An 18-year-old Sweet Home High School student remains hospitalized following a Jan. 19 crash in Lebanon east of Wal-Mart on Highway 20.
While Peyton Ullrich has had multiple surgeries, his father Shane reported that his son is “stable.”
Shane Ullrich said the crash happened when Peyton inexplicably swerved into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle. He said his son and the other driver were sent to the emergency room in Corvallis.
The family can only speculate as to why Peyton swerved, Ullrich said, and they are trying to piece together information from many difference sources. While he remembers holding the steering wheel and reaching to shift, Peyton does not remember anything about the accident at this point, according to his father.
Peyton, a senior who played football this past season for the Huskies, has a fractured arm, ankle and pelvis. His jaw was broken in multiple locations. His lower lip was cut open and some teeth were missing or loose. He also had internal bleeding in his upper intestine as well as hematomas.
Peyton had two successful surgeries on his abdomen to stop the bleeding and to get him on a feeding tube, Shane Ullrich said. Ullrich said Peyton was scheduled for a third stomach surgery Sunday afternoon at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, where he had been transferred for facial surgery.
“Tough times, but we’re making it,” Ullrich said. “He’s doing really good.”
Peyton’s family is updating his progress at caringbridge.org. Donations may be given at gofundme.com. A link is included from the Caring Bridge website.
Shane Ullrich said he agreed to set up a Go Fund Me account in response to offers to help.
He was insured, Ullrich said, but with the level of treatment, “we’re probably going to be going through that real, real fast.”
At 18 years old, the medical bills go directly to Peyton, Ullrich said, and the family does not want to see him start out life with medical bills lingering.
In addition to football, Peyton has played basketball and golf, Ullrich said. He has been working at Casa de Reyes, taking honors classes and looking forward to attending Oregon State University next year.
With a terrible accident like this, “you’re living every parent’s worst nightmare,” Ullrich said. “From the time you get the phone call till you see him, your heart just breaks. It is an absolute miracle, he’s alive.”
Looking at the damage to Peyton’s vehicle, Ullrich said, at 6 feet 4 inches, there was “nowhere for a kid that size to be in a car that size.”
Then “your heart swells with joy when you see he’s OK” and all of the people reaching out to support the family, Ullrich said. The family hears back from community members who recall things like Peyton sweeping the floor of his father’s barber shop when he was little.
The community response has been huge, Ullrich said. “It makes you appreciate being in a small town.”
Ullrich wanted to thank everybody, he said. “It’s been amazing.”
He won’t play golf this year, Ullrich said, but “I have no doubts he’ll be walking at graduation.”