When Charles Hart was pried from the wreckage of his Toyota Land Rover after a collision with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 80, the hopes of him pulling through appeared dim.
He suffered massive injuries in the accident Sunday, his sister, Carol Hart-Melvin, 58, said Thursday. Both lungs were punctured, several ribs were broken, his left leg was broken at the hip, he suffered numerous cuts and fractures, including one of the skull, and doctors thought his spine was severely damaged if not severed.
"They were telling us there was brain damage and that even if he did survive it would be in a vegetative state," she said.
Hart was driving through the Quad-City region on his way to Drummond Island, Mich., to visit his sister for Christmas before stopping to see other relatives in the southern part of Michigan. Instead, family members have come from across the country to be at his bedside in Genesis Medical Center-West campus, Davenport, where he was taken after the accident.
Not long after the horrible crash that was blamed by police on foul, snowy weather and a slick overpass, there were signs that the 60-year-old community college professor from Scottsbluff, Neb., not only might survive, but also could regain the ability to use his hands and arms to express himself.
"We're calling him our Christmas miracle," Hart-Melvin said. "He uses his eyebrows and face to make expressions and we know he's having thought processes."
The first inkling the family had that he might make a comeback came about a day after the accident. Ironically, they were discussing a doctor's suggestion that they decide whether he should be resuscitated in case his vital signs disappeared, said his son, Tom Hart, 40, of Livermore, Colo.
"Everyone else was out in the hall, and I happened to walk into his room as a nurse said he had squeezed her hand." he said. "That completely reversed our thinking. up to that point, we thought he wasn't going to make it. He was considered a fatality."
Still, he faces a long period of recovery with the final outcome far from clear, his son said. While he is expected to survive, he will have to undergo several complex surgeries and is unlikely to walk again.
He eventually will be taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in AnnArbor, where he probably will undergo most of the operations, his sister said. "There is family there and more of a support system," she added.
Family members had nothing but praise on Christmas Eve for the kindness and generosity of the people of the Quad-Cities. Staff at the hospital brought them pizza and a box of goodies one evening. People around town who recognize them from television news reports have been supportive and encouraging.
"We want everyone to know he survived," Hart-Melvin said. "We can't thank the town enough."


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