A Quincy University student and her mother are going home for the summer, after the coldest, longest winter imaginable.

Madison Kunkel, a freshman at QU, and her mother lost two childhood dogs and nearly a life in the span of a few days.

On Christmas, Kunkel lost her oldest dog, Hazel, and three days later, her mother got into a near fatal car accident, which left her fighting to save her own life.

Katie Gordon, Kunkel’s mother, is from Camp Point but was in Barry, about 35 minutes by car away from Quincy, on Dec. 28, the night of her accident.

After her dog died, Gordon was struggling to deal with past addictions and was at a standstill of what to do next.

She decided to take her thoughts to the cemetery in a time of reflection. Gordon visited Blair cemetery on the west side of Barry, just a few miles from where she would soon fight for her life.

Gordon explains her long trek to hopefully get someone’s attention to get help after her fall into the ravine.

Only a few miles west of the cemetery, Gordon fell from about 629 feet, to about 615 feet in her vehicle.

That is roughly a 14-foot drop from the highway that has a speed limit of 55 mph.

There is no exact way to calculate the exact speed she was going, especially around 11 p.m. in not ideal weather conditions. But it is safe to say that Gordon was going fast enough to make a 14 foot drop substantial enough to paralyze someone.

There was snow and ice caked to the ground so the ravine was steeper and more dangerous than expected.

With her extended injuries, not exactly sure what’s going on, she takes matters into her own hands and crawls to the nearest house.

Gordon had a hard time figuring out where she was, and which direction was which. So, she chose a direction that she thought was right, and prayed God would take her to safety.

Instead of going back the way she came from and trying to get back to her friend’s house, she unknowingly crawled in the opposite direction.

She crawled to the one house closest to where she wrecked her car.

Gordon describes her journey to the house in only a few minutes, but only she could possibly know what that half mile could have felt like, not knowing when the nearest house would, or if even, pass by.

This half mile crawl for Gordon took her no less than four hours to complete.

Once finding the house, getting the attention of the homeowners in the middle of the night didn’t seem to be the end of the challenge.

Gordon desperately did what she could, tired and worn out, and tugged on the handle of one of the trucks outside.

To her surprise, it opened.

Almost ready to give in, Gordon felt weirdly at peace. She had some sort of insight not many have, and on the brink of death, she lives to recall her story on the edge.

Gordon’s prayers were answered when she heard someone toggle their key fob from inside the house.

The noise was all Gordon needed to give her hope and know her prayers were answered with a simple sign.

“I still remember his face because you could just see the fear and the shock in his face… I couldn’t tell you what he looks like, but just the fear and the expression,” Gordon said.

While getting transferred from the truck to the ambulance, and then on to Quincy, Gordon reflected on the excruciating pain she was experiencing. While she couldn’t move her legs, she recalled feeling like she was being “ripped in half.”

In the early hours of the morning on Dec. 29, Gordon could finally feel a little peace knowing she was going to live, but unsure what the future held, the extent of her injuries, and the world of pain that lies ahead.

After leaving her friend’s house around 11 p.m., to her family being contacted that Gordon was in an ambulance around 5:30 a.m., Gordon was outside in the middle of winter, at night, during snowy weather.

She was in contact with the elements in her condition for around six hours that night, wearing a pair of athletic leggings, a sweater, and tennis shoes.

In the time Gordon was outside, it was considered ‘freezing’ and because she couldn’t walk, she had to crawl through leftover snow, cold gravel, and frozen asphalt.

With the clothes she had on, the snow would have melted right through her leggings as she crawled her way down the road. Not only would that have been uncomfortable, but incredibly dangerous as water will freeze your body faster than air will, making you more prone to hypothermia, or in this case, frostbite.

While a freezing temperature seemed unbearable enough, given the wind speed, it only got worse.

The windshield felt much cooler when all of the elements are combined together.

With Gordon’s case, it was unmeasurable exactly how she felt based on the elements such as her injuries, clothing, past weather conditions, type of land, and more, but regardless of these factors, she pushed through despite many variables not going her way.

After being taken to Blessing Hospital by ambulance, and staying there for several hours, it was determined that the hospital couldn’t order the tests that Gordon needed and care for her properly. It was decided that Gordon needed to be taken to be taken to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois.

Gordon recalls the time waiting at Blessing, and the ride to St. John’s where she was finally reunited with Kunkel and her mother.

“I just remember being in pain and screaming, and I told my mom several times to just let them kill me because I just can’t fight anymore. It was so unbearable,” Gordon said.

At this point Gordon also learned that her other dog, Veneta, who was in the car accident with her, had passed away as her mom got the phone call in the hospital. Gordon was defeated.

She described the only thing that gave her comfort was knowing the time of events. Such as her medication, appointments, scans, checks, whatever it may be. It made her have a sense of control over things.

At Blessing, she recalls, it was “horrible” experience. She felt as if they didn’t have things under control.

However, where she spent most of her time at St. John’s, it was quite the opposite.

Gordon experienced a safe, relaxing, environment and said she knew God was with her, even before finding out St. John’s was a religious hospital.

The St. John’s staff took Gordon in around 10:30 a.m. Dec. 29, and only then did Gordon finally start getting answers.

Gordon’s T12 thoracic vertebrae was completely shattered into pieces. She compared it to smashing a piece of hard candy with a hammer.

Gordon also experienced compression fractions in her L1 and L2 lumbar vertebras.

Gordon’s bladder almost ruptured because of the temporary paralysis in the lower half of her body. Shards of the vertebrae were stuck in her spinal cord, which usually leads to permanent damage as well.

Because of the extent of her injuries, she is considered a miracle to be walking today.

While this doesn’t mean Gordon had a speedy or simple recovery, she did have a bit of ease knowing that she an opportunity to make a full recovery which was typically unheard of for her type of case. Gordon believed God was by her side every step of the way.

From a third person perspective, Kunkel has heard her mom explain what she has went through many times. Kunkel has also been beside Gordon through all her recovery, helping as much as she can.

Kunkel explained her experience being in the hospital with her mom and how she believed God was with her mother the night of the accident.

Both Kunkel and Gordon believe these instances are more than just coincidence, as they confirm God blessing them in many forms.

Although recovery wasn’t easy, Gordon proved to St. John’s staff that she didn’t need to go into a swing bed service, and instead she worked to recover miraculously fast.

From not being able to stand, nonetheless get out of bed, she began walking and even walking up and down stairs in no time.

When getting home, Gordon explained that she did a lot a praying and reading in her Bible. She recalled it being more difficult being home as she was alone most of the time.

She had been put on pain medication that she had previously abused in her childhood, and the fear of possibly relapsing scared her.

“It was very mentally exhausting,” Gordon said. “So, I quit taking all of my pain meds on February 9th.”

As Gordon suffered through the struggles the accident directly, or indirectly caused, the support of her family, the community, and God helped her push through. While she is still dealing with appointments and mild discomfort to this day, she has had months to reflect on the experience, and appreciate the blessings in disguise.

Gordon’s GoFundMe

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