Brittney Bailey knew her husband, Michael Bailey, was hurt before he got home. He had been dirt biking in Rexburg and was thrown off his bike and onto his back. But she didn’t think it was serious until he got home and said he needed to go to the hospital.
“We got him inside. I got his jersey off and had to cut some of his clothes off,” she said.
She took him to Madison Memorial Hospital where doctors realized he was in such bad shape they had to transfer him to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center to see a neurosurgeon.
“We did not think he had broken his back at all, it was a shock that was what it was,” Brittney said, “And it’s just weird to say ‘my husband has a broken back.’”
When Michael landed on his back, his vertebrae shattered. Adrenalin kicked in and he was able to load his dirt bike in his trailer and drive home.
Now in the hospital, he soon had to get surgery to put in a rod and screws to fix his spine.
Michael is the main source of income for the family. His nine-month recovery requires him to take off work and for the family to rely on Brittney's part-time job as a dental hygienist.
“The route I thought my life would be going to be going right now is just completely flipped upside down,” Brittney said.
She thought they would be planning to grow their family right now. But the medical expenses have put a hold on fertility treatments.
“I was pretty down, right when it happened,” Brittney said. "Just with the fertility thing, we have been trying to get pregnant and then I was like, ‘Maybe I'm not meant to have another kid.’”
Despite the major setback, Brittney and Michael remain positive.
“I’m so grateful for everyone, even strangers donating to the go fund me, you don’t know who I am but you’re helping us,” Brittney said.
Michael is up and walking around but cannot carry more than 10 pounds, bend, lift or twist. Brittney says for a man who loaded up his dirt bike and drove home with a broken back, having to take it easy has been hard on him.
“He is like go, go, go,” Brittney said. “The other day I was out doing yard work and he just tries to help me and I’m like, ‘Get your butt inside, you have got to rest.’”
Michael’s next appointment is this Friday where the Bailey family hopes to receive more information about Michael's progress and his ongoing recovery.
Brittney says the outpouring of support from friends, family and strangers has been overwhelming.
“Friends bringing me dinners and just checking on me every single day. We have people coming over and doing yard work. Everyone has stepped up and it’s just been so nice to relive that stress off of me and him,” she said.
If you want to help the Bailey family, consider donating to their GoFundMe account here.