Nathan’s Story: Surviving What Others May Not

Debby Mowen (mother): It was horrible. I screamed and cried and begged God not to take him. On August twenty-eighth of 2015, we were eating dinner in our sun room on the front our house, and a Jackson Township cop drove down the driveway. At the time, Nathan was the only one of my children who wasn't home. I ran out onto the front porch, and I said, "Can I help you?" He said, "Are you Nathan's mom?" Instantly I knew something was wrong.

Danielle Price, RN: I heard that he had been a high speed car accident going about eighty or ninety miles an hour, and hit a concrete wall. I also heard that the car immediately caught fire, and that he had been pulled out by a passer-by. When he came to me he was in very critical condition.

Debby Mowen: I arrived in the emergency room not really knowing what to expect. All I was told was that he was in a car accident, and that he was alive at the moment.

Danielle Price, RN: He was swollen all over. He had multiple fractures to his face. He had bilateral femur fractures. I believe he also had multiple rib fractures. He had extreme swelling in his face. You couldn't even tell what he looked like before. When his mom showed me pictures of what he really looked like, he was totally unrecognizable.  

Debby Mowen: They never stopped. There was probably a dozen people in that room when I got there that evening. When Nathan's vitals would go down, and he would start to crash, they would, "Well, let's do this. Do this. Do this. Keep going". He would get a little bit more stable, and then he would go back down, and then they would restart again. They never gave up. I stayed by Nathan's side. I never left him; just briefly to eat. I was in the hospital with him the full seventy-eight day. I slept in a cot next to him. I never left his side.

Danielle Price: I like to think that in life the people that are dearest to you are the ones that will walk with you through the struggle. Nathan's mom clearly did that. She just showed him her ultimate love.

Debby Mowen: Twenty-four hours went by. Forty-eight hours went by. Then, finally that three day mark came, and they said, "You know, we can remove his ICP monitor now". It was a matter of getting him stable for the surgeries that they thought he could now survive.

Debby Mowen: When one hospital says, "We couldn't have taken you. We would have sent you to Miami Valley", that right there shows you the superior level of care, and experience, and the education. This hospital can do things that others can't. If I had been in Nathan's situation, and if I'm ever faced with something that catastrophic in the future this is absolutely where I'd want to be.

Nathan Mowen: The accident occurred on August twenty-eighth, and the first time that I actually remember is when I woke up, and it was October thirty-first then.

Debby Mowen: He survived things that should have killed any other person. He's recovered in a way when people see him now they're like, "You've been through that? You lived through that?"

The biggest thing about Nathan was that it turned what was a terrible tragedy into a moment of rejoicing.  Not just for those of us here at the hospital who were taking care of him, but for so many people in the community that were mourning what had happened at that accident. Then, to see this miracle, because really truly, that's what Nathan is. He's a miracle.

Debby Mowen: He's doing okay. He's thriving. He's surviving. He's still here, and I tell him, and other people have told him all the time, "You have a divine purpose. God kept you here for a reason. We may not know what that is right now, but one day we will".

Nathan Mowen: Thank you all, even to the ones I haven't met, I love you all for saving my life. I probably wouldn't be here for them.