Tina’s Story

Tina’s life was on the line. Dell Seton showed up. 

On September 9, 2024, Tina was having a normal day and was out running a simple errand when her life changed forever.

As she was coming up over a hill in Canyon Lake, she saw a large construction truck headed toward her with only two wheels on the ground. She tried to move out of the way, but the truck came down on top of Tina’s car, completely crushing her vehicle and dragging her a ways until it eventually came to a stop. Tina recalls hearing the crunch of the car around her and crying out for help. She was met with a woman’s voice telling her that help was on the way.

For six hours, Tina remained trapped in her vehicle while first responders battled steel and time to free her. Dell Seton quickly sent two emergency helicopters and two trauma surgeons to the accident site—an extremely rare occurrence that spoke to the seriousness of Tina’s situation.

While first responders worked to free Tina, they had no way of knowing what injuries and internal damage she was suffering. More than 24 first responders were on the scene—double the normal amount—and Tina was given whole blood in the field to buy her time.

Minutes before Tina’s husband, Lawrence arrived from downtown Austin to Canyon Lake, Tina was freed from her car, loaded onto a helicopter, and flown to Dell Seton. It wasn’t until later that Lawrence would learn that they didn’t think Tina would survive.

Lawrence was in disbelief seeing the state of the car Tina had been in and he was struck by just how serious and terrifying the crash was. Somehow, Lawrence managed to stay calm.

He jumped back into his truck and began the long drive back to Dell Seton, which took more than two agonizing hours due to traffic.

Lawrence spent that drive calling his mom and their friends asking everyone to pray for Tina.

Amazingly, Tina’s internal organs were untouched by the crash. She had to have numerous surgeries to repair the structural damage to her body—surgeons placed a bracket in her neck, a bracket in her wrist, rods in both of her legs, screws in her pelvis to repair multiple fractures, and provided extensive wound care, and muscle and skin grafts.

It was unclear to everyone that Tina would ever walk again, let alone keep her right leg, due to the extensive injuries she’d suffered.

Tina underwent numerous surgeries during her time at Dell Seton. Tina still has some pain, but not only did she keep her right leg, she’s already gone from walking with a walker to walking unassisted. “Knowing without a doubt that I’m going to get better keeps me going,” Tina said.

“The way they care for people–it’s miraculous. I got to see my wife go from coding twice to going again. I can’t say enough good things about Dell Seton,” Lawrence said.

Recently, Tina and Lawrence reconnected with the first responders who saved Tina’s life in the field and with the caregivers at Dell Seton, including the nurse, Yvonne, whose voice is one of the only things Tina remembers from her time in the hospital. “It boggles my mind how many people were involved to save my life. It makes me feel very special,” Tina shared.

“Miracle after miracle after miracle kept happening for me. I got the best of the best in the hospital. The people at Dell Seton helped me live,” said Tina.