JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Almost a year after a dirt bike crash that nearly took his life, Scott Andrews says the only things he has to show for it are a small lisp and a couple of scars.
Andrews said he was dirt biking in Waldo when he ran out of landing room after a 30-foot jump. When he landed, the handlebars stabbed him in the neck, ripped out his tongue and shot the roof of his mouth, breaking his neck and splitting his skull in half.
Despite his injuries, he remained conscious and remembered rescue workers helping him.
“I was in the back of the ambulance with all that stuff going on and everybody was just looking at me,” he said. “(They said) ‘I can’t believe this guy’s even like alive.’”
Andrews was thinking of his wife.
“I actually asked the EMT guy … ‘Can you use my phone?’ And I actually sent a picture to my wife, and I said, ‘Babe, you’re gonna kill me,’” Andrews said.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he said doctors were unsure whether he would survive. After surgery, he said doctors expected him to be released in about eight weeks.
Against all odds, Andrews walked out of the hospital in just 11 days.
“They said originally, maybe six to eight weeks. That was on the ninth day, on the 11th day at noontime I was walking out of there,” he said. “Yeah, so it was incredible.”
Doctors called his recovery a miracle. Andrews and his wife, Jodie, say that miracle was the result of all the prayers they received from their community.
“Not only do I still have my dirt bikes, I got my wife, I have my friends, and … a great life to look forward to. I’m really thankful,” Andrews said.
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