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Family shaken after ATV accident leaves young girls injured

Posted at 7:09 PM, Jun 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-06 12:58:31-04

MIDWAY, Utah - A Midway family of five with one more on the way is recovering after an ATV crash over the weekend.

The Oakes were returning from dinner Saturday night driving on Cascade Road in their ATV. Van Oakes was behind the wheel.

"I was on the dirt road, and when it turned to asphalt I was going too fast," said Van.

The vehicle spun out and flipped several times before landing. Van, his wife Kimberly, and their 18-month-old daughter were still strapped in, but their four and five-year-old daughters were thrown from the vehicle.

"I look under, and we’re on top of my four-year-old, and so I screamed that we were on top of her," said Kimberly.

Van managed to lift the ATV enough so his wife could pull out four-year-old Kaizley.

"We pulled her out, just this little lifeless body," said Kimberly.

At that moment, another car pulled up. Worried about Kaizley, Van jumped in, and they drove them to the hospital while Kimberly waited for the ambulance with her two other daughters.

"It wasn’t until the ambulance got there that she started to lose consciousness and then she started vomiting blood and so we knew it was pretty serious," says Kimberly.

Both Kaizley and Rylinn suffered traumatic brain injuries, but they're currently stable. It's going to be a long road to recovery, not just for them, but for their father who's haunted by guilt.

"As a father, when you put your family in that kind of incident, and it's your fault. It’s a difficult thing when your family is your life. My girls, they’re my everything and to put them through that, it’s a heavy burden," says Van.

However, as their girls continue to make progress, the Oakes are staying positive.

"It's a miracle. They can talk. They get tired quickly, but in the times they’re awake, they can talk. They understand who I am. They understand who mom is," said Van.

The Oakes are finding strength in the unexpected prayers and support from the community.

"The more people that are finding out and the more people are praying it's like putting life into my kids which is putting life into me and my husband," says Kimberly.

You can donate to the Oakes' GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/cqwag-unforeseen-medical-expenses