Tragedy can strike at any moment and change a person’s life forever. One small moment can turn a family’s world upside down, which is exactly the case for BYU-Idaho student Kendra Baguley.
Baguley met her husband at BYU-Idaho and together are raising four young children. What started as a typical Monday morning turned into a life-altering day when Baguley received a call from her husband’s boss telling her the news.
“He stepped out of his vehicle at work,” Baguley said. “And he probably took maybe three steps, and then he just slipped on the ice. So, he hit his head. He fell and he couldn’t move at all. He was completely paralyzed.”
After being rushed to the hospital, doctors told Baguley that her husband needed to be rushed into emergency surgery.
“So, his surgery was complete,” Baguley said. “The neurosurgeon comes in and he was talking to us. He was like, surgery went well. Everything was great. but we don't know if or when he'll ever walk again.”
Shocked by the news, Baguley began to worry about their family’s future.
“Everything just hit me all at once,” Baguley said. “I was like, what does my future look like? What does his future look like? And I have to tell him, when he wakes up, you may never walk again because he has no idea. So how do you tell someone that?”
Baguley’s husband is quadriplegic, meaning he is affected by paralysis in all four limbs. The Baguley family has received help and support from family and friends during this troubled time, which Baguley said has strengthened her faith.
“I can't express how grateful I am to so many people that I think has strengthened my testimony in communities and having one another, it strengthened my testimony in service and just gratitude and being gracious about things,” Baguley said. “I also want my kids to understand that there's a reason why all these people are helping us, and we need to be doing the same thing that they're doing. I think that's the whole point. We need to continue to serve others.”
Baguley’s life has changed, but she and her family strive to find happiness and joy through Christlike service.
“You have a choice in all of this,” Baguley said. “Heavenly Father's given us agency, so we get to choose how we see things, how do we perceive the situation and what are we going to do about it.”