Traveling nurse regains independence after near-death car accident leaves him paralyzed

The unthinkable happened to Jason Wendlandt and his family last fall. After surviving a near-death car accident, Wendlandt has spent the past seven months learning to live a new type of independent lifestyle, paralyzed from the waist down.

In an effort to assist the Wendlandt's as they all adapt, Jason's former employer, travel nurse agency Next Move Healthcare, is supporting the family in a GoFundMe fundraiser. The fundraiser, with a goal of $20,000, will help fund the purchase of hand controls for the Wendlandt's handicap-accessible van and an Action Trackchair, an all-terrain wheelchair. Hand controls would allow Wendlandt to drive the family's van on his own.

"I've never been one to sit around; we've worked for everything we've got," Wendlandt said. "I've never been the one who's had to ask for help. I've always been the one giving help, and so it's a weird feeling."

At the time of his accident, Wendlandt, 44 (43 during the accident), was a contract travel nurse, often picking up assignments near his home in Long Lane, where he lives with his wife, Ashley, and two children, Brock, 20, and Jaley, 16.

On the morning of Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, Wendlandt clocked out of work and was on his way home. Wendlandt said he didn't feel tired when he clocked off around 7:30 a.m. but with the windows down in his Jeep, he must have gotten too comfortable and fell asleep at the wheel.

Wendlandt said he doesn't remember the accident, but from what he was told, his Jeep hit a culvert in a driveway, which sent him airborne through a resident's lawn. From the accident, Wendlandt sustained what is called a Chance fracture, affecting the T11 and T12 vertebrate. This left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Wendlandt said Ashley most likely saved his life before he even got to work that evening.

"If it was nice, I always took my top and doors off my Jeep," Jason said. "(Ashley) came out and told me, as I was getting ready to take the top and doors off, 'Hey, I think it's supposed to sprinkle tomorrow. Don't take the top and doors off.' I was like, 'I don't think it's supposed to rain at all,' so against my better judgement I didn't take them off."

Immediately after his accident, Wendlandt spent two weeks at the Cox Medical Center South Emergency Department and Trauma Center. Then, for an additional two months, Wendlandt underwent rehabilitation at Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital in Englewood, Colorado.

The decision to send Wendlandt to Craig Hospital was not an easy one, but it's what both Jason and Ashley felt was best. The two were familiar with Craig's comprehensive program for spinal cord injury rehabilitation, which was unlike anything they could access near home.

"We figured if there was a chance for him to walk again or have any progress in that direction, we wanted him to have the best chance and opportunity to do so," Ashley said. For the two months Jason was a patient at Craig, Ashley and the kids flew back and forth between Missouri and Colorado to visit.

Jason described rehabilitation at Craig as a "full-time job," with days starting at 5 a.m. Though the work was hard, he was encouraged to look forward to his future. Jason recalled quickly connecting with Jasmin Bambur, an alpine skier for the United States' Paralympic team, while there. He added that some of his favorite lessons while at Craig centered around doing wheelies, not only just for fun but for operating a wheelchair in less accessible areas.

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The role of caregiver, reversed

For four years before his accident, Jason worked as a registered nurse, including his time as a travel nurse. Jason said he made the decision to become a travel nurse after Ashley was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2021. Working near home, Jason was able to more easily care for Ashley after her chemo treatments, which left her feeling exhausted.

Fortunately, Ashley had her last treatment on Oct. 31, 2022, which left her cancer free. But as Ashley was finishing her treatments, Jason was beginning his own medical journey.

"When you say, 'in sickness and in health,' you never think of cancer diagnosis or think about paralysis," Jason said.

In addition to help from Ashley, Jason's children have stepped up. The family has been without a stable income since October, at the time of Jason's accident.

Brock was in his first year of college at Evangel University when Jason was in his accident.

"He was actually in college at Evangel playing baseball, and then when my accident happened, he called his coach and said, 'I'm sorry, but I've got to make sure my parents are taken care of,'" Jason said. "He actually dropped from Evangel and playing baseball to come home, get a job and take care of us." Additionally, Jaley has picked up several jobs, in addition to being a high school junior, to help out.

Even before he came a registered nurse, Jason served as a caregiver in his community. At age 16, he became a first responder in Conway, where he grew up, and during his first year of college, he received an EMT certificate. Upon returning home from college for summer break, Jason was offered a full-time job as an EMT and paramedic, which he decided to take. For 18 years, Jason worked as an EMT and paramedic before Ashley encouraged him to return to school to become a registered nurse, a dream he had longed talked about.

"My wife, we were driving around Springfield, and she pulled into the OTC (Ozark Technical Community College) parking lot and I said, 'What are you doing?'" Jason recalled. "She said, 'You've talked about it long enough, go in and get registered.'" After completing his prerequisites at OTC, Jason finished his nursing degree at Southwest Baptist University.

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'You can see God everywhere in this'

Despite the hardships the Wendlandts have experienced over the past few years, they said they feel blessed in more ways than one.

In September 2022, just one month before Jason's accident, the Wendlandts closed the sale on their house in Long Lane. Jason said the exterior of the house was complete at that point, but the interior was essentially bare bones. Right after Jason's accident, they were unsure how the house would ever get done.

Brock works for Chad and Logan Bryan of the Bryan family, who own Market 116 and built Timber Line Barn in Buffalo. Jason said the family often purchases materials for the homes and businesses they build from re-stores. When they heard about Jason's accident, they decided to help how the could.

"They called (my son) and said, 'We need for you to do us a favor. Take your mom to all the places where we get our stuff from to rehab houses, take her to all the vendors that we use, and have her pick out stuff she likes,'" Jason said. "And he said, 'Okay, why?' And they said, 'When your dad comes home from Colorado, the house is going to be done and ready to go.'" Jason said the Wendlandts only had to pay for the materials. The Bryans provided the labor for free.

While the Wendlandts were away and busy, the Bryans got help from members of the Wendlandts' church, Buffalo Bible Baptist Church, and other community members. By the time Jason returned from his two months in Colorado, the house was almost entirely finished.

Getting to Colorado proved to be its own challenge. Jason said the family planned to fly out on a Monday but on the Friday before learned their insurance company denied the flight. Through lifelong friends and the Wendlandts' pastor, the family was connected with a pilot who offered to fly the family out on his personal plane for free. Jason said this pilot did not wish to share his name for recognition.

"I could never thank him enough and I told him that," Jason said.

After getting moved back in to their newly renovated home, the next step on the Wendlandts' to-do list was getting a more accessible vehicle. At the time, Jason was having to maneuver Ashley's car with a traditional wheelchair. When the family began looking at the market for a handicap-accessible van, they experienced some sticker-shock after visiting a dealership in Springfield that offered a brand new van for $90,000. That's when Ashley turned to Facebook Marketplace and found a family selling a used handicap-accessible van in Mount Vernon at lower price.

"We talked with them for two weeks, and I finally sent them a message ... 'I would love to look at your van, but I don't have a way to get there. I can't get my power chair there to see if it'll fit in the van,'" Jason said. "They said, 'You know what, where do you live? We'll drive it to you so you can look at it.' You don't find people like that very often."

The family drove the hour from Mount Vernon to Buffalo to let the Wendlandts test drive the van, which ended up working well for them. With the financial support to purchase hand controls, the family will add these tools to the van.

"You can see God everywhere in this, from my wife telling me to keep my top and doors on to the way (the pilot) intervened to get my flight out there to the way people worked on the house," Jason said.

Looking toward the future

Jason said his doctors told him it may take up to two years for him to regain control of his legs and feet, if he does. In the past two weeks, he has experienced some mobility return. At his most recent appointment at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Jason's doctor asked him if he could wiggle his toes and to his surprise, he did.

"I try to move stuff all the time and it never works," Jason said with a laugh.

As he works to regain independence, Jason said he is also planning his future. He said he has an interest in returning to school for his BSN to eventually be able to teach.

"I don't understand why I'm in this situation, I don't understand why this happened," Jason said. "This was not my plan, but I feel there is a reason for this and that God will make it very clear. I'm going to continue living my life and hopefully figure out if somebody needs to learn something from me in this situation, I hope I'm able to relay that to them."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Buffalo community supports traveling nurse after near-death accident