The Wilson Post
LEBANON WEATHER

Angel on the shoulders of MJ teens




 

 

It’s a grim tale.

A sad tale. But one that has a spiritual epilogue – of hope, renewal, connection, and love on so many levels.

It’s a grim tale.

A sad tale. But one that has a spiritual epilogue – of hope, renewal, connection, and love on so many levels.

She heard the sirens from her kitchen on the busy street in Mt. Juliet. What she didn’t know that instant last Thursday night was those sirens were racing to her grandson, on and off unconscious, terribly hurt, hanging upside down and pinned in a car at the bottom of a culvert less than a mile away.

Carol and Neal Shehan have raised John Flory, 16, the past seven years. She got the “phone call from hell” last Thursday night around 7 p.m.

“It truly was a mother’s (grandmother’s) worst nightmare,” says Carol. “My heart dropped to the ground, and only recently have I been able to pick it up.”

The panicked call was from John’s girlfriend’s mother, Julie Caron, telling her to get to the scene of this precious couple’s auto accident on Cooks Road, which happened on their way home from work at the Mt. Juliet Walmart.

 

 

Theirs was a simultaneous work shift at Walmart that night for this young couple. Molly, also 16, and John are juniors and co-NJROTC students at Wilson Central High School, and they just celebrated their two-year dating anniversary Monday.

It was an anniversary that easily could not have been.

“Theirs is a love story with a tragic moment,” Carol said.

That tragic moment was a horrific car crash so close to home. It was already dark, on a street with no lights. When the car finally rested in the culvert, Carol said it was divine intervention that saved her grandson’s life.

“They went off the road, rolled and landed upside down and somehow the car ‘tented’ on impact and landed in a place their car roof didn’t collapse,” Carol said. “It was cradled somehow in a divot in the ground.”

Carol believes that tenting and random hole on the culvert saved their lives.

 

 

Also, both were wearing seatbelts, according to authorities.

“I’m extremely proud of them both,” this grandma said. “John was a passenger, and just has his temporary license. He’s a somewhat nervous driver.”

Said grandma, “it’s a given he puts on a belt.”It took first responders about 20 minutes to cut the young man out of the seatbelt. He was in and out of consciousness during the time, but Molly was luckily spared extremely serious injuries, and because of this, had to witness her boyfriend trapped in the mangled Ford SUV.

That horrendous phone call about the accident came when Carol was preparing dinner. It came from Molly’s mom, Julie, and then Carol, her husband, and granddaughter raced to the scene that was just down the road.

When she arrived she was not allowed to go to the car and comfort her grandson, but she was able to ride in the ambulance with him to Summit Medical Center.

“When I heard Summit, my heart felt better because severe traumas go Vanderbilt,” Carol said softly.

 

 

However, just a few hours later, she was in the ambulance again, racing to Vanderbilt where her grandson was transferred.

“Luckily for John, he doesn’t remember the accident, only getting in the car,” said Carol. “Sweet Molly, unfortunately, was conscious and can remember seeing John trapped.”

When he came to, John somehow related real time to some years ago when his appendix ruptured and he was sick in the hospital.

“He thought he was just sick, in the hospital,” this grandma said.

Sadly he was, in reality, way more than sick. The junior NJROTC cadet, and second-degree black belt, has five fractured ribs, a fractured sternum, suffered three fractures on his pelvis, a lacerated kidney, brain bleed, severe concussion and a laceration on his face. Molly was banged up bad, but released from Summit only to spend every single day thereafter at John’s side.

When John was released from the hospital on Monday the two cradled each other and held hands.

“We are one big family,” Carol said. “We love Molly. We loved them [Molly and her family] before, and we love each other more now.”

While Molly is John’s beloved girlfriend, she’s now his earth angel, solicitous and caring along with Carol. Hopefully she’ll be back in school next week after fall break. Doctors said it will take John about three months to recover.

“Molly is doing okay,” said her mom Julie. “She has night terrors reliving everything. Time will heal this, and they will strive for new memories.”

Molly recently got her driver’s license and Julie said both of the youngsters are full of faith. Molly takes AP and honors classes this junior year. Julie really can’t put into words her feelings when a Good Samaritan called her about the accident from the scene.

Those good Samaritans, who also held John’s hand while he was trapped and upside down while waiting for paramedics, were just the first “rung” of a mammoth long ladder of supporters.

When Julie posted on social media about the horrific accident to garner prayers, the post blew up and support in the Mt. Juliet realm rushed. Well over a thousand people “liked” the post, and subsequent updates.

Both families do not take this lightly. And when John’s a bit stronger, his grandmother plans to shower him with the emails, “likes,” letters and well wishes.

“Faith will get them through,” she said.

Carol knows about struggles.

“I’m a realist,” she said. “John is a realist. We know things bad happen. We know to take it on and overcome.”

Carol, 55, is able to be strong when she talks about the accident. She deals. A substitute teacher in Wilson County, she lost her brother in an auto accident in 2002, had four friends die recently, watched her mom die a year ago, and recently had open heart surgery.

“My mind expects the worst, and when the worst doesn’t happen, it’s a party,” she said. “The fact they survived is nothing short of a miracle. It’s a blessing from God. I don’t just attribute John overcoming his injuries to the fact he’s young and in good shape. He was in the hospital five days. They expected him to be there seven to 14 days. I attribute it to God and all the prayers.”

Molly’s mom put a little angle pendant on her daughter’s visor to “watch over” her as she drove to and from home. That little angle is not found in the wrecked car.

“We think that little angel protected and saved their lives,” she whispered. “And flew away to protect others.”

Writer Laurie Everett can be reached at laurieeverett1@gmail.com.

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