The Accident 

We were the 2nd people who came in to the new St George ER right after you! My son was hurt in a bull riding accident in Hurricane! The doctors were telling us how lucky you guys were to be alive!!!

That must have been terrifying. One question does occur to me--what's health insurance like in FLDS?

I'm so glad that you and your Brothers has made it. Terrifying to listen to your Story! Thank you for sharing The experience of your whole life. I've learnt so much!

Hope you guys are doing ok! I noticed that you haven't posted in a while and I just wanted to say I hope everything is ok and everyone is healthy and well. Miss you both!

Phwew... life is crazy!! What a great story. Question: what do your kiddos know about Sam’s growing up? What do they think of their grandparents?

How terrifying for everyone involved.

Wow, that is quite a story. So glad everyone recovered. And... I keep wondering... how did you enjoy the hockey game last week?

Can you do a video about the short creek raid in the 1940s? Or maybe talking to someone who was a child in the community during that time? Everytime I watch something on why pologmy should or shouldn't be illegal-- someone mentions the raids, and talks about it being scary, but I find it very difficult to find articles explaining what actually happened

Did your brother who was still awake have any tests done? I was in a car accident before & outwardly only had a black eye but had a ton of internal injuries. One was a laceration 4 on my liver & my right shoulder was in almost unbearable pain from it. I was told they don't exactly know why, but right shoulder pain is a common complaint/side effect of liver injuries.

Did your family have health insurance?

Maybe they transferred them to a children’s hospital and it was probably a picu (pediatrics)

If you would have already had the gas, it could have been much worse.

Sounds like you incurred a serious traumatic injury of the brain. That can definitely change your personality! A parents worst nightmare!

Are these brothers all still part of the FLDS religion?

Being such an insular community were the various service workers certified? Such as, paramedics, firefighters, teachers, etc. If they did go through certification how did they and the FLDS community adapt to being exposed to the “outside world” and things that required education and training? I do have 2 questions and please don’t think they are judgmental. I’m genuinely curious. One is why is Sam’s face asymmetrical? I thought maybe it was an accident but you said they didn’t have any serious injuries. My second question is why Sam doesn’t give clear and distinct answers to things? He always second guesses himself or says “well maybe,” or “I don’t know” after he answers a question or shares information. I thought maybe that was from just not always being sure of what to share or how to say things.

Yay for another video! I am so intrigued by your life. And Melissa keeps the conversation going so organically.

My son was hit by a drunk driver when he was 12. 2 weeks before his 13th Birthday. September 14, 1995. I was told he broke his leg when someone came to our house to tell me. I drove a block down from us to the accident. When I got to the hospital, they told me to start planning his funeral and I got angry. I swore at them and said what kind of BS were they trying to pull on me since he only had a broken leg. That’s when they told me the truth. He had been hit by a car, thrown into the windshield and flew to the pavement landing between 2 manhole covers by the sidewalk. He had a compound fractured lower left leg, broken left arm and collar bone, road rash up his back, holes in the back of his head that we could put coins in, brain injury, lost his hearing and sight. He had plates and screws put in his leg and shoulder, so 6 surgeries. Hearing aids, full leg cast, skin grafts, massive headaches and a Very Big change to his personality. Our son is 40 now and lives with the residual problems from his injuries. He was told he would Never drive or do his dream job. He drives semi’s and dreams of being a fireman. Never give up on someone when they are hurt, they are being given a chance to be better than they would have been. So glad you and your brothers healed from the accident

Your 13th year sounds like it was pretty tough, medically speaking! Broken arm, stitches, sliced open hand, and the accident…goodness! Your poor parents! I can’t even begin to imagine being in an accident that bad…so glad to hear all 5 of you boys, and the van passengers came out of it okay in the end! 😊

Ugh! Listening to this story made my heart break for your parents💔😭

Well this brings back some scary memories. I love you guys and I’m glad you all made it out alive. I remember sitting at home with the phones ringing off the hook with all the rumors flying around about how some if not all of you were dead and something about one of the ambulances crashing on the way to the hospital....anyway, crazy stuff

That is fascinating about your change in personality! It can definitely happen. I'm a psych nurse and we had a patient who was in a motorcycle accident. Prior to the accident he was completely normal and had no psychiatric symptoms. He was similar to you in that he had a TBI and was comatose for a few days. He then developed severe OCD following the accident. A really unfortunately young man but medically interesting. I'm glad you got a 'good' change following yours.

I'm not even done with the video yet, but I really hope your father stopped "testing his cars" like that after this accident. That stuff isn't safe, and if he REALLY wanted to "test his cars," he should be bringing his own full gas can to get himself to a gas station after he runs out. That stuff isn't worth risking your family's lives. Dang.

I find it amazing how some people change after a major car accident. It really is wild. I had a cousin who was in a very serious accident back in the 1960s and he completely changed. He became very quiet and a bit reserved. He is in his late 70s now and is STILL like that. Before the accident he was very outgoing and gregarious. I have heard of others who changed like that too.

Love the way you interact with each other.

That is a crazy story. I too was in a bad car accident in 2002 and I was about the same age and you. In a comma also but for 3 weeks. I also had a “personality” change after very similar to you Sam. I have never meet anyone that had a similar experience. Thanks for sharing! Love your stories

Those EMTs, pilots, doctors and nurses must have been extraordinarily good.

I'm pretty sure I read or heard about this accident...maybe in Rachel Jeff's or Carolyn Jessup's books?

I’m wondering if your dad ever waited to see how long it takes to run out of gas again after this? I guess as a parent I would have felt so guilty that this happened to my kids because I was irresponsible enough to let the tank empty that they needed to come help me😬

Traumatic brain injuries absolutely can change your personality

I do feel for your mother! Two of my kids were in a bad accident, I rushed between two ER rooms and was a wreck. The nurses and Drs took ME and put me in another room to make sure I was going to be ok. They are fine, but I do feel for your mother..

So glad you made it to tell us the story❤️ your poor dad I can't imagine I would want to chase the ambulances!

Wow! This is all a little close to home - my dad had a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury as a lasting result August last year. It gives me hope for him that you have said yourself and your brothers have recovered fully - we don’t know if he will ever get back to himself properly. Personality changes are quite common with TBI’s so it does surprise me too much. The fact that he survived his accident is a complete miracle, sounds exactly the same for all of you as well! So glad it’s well behind you now 😊

Thank God y’all survived such a horrible accident. It is well documented that a brain injury causing prolonged unconsciousness can change a person’s personality quite substantially. Thankfully, it seems that it changed for the better for you as many times it can be just the opposite and people can have significant behavioral problems. It is especially true if there was an injury to the frontal lobe. Thank you for telling your story. I enjoy watching the dynamic of the two of you in whatever y’all choose to share with us 💗.

Wow. Sam, what an ordeal! I’m very thankful that you and your brothers all survived and are healthy. Your poor Mothers! I constantly worry about my “kids” (26,22,19, and 13), and always know when one of them is in trouble. I call it my Momma’s intuition. 💗

I was in a coma & incubated for over a week. Caused by Pneumonia. I was nearly lost several times over the first two days. I mostly don't remember. A couple of interesting things happened that I seldom tell people about. It's pretty personal. No bright light to walk towards either. lol Mostly I knew certain things in the core of my being that I had not known before. My personality changed as well. From the research I've done this is normal. It's the type of experience that expands your personal view of life. You just can't help but see things differently. You have basically straddled the edge of life and death and somehow for some reason have bounced back to the life side of the edge. It can't help but change a person.

Not trying to get into personal things but Question: Did y'all have health or accident insurance? Or did the "unmarried" mothers have Medicaid? There had to be tremendous bills for ICU stays for that long!

Level 1 traumas need to be handled at Level 1 trauma center. It takes quite a bit to be certified as a Level 1 trauma center.

Did your dad learn not to let his car run out of gas? 😀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤️

Goodness I have just watched this now for the first time and wow the belief in the power of prayer over healing sure was proved there. So relieved you are all fully healed. I hope you and your mom and brothers are still in contact with each other. Blessings to you, Melissa and kiddos

I wonder if the other brothers that were in the accident later left or stayed with the family.

So glad u are ok! Please keep in your thoughts on the 22nd undergoing surgery in same hospital I almost died in November 2018(long story!) Too personal to put here

I have a question about medical insurance. Did your parents have medical insurance? I can imagine the medical bills were enormous for these horrific injuries, along with all of the transport and rehab costs. Do some or most FLDS folks work for employers who give them a benefits package with medical insurance. I would think with so many children per family, the medical bills in a normal year must have been very high.

Omg so scary! I’m so glad everyone made it. So crazy.

Every religious parent's worst nightmare. When you LDS child enters a coma and wakes up an aethiest.

God had his hand on all of you. Thank God for praying parents even ifs their beliefs are a little different they knew a loving father. And I have seen many many peoples lives completely changed after traumatic accidents. I have even seen peoples eye color and hair color change.

I can not imagine the fear your father and mothers lived with watching their children in pain and in commas. ❤ prayer they someday come around so that you can have a better relationship together

Wow. So glad you made it through that! Do you wear & recommend seatbelts all the time now?

You were blessed with such unique experiences Sam!! You should definitely put this in your book. Glad no one died holy cow!! 👍👍

Near death experience --> new outlook on life?

Super scary, Y’all are so lucky to have survived the crash. God was definitely watching over you & your brothers

Please so more videos with Sam’s siblings!!!

Wow, Sam! Just WoW! I’m so happy you and your family and the other vehicle’s passengers were all “ok!” I am sure it was extremely stressful for your parents. Having the relearn to do things is so difficult! What a blessing that after such trauma you have all recovered well! I’m a believer that things happen for a reason and if you follow a higher power then his hands are upon you. I have experienced the “fainting spell/blackout” moment you mentioned when you stood from bed and were walking to the door to open. It is the most bizarre feeling in the world. Incidentally, that moment changed not only my life but to a degree the lives of my immediate family members. The personality you were born with is much like my life. I’m quiet and reserved and always worry what anyone might think. I’m SO happy you were freed from that and can now live more fully in all you do! You and Melissa are true treasures and always a blessing! Thank you for sharing a very harrowing and personal experience!

Not all hospitals are set up to provide the services needed to be a trauma center, which is what you needed. So, for another example, not all hospitals are set up to be burn centers. Hospitals have certain profiles, because it would not be feasible for all of them to provide all the specialties.

I see someone else asked about what health insurance looked like in the FLDS community as I'm curious about that AND was everyone wearing a seatbelt that was involved in the accident? Or were some not? Curious what role the seatbelts played.

was our full blooded brother the driver

Is it too intrusive to ask about medical insurance? How was your Father able to take care of those bills? I can’t even imagine the financial cost, much the emotional trauma.

"So I saw a bright light..." That part made me lol.

Not every emergency room is a trauma center. Certain hospitals are level 1 or level 2 trauma centers but not all ERs are Trauma centers. Hence the lifeflight to Las Vegas.

I am so glad that you and your brothers are ok and of course the other people! What do you believe when it comes to Profits? Do you believe that there are current day Profits, that messages are sent to them from GOD? I always thought it would be totally hilarious if when the second coming happens, Jesus is doing all the things we are told that are bad, for example, smoking, alcohol, coffee, etc. What do you think about Church Presidents and how they conduct themselves? I think part of the reason I have trouble with the LDS church is because the President where I attended at first was in all the NEWS papers in the area because he was arrested for drunk driving, everyone knew him as the president of the Church so the headline was something to the effect of " LDS Church President __________ was arrested on ______ for drunk driving." It took my feet out from under me. I thought that he was supposed to be living the perfect life and he did this horrific " unworthy" thing and was still the President of our branch.

Good story 👏👏🙏🙏❤

I know 2 people that where in a coma, and both completely changed personality. One was a childhood friend of 15 years friendship that I ended up breaking ties with 3 years after his coma, because we really didnt get along anymore. The other is a family member and its like their partner divorced and married a different person. They are both functional people and the personality change doesn't seem to come from lasting brain damage or mental health problems. It really was like their brain did a factory reset. I have read its not uncommon but there doesnt seem to be one clear reason as to why it happens.

I should have listened to the entire video. Disregard my question.

I am so glad that you made a full recovery. On another topic, I kind of feel sorry for your whole community for not having access to pop music. I came across a chanel of a classicaly trained musician who grew up in an isolated amish community, this is her journey into discovering rock music, and I tought you might want to check it out, to round out your exposure into mainstream culture. I have enjoyed a lot. Be well

Did you have insurance or how were all the bills paid?

This is completely unrelated but, we’re the kidnappers of Elizabeth Smart FLDS? Did they have any link to the group?

Oh wow that sounds like you all were very, very, very lucky Sam. Your poor mothers, I couldn't imagine it. How it happened sounds like some thing my older brothers would do too. They always seemed to want to push the limits, especially in cars. My second eldest brother got away with so much as a teenager but unfortunately later in life he was involved in a similar accident in which he broke his neck, and completely severed his spinal cord. He also was not wearing a seat belt ( he was just crossing an intersection on the way to getting some fuel, so didn't have his belt on) My brother got thrown out of the passenger window of the car and was found in the long grass on the side of the road. It took them quite a while to find him, like your brother. It was super early morning, still dark and the other car was going to work (I suppose he had just woken up) and had forgotten to turn his cars lights on. Because it was such a well lit intersection, the glare actually hindered my brother being able to see the other car (without it's lights on) Of course it totally changed his life. The only, some what positive thing about it was that in Australia, in the state he lives in, traveling to and from work is included in workers compensation. Even with out that, the government also provides good care for people in his situation for as long as they live. Yeah so.............Very, very scary stuff.

Wow! That would definitely be hard as a parent 😭 Is your brothers that were in the accident still at the compound or did they leave as well. When I was 16 I had a Suzuki Samurai, and I was going home one night and fell asleep at the wheel, I hit gravel and flipped 6 times. I was in the hospital over 2 weeks, no broken bones, but did have a hairline fracture to my neck. The doctor said it was like a giant rolled me into a ball and used me for bowling 😂 It was a rough time. Glad y’all were all ok 😊 Have a great night!

I am so grateful that all of you made it through the accident and made a full recovery! God bless you all! Quite a story and a wonderful example of how Good God is!

❤

Wow 😳 so glad you made it out of that horrible accident. So scary

So glad you are ok!! This is the second utuber who had a serious head injury whose personality had changed for the better. Same situation as you super shy before and more outgoing etc after!

Always use your seat-belt! You've got *Nothing* to loose, and literally *Everything's* at stake to win. (And be they 5 or 55, make sure *everyone* in the car has theirs on as well - Even your 5 year-old (as small as 5 year-olds are) goes from being your little car-buddy to becoming a lethal projectile upon impact. You've got *Nothing* to loose, and literally *Everything's* at stake to win!)

So I am really missing you guys. Sure hope that everything is okay and you are just super-busy. I keep checking for new posts..... Hope all is well!!!

I have a question...why do FLDS refer to their parents as Mother and Father verses Mom and Dad? Just curious... I love your stories and I've learned so much... You two are beautiful inside and out ..thank you for sharing your lives with us 🤗🤗🤗🥰🥰🥰👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 and p.s. I'm surprised that you don't have hundred's of thousand's of subbies verses 23k... Your channel is awesome 😎

I've been waiting to hear this story

The power. of Prayer!

Did Warren Jeffs visit you or your brothers in hospital. Did they offer support to your family? I am Australian and am fascinated with your videos.

I missed your live you two did on your date. 😞 Glad I'm here early. I hope you are both doing very well. God Bless You.

Wow. Miraculous. My daughter was in an accident last July. A person driving while on her phone hit the car she was in. She is still recovering in many ways. As a parent it is the most horrible experience.

Also curious if any of your brothers personalities changed as well? Did the accident change your relationship with them? Like were you guys closer after this?

Sam's experiences growing up were very similar to my own. We were not lds but my parents were very old fashioned

TBIs can absolutely change people’s personalities!

Likely that Vegas was the closest Level 1 Trauma Center

How old was Sam when the accident happened?

What a good video keep them coming! So glad your hear to tell your story

St George didn't have a trauma team

I was curious about how they decided who shared a room? Did your brothers from the same mother share rooms or the ones closest in age? Also did your father have his own room or the wives would visit his room or how did that work?

You probably needed a Trauma Level 3 or up so they flew you to Las Vegas. So glad you were able together the care you needed.

Thank you for sharing more about your family. Glad you made it out okay.

A stroke which is a brain Injury can totally change your personality. I would assume having a traumatic brain injuty

Did your Dad have insurance on all his kids??

Yikes. So glad all of you are ok now. What a journey. Thank you for sharing. ♥️

Hard to hit the like button on this video 😬 Glad you are okay 😁

so your brother really can say he has "2020 vision" :D

❤wow so happy to have you with us Sam!

You are all so lucky to have came out okay after something like that. Appreciate your videos. You are so open with your lives. As someone who grew up with a very blessed life. No religon, but "leave it to Beaver" type upbringing, The whole FLDS religon and history is mind blowing. I never realized that there were communities that lived all to themselves and with such strong followed beliefs. Do you still talk to your mom(s) & dad? Or are they still not allowed to talk to you? Do you know if they still follow Warren? Do you know of your sisters that were married to men high up ; how are they? Oh, since pandemic, do you know of all your family gotten through it ok? Sorry, I Dont mean to be so intrusive.

That is so scary as a parent. They must have been just frantic over you all and afraid of the worst. I can't even imagine how I would react if that happened to my son. I am so happy that some sort of guardian angel saved you all from such a fatal accident. It seemed that your father had faith that your brother would come out of it and he was right. You have lived to tell the tale and to move on to start your own family. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Oh yeah ! I have heard of near death experiences causing a change of personality and thank goodness for the better in your case!

man that's scary. I'm glad y'all are doing ok now

Glad to hear that you and all your brothers healed up well and were able able to lead normal lives. I would think after going through and experience like that it makes you appreciate life and everything you have so much more. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. With leaving your family just 5 years after the accident, I wonder if you would have had the courage to venture out on your own if you weren't involved in the accident and the change in personality with it.