East Montgomery - News
Road to recovery
 |
| Thy Thy, Vivi and Victoria enjoy time together, watching a few of their favorite television shows on a Friday night. |
By JENNIFER SUMMER
As they headed for the bus, Victoria Jacobs and her daughter, Vivi noticed a rainbow stretched across the sky and promptly loaded the bus, sitting two rows from the front.
Hours later, both were shaken awake by the jilt of the bus as the driver lost control and careened off of the roadway.
On their way to Carthage, Missouri for the annual Marian Days festival, the trip had been organized several Vietnamese Catholic churches but near the Texas-Oklahoma border, outside of Sherman, Texas, the bus crashed.
“My mother and I were asleep. I woke up and the bus was laying on its’ right side and it was very dark. Once I got out of the bus, I made sure my mom was okay and then spent time translating for passengers on the bus because many of them do not speak English,” Vivi recalled.
For 30 minutes, Vivi spent time translating between the Vietnamese passengers and the emergency workers on the scene until she was transported to the hospital with Victoria, who was in much worse shape.
“From what I remember, I had just eaten a light dinner and was half-asleep. I heard the huge crash and woke up thinking, ‘the driver must be asleep or something,’” Victoria said.
“Then I remember waking up about 20 minutes later, I was halfway trapped inside the bus and halfway out. I could not breathe - I thought I was going to die. It was very scary.”
Victoria’s cousin was one of the leaders of the group and she found Victoria while the rescue efforts were occurring to let her know 12 passengers had already died.
“I almost passed out, I was shocked,” Victoria added.
“Vivi was very brave. There were 55 people on the bus and maybe only five or so people could speak English. She really stepped up and helped me and other passengers through the tragedy.”
Three hours after the crash, Victoria’s husband John received the call from Vivi about the accident though at that point, they thought she only had a broken rib.
“While I was driving to Sherman, I was listening to the radio and stayed in touch with my friend, Peter, who was watching the news letting me know what was going on,” John said.
When John arrived at the hospital, doctors had already started to work on Victoria, releasing the pressure in her chest due to internal bleeding and keeping her sedated.
Victoria suffered from a concussion, her clavicle was broken in seven places, her ribs were compressed and there were numerous small fractures in the vertebrates in her neck and lower spine.
Throughout the process, Victoria also developed a second infection from blood transfusions due to blood loss from the internal bleeding.
“At times, Victoria would run a fever and her heart rate would speed up. It was her body fighting to stay alive as her lungs and internal organs were shutting down,” John said. “We were very scared. The doctors were concerned about just keeping her alive.”
The Red Cross helped provide a place for John, Vivi and his niece to stay while Victoria was in the Intensive Care Unit and after a few days, they were moved to Reba’s Ranch House, located next to the hospital.
After several weeks, the doctors released Victoria to return home to Kingwood for specialty treatment and surgery since they had done everything medically they could do at that point.
“We returned home and were not sure what to do next. We waited for about a week for Victoria to get stronger and then started to visit different doctors around the community to see what to do next,” John said. “We found an orthopedic surgeon who referred us to a doctor who would operate on the shoulder first.”
To begin the recovery process, Victoria first started with surgery on her shoulder and clavicle and after surgery, her lungs started to shut down again.
“She spent more than a week in the hospital and then we came home where we were greeted with Hurricane Ike,” John said.
The Jacobs lost power throughout the storm, complicating Victoria’s recovery process as she had to complete breathing treatments at least twice a week.
Several weeks later, Victoria recovered from her surgery and was able to remove her sling though she still has limited motion of her right arm.
They are still dealing with insurance problems after the bus accident due to the bus company, Angel Tours, denying payment and insurance coverage.
The National Transportation and Safety Board is also still investigating the accident and have not released reports from the accident.
“It is hard right now. The bus company is not treating us right. I go to the doctor at least three or four times a week and we are paying the co-pays ourselves,” Victoria said.
“I have to return to work because under the Family and Medical Leave Act, I have to return to not lose my job. We just feel sad. This is going to be a very long process for us.”
Victoria will still have to undergo surgeries in the future on her back but they will wait until her heart is stronger.
Along with members of the Vietnamese community, Victoria, Vivi, John and Thy Thy, Victoria’s son, made the trip Oct. 5 to visit the site of the bus crash and remember those who perished.
They returned to say thank-you to the Sherman community for all of their help during the tragedy and remember Aug. 8, the morning of the crash.
“Recovery will be a long process but things are looking up for us. This experience has taught us many lessons and made us appreciate everything we have,” Victoria said. “The support that we have received from the community is amazing. We are all thankful for everything.
Hours later, both were shaken awake by the jilt of the bus as the driver lost control and careened off of the roadway.
On their way to Carthage, Missouri for the annual Marian Days festival, the trip had been organized several Vietnamese Catholic churches but near the Texas-Oklahoma border, outside of Sherman, Texas, the bus crashed.
“My mother and I were asleep. I woke up and the bus was laying on its’ right side and it was very dark. Once I got out of the bus, I made sure my mom was okay and then spent time translating for passengers on the bus because many of them do not speak English,” Vivi recalled.
For 30 minutes, Vivi spent time translating between the Vietnamese passengers and the emergency workers on the scene until she was transported to the hospital with Victoria, who was in much worse shape.
“From what I remember, I had just eaten a light dinner and was half-asleep. I heard the huge crash and woke up thinking, ‘the driver must be asleep or something,’” Victoria said.
“Then I remember waking up about 20 minutes later, I was halfway trapped inside the bus and halfway out. I could not breathe - I thought I was going to die. It was very scary.”
Victoria’s cousin was one of the leaders of the group and she found Victoria while the rescue efforts were occurring to let her know 12 passengers had already died.
“I almost passed out, I was shocked,” Victoria added.
“Vivi was very brave. There were 55 people on the bus and maybe only five or so people could speak English. She really stepped up and helped me and other passengers through the tragedy.”
Three hours after the crash, Victoria’s husband John received the call from Vivi about the accident though at that point, they thought she only had a broken rib.
“While I was driving to Sherman, I was listening to the radio and stayed in touch with my friend, Peter, who was watching the news letting me know what was going on,” John said.
When John arrived at the hospital, doctors had already started to work on Victoria, releasing the pressure in her chest due to internal bleeding and keeping her sedated.
Victoria suffered from a concussion, her clavicle was broken in seven places, her ribs were compressed and there were numerous small fractures in the vertebrates in her neck and lower spine.
Throughout the process, Victoria also developed a second infection from blood transfusions due to blood loss from the internal bleeding.
“At times, Victoria would run a fever and her heart rate would speed up. It was her body fighting to stay alive as her lungs and internal organs were shutting down,” John said. “We were very scared. The doctors were concerned about just keeping her alive.”
The Red Cross helped provide a place for John, Vivi and his niece to stay while Victoria was in the Intensive Care Unit and after a few days, they were moved to Reba’s Ranch House, located next to the hospital.
After several weeks, the doctors released Victoria to return home to Kingwood for specialty treatment and surgery since they had done everything medically they could do at that point.
“We returned home and were not sure what to do next. We waited for about a week for Victoria to get stronger and then started to visit different doctors around the community to see what to do next,” John said. “We found an orthopedic surgeon who referred us to a doctor who would operate on the shoulder first.”
To begin the recovery process, Victoria first started with surgery on her shoulder and clavicle and after surgery, her lungs started to shut down again.
“She spent more than a week in the hospital and then we came home where we were greeted with Hurricane Ike,” John said.
The Jacobs lost power throughout the storm, complicating Victoria’s recovery process as she had to complete breathing treatments at least twice a week.
Several weeks later, Victoria recovered from her surgery and was able to remove her sling though she still has limited motion of her right arm.
They are still dealing with insurance problems after the bus accident due to the bus company, Angel Tours, denying payment and insurance coverage.
The National Transportation and Safety Board is also still investigating the accident and have not released reports from the accident.
“It is hard right now. The bus company is not treating us right. I go to the doctor at least three or four times a week and we are paying the co-pays ourselves,” Victoria said.
“I have to return to work because under the Family and Medical Leave Act, I have to return to not lose my job. We just feel sad. This is going to be a very long process for us.”
Victoria will still have to undergo surgeries in the future on her back but they will wait until her heart is stronger.
Along with members of the Vietnamese community, Victoria, Vivi, John and Thy Thy, Victoria’s son, made the trip Oct. 5 to visit the site of the bus crash and remember those who perished.
They returned to say thank-you to the Sherman community for all of their help during the tragedy and remember Aug. 8, the morning of the crash.
“Recovery will be a long process but things are looking up for us. This experience has taught us many lessons and made us appreciate everything we have,” Victoria said. “The support that we have received from the community is amazing. We are all thankful for everything.
Copyright © 2009 - Houston Community Newspapers Online