“Our world is upside down.”
The wife of an Airdrie man who was seriously injured in a workplace accident in Calgary over the weekend says she’s overwhelmed by the outpouring of support her family has received in the wake of the tragedy.
Brandy Thompson works as a hairdresser in Calgary and had just started her day Saturday when she received a phone call that would rock her to her core.
“It was the worst shock of my life, hand’s down,” she says. Her husband Darcy had been working at a construction site east of the South Health Campus when he was reportedly struck by a grader at approximately 9:30 a.m.
Darcy was taken to Foothills Medical Centre in life-threatening condition. He was upgraded to stable and Brandy says he was placed under a medically induced coma to allow his body to rest for a couple days. He was awake when his wife arrived at the hospital on Tuesday.
“Very alert, very responsive, and able to squeeze my hand. His eyes weren’t opening that far [on Tuesday due to swelling], but he’s doing much better, he looks really good,” Brandy says.
As for Darcy’s injuries, Brandy says one lung is still collapsed, both are severely bruised, and three ribs on each side are broken and fractured in more than one place which could lead to issues if they don’t heal properly.
“Normally if a rib’s just broken in one spot, as a rule it’s going to heal back on its own,” she says. “But with his lungs collapsed, they could shift so that they’re not in proper alignment. If that happens he will need surgery but we’re just praying that that’s not the case at this point.”
“I’m so thankful because with a collapsed lung and the other one bleeding, COVID could kill him I think,” Brandy says.
The cause of the accident that left Darcy fighting for his life is under investigation. Brandy says he had just started this job three weeks ago after being laid of for seven months. Since she also can’t work right now, her friend Lacey Short started a GoFundMe account to give the family a helping hand.
“I’m spending the whole days at the hospital and I’m shuffling my two small kids around between friends and my mom and my sister,” Brandy explains. “We’re also homeschooling right now because my mom is a three-time cancer survivor and my daughter was very sick when she was a baby. She had a life-threatening illness that she was on oxygen for seven months at the time and is still conflicted by some things so I can’t have her in the school system. So I’m trying to home school and be here to spend enough time with Darcy and then still be getting everything else done.”
Brandy and Darcy’s children Huxley, 7, and Olivia, 11, haven’t been able to visit their dad in hospital yet, but they’ve spoken with him on speaker phone and Brandy says he gave a thumbs up indicating he could hear them. Darcy also has two adult children named Emma and Bradyn who live in Manitoba. Brandy says they are trying to find a way to get them here to see their dad at some point.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the GoFundMe page had raised close to $9,000.
“I am overwhelmed with the support and love that we have received so far,” Brandy says. “I cannot express enough thanks for the people who have reached out, and for the people who have brought food, and for the people who have just sent well wishes and prayers. We are so overwhelmed and thankful for all that we have received since the accident.”
Having called Airdrie home since 2002, Brandy is not at all surprised by the reaction from the community.
“Airdrie is a fabulous city. Airdrie is amazing. It’s just what happens in Airdrie. I cannot get over it, it’s incredible.”
Darcy has a long road of recovery ahead, but Brandy says she will focus on the positive signs he’s been showing.
“Slow, little improvements every day. Everybody’s amazed by him, the nurses and everybody all think he’s a super hero. I think he is.”
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Mon, May 6, 9:45 AM
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