the one thing she learned throughout the entire experience is that, “family will definitely always be there for one no matter what, and one is not invincible just because he or she is 17. Things can still happen to him or her.” Therefore, Cruthis realized that her family would always be there for her no matter what. In a difficult situation when one is feeling all alone, family will always be
there.

Cruthis, Jeanette. Personal Interview. 13 September 2015.