Members of an Effingham-area family injured in a chain-reaction car accident along Interstate 57 in Missouri are recovering after their truck was sandwiched in between two of the impacted vehicles along the fog-riddled roadway.
Pat Mammoser of Newton, Mike Gibson of Effingham and Doug Mammoser of Island Grove were all hospitalized at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, while Steve Mammoser — also of Island Grove — was taken to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. All had various injuries of varying severity: Pat suffered a quartet of broken ribs and two broken arms; Steve had bruising in addition to broken ribs that required abdominal surgery; Doug suffered a broken leg but did not require surgery; Gibson had internal injuries along with broken ribs.
Gibson was released from St. Francis’ intensive care unit Saturday and moved into a regular room at the hospital, while Pat and Doug were released entirely that same day. Steve remains at Deaconess recovering from his injuries.
The accident occurred Thursday morning as the four were traveling to Mobile, Alabama, for a spring golfing trip. Pat, who was driving the vehicle at the time, said conditions were relatively clear through Illinois along Interstate 57. Once they got into Missouri, however, they ran into thick, white fog that made visibility impossible.
“Next thing we knew, we drove into a white fog that — I’ve told other people — was like I was driving and somebody threw a cover over the truck,” Pat said. “(We) couldn’t see anything. I started to slow down. I didn’t want to hit my brakes in fog because I wasn’t sure if anyone was tailing me or where we were at.
“Within 10 seconds, the next thing we saw was a truck cross-ways in the road and we hit the truck. We were probably still going 65 miles per hour. We hit a UPS trailer and we stopped on a dime.”
Pat felt pain in his arm immediately after hitting the trailer. Everyone was alive and well, albeit sore, as a second vehicle hit their truck, sandwiching them in between the two. The second crash ended up pinning Pat in the steering wheel, enough to cause an injury to his leg. The driver behind them backed up enough to lift the vehicle and release Pat from the vice that he was caught in.
Doug was in good enough condition after the second crash to leave the vehicle and evaluate the situation. He smelled gas coming from one of the vehicles — that vehicle would eventually catch fire and spread to others in the chain, including the Mammoser truck. Despite having a broken leg, he was able to get Steve out of the car before Gibson left on his own.
Then he came over to Pat’s side of the vehicle. At this point, the fire had begun, leading him to take quick action to try and get Pat out of the car before he was burned alive.
“He said, ‘Pat, we’ve got to get you out of here,’” Pat said. “My leg was pinned and I couldn’t get it out. By the grace of God, there was a guy that came by — I thought he said he was an Army Ranger, but I don’t know for sure. Doug couldn’t get my door open. He said it was locked and he tried to get me to unlock it from the inside, but the dash was driven so far back that I couldn’t get to the controls and I couldn’t pull the knob on the door.
“The next thing I knew, they pulled the door and they got the door open. Doug thought that I unlocked it, but I am pretty sure that I never did get the door unlocked.”
Unlocking the door didn’t release Pat from the car — that took effort from Doug and their helping hand. His brother and brother-in-law were in deep abdominal pain from both crashes, enough to where Pat had genuine concern for their lives.
“I could tell in Doug’s voice that there was a lot of seriousness from it,” Pat said. “As I was getting treated, I asked how they were doing (and) I was told that they were in very critical condition. They weren’t sure that they were going to make it or not.”
All four were treated and sent to receive care at the hospitals, each being separated in some way. Pat had surgery on both of his arms and on his ribs, while Doug received treatment for his leg. Gibson was placed on a ventilator due to trauma and pain, but it was recoverable and he eventually got released.
Pat gave credit to the people at St. Francis for treating him and his family with great care, allowing them to be released in short order.
“I can’t say enough,” Pat said. “They were fantastic all the way through the whole thing.”
A few internal injuries were caused by the truck’s seat belts, but doctors told Pat that internal injuries would have been the least of their worries had they not been wearing them.
“I don’t think there’s any way we would have lived if we hadn’t had our seat belts on,” Pat said. “We would have been flying everywhere. I’m sure Mike and Steve would have went through the windshield.”
The family is thankful for all the people who have sent them prayers and well wishes over the course of the past several days. Pat believes that hundreds, if not thousands of people have had them in their thoughts as the weekend progressed, and he praised those who took the time to think of them while they recover.
“I can’t thank people enough for that,” Pat said. “It means a lot. It means the difference. That power of prayer and people texting our family meant a lot and helped everybody get through it. It’s a nice feeling to know that the community, your family and your friends are really there for you.”