Everyday we hear about horrible events that happen to other people. We say a little prayer and are thankful that it wasn’t us.  On January 5th, something horrible happened to my friend, Nina’s husband, Tom. That knock at the door we hope we never get, Nina got. My heart hurts for her husband, her, their families. (Nina’s blog is ArtsyNina)

Below is what happened to her husband, in Nina’s words. This was taken from Tom’s  CaringBridge page.

“Saturday January 5th, Tom left after lunch to ride snowmobile a little bit; he was going to visit a friend just outside of town.  Around 3pm he had still not returned and he had not sent any messages or called. This was VERY unusual for Tom and I was worried.  Normally he’ll be out for 30-45 minutes and always, ALWAYS sends me random text messages. I called friends that Tom sometimes rides with to ask if he had been by.  I hopped online to see if he used our check-card anywhere; maybe he stopped for something to eat or there would be another clue.  At 4:30pm there was a loud knock at the door.  My stomach dropped.  I knew it would not be good.  I knew it.  The county sheriff told me that Tom was in an accident and was to be air lifted to HCMC.”

From that accident he sustained these injuries:  Injuries listed from top to bottom; brain hemorrhage and complications, fractured orbital (eye) socket, facial lacerations, fractured T6 vertebrae, broken and dislocated right wrist, broken left elbow and fractured upper arm, left knee cap broken with severed tendon and puncture wound, right knee ligament injury.

Tom and Nina are a younger couple, who are from Minnesota, huge plus there!!  He was the main bread-winner for himself, Nina, their 3-year-old son Jack and their baby girl, June. He recently changed jobs so he isn’t covered under FLMA. The bills are going to be very tight. Nina is a proud woman. She wrestled hard with actually asking for help. They will need help with medical bills, therapy and day-to-day living expenses. Someone suggested they start-up a donation site, which I think is a fabulous idea! I’m very proud of my friend, for realizing when she needs help and asking for it. Better than not asking and lose everything.

I’m not good at writing serious stuff, but I needed to write about Tom, Nina and the kids. I want to help spread the word that they need donations to help with his medical bills and recovery. Even if its only a couple dollars for a cup of coffee, that helps. Here is the donation site: Help for Tom Hedin I will also have a widget on my sidebar that will allow people to go donate.

You many not have had the pleasure of reading Nina’s blog or getting to know her as I have. You may be wondering, “Why should I donate to them?” Well, you know me and I know they are good people and need a helping hand. I also know if something like that happened to Mr. Bernie, I would be in the very same boat, minus the kids. I want to help them as much as I can. My birthday is this month, more in that in another blog post, if you donated to them, I would consider it a birthday present. So it’s a win-win!

Do one more thing for me, hug your loved ones extra tight today.

I’m not the only blogger who is thing about the Hedin family. Some of my blogging friend’s also did posts about them.

Well worth the read.

Beth Ann at It’s Just Life, Reconfiguring? You Betcha!  For every comment you leave on her blog in January and February, she will donate 50 cents toward the Hedin family!

Michele from Living On Less shared their story and has the donation button on her blog.

Audrey from Minnesota Prairie Roots  wrote a moving piece on their story.