Tragedy and Triumph – Clay Radford’s Story of Survival

At around 8 pm on March 24, 2007, Clay Radford (20) joined friends Mindy Ryles and Aimee Kaiser on a drive from Clinton to Warrensburg. The three were longtime friends at Clinton High School. Clay graduated in 2005 and the girls were graduating seniors. Aimee was driving Mindy’s 2006 Mustang with Mindy in the front passenger seat and Clay in the back seat. The plan had been to see a movie later that night.

Clay had earlier been out for a family dinner with his grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and his mother Lori and sister Makala. Clay sat across from his cousin Tommy as the family enjoyed their time together.

Clay made his goodbyes and left at around 7:30 pm to meet with his friends. As he met up with the group, he sent his mother a text message saying his cell phone battery was low, but to call Aimee if she needed him. Lori responded, “Have fun. Be careful. I love you.” At 8:14 Clay responded, “I love you too.” At 8:15 the Clinton Fire Department was dispatched to a car accident on Highway 13. At 8:16 Lori received Clay’s text message at home. She and Makala (9) went to bed early.

While heading north on Highway 13, the Mustang’s right front and back tires veered off of the road onto the shoulder. Earlier road construction left the dirt shoulder quite bumpy and Aimee lost control of the vehicle, swerving into the opposite lane. At that moment a pickup truck heading south collided with the mustang’s right side at full speed.

Tragically, Mindy and Aimee were killed instantly. The man and his young daughter in the oncoming truck were both life-flighted to Kansas City.

Clay was trapped in the backseat with multiple severe injuries including a shattered hip, a shattered elbow, a collapsed lung and a ruptured bladder. Other injuries included a broken collar bone, broken tail bone, a fractured ankle and an injured sternum.

Driving to his home in Warrensburg, Clay’s cousin Tommy encountered the accident and stopped to help. When he realized Clay was in the car he immediately called his parents so they could get to Lori’s house.

It took two hours to cut Clay from the vehicle that had him completely pinned. The LifeFlight Eagle crew was ready and waiting to speed Clay to Kansas City.

Once onboard the aircraft, Clay received extensive treatment from flight nurse Valerie Doyle and flight paramedic Joe Coons. Pilot, Tim Schlupp, headed for Truman Medical Center.

“We did not believe that Clay would survive,” says Joe Coons. “When we see patients as badly injured as Clay, we do our very best, but with the understanding that it’s rare to see them survive.”

“Clay’s breathing was poor with only five or six breaths per minute,” says Valerie. “His injuries were so bad we had to insert an IV into his sternum.”
Lori was notified by long time friend, David Lee, while Clay was in the air. At the time, ground authorities did not know what hospital Clay would be taken to. Lori immediately got all of the Kansas City hospital phone numbers and began calling.

“Do you have a helicopter en route to your hospital,” she would ask. Finally, she contacted Truman Medical Center. “We do have a helicopter en route, the patient is arriving now.”

“Is he alive? Is he breathing?,” Lori asked. Finally, she was able to determine that Clay was alive. Clay’s father Rusty was in Houston, Texas, working at the time and could not get a flight to Kansas City as all airlines were booked with Spring Break travel. He got in his car and drove for 12 hours to Kansas City.

Clay was now in a drug induced coma and remained that way for three days. His fight to survive had begun with little to no memory of what had happened to him.

With a metal brace screwed into his hip and a plate in his elbow, Clay was released to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton three and a half weeks after the accident. He had lost 35 pounds. He spent an additional four and half weeks recovering in the hospital.

Since March, Clay has had three surgeries and is scheduled for another in March, 2008, to remove plates in his elbow.

For all that has happened to Clay, the loss of his friends, his life threatening injuries and a lengthy recovery, he is in noticeably high spirits and looks forward to moving on with his life.

Since he was 15 years old, Clay has worked at KDKD radio in Clinton. He is the assistant program director and an on-air talent as a DJ, running programs, recording commercials and managing part-time staff. Clay loves to work with music and hopes to be working in the record label industry someday.

We’re happy to report that the father and daughter in the oncoming truck survived their injuries as well.

“LifeFlight Eagle saved my life,” Clay says. “I’m so grateful to the crew members who kept me alive.”

Clay’s mother Lori says they owe their lives to LifeFlight Eagle. “I consider them to be truly angels,” Lori says. “It’s their job to help others the way they helped Clay and I understand that it can become routine for them, but I want them to know that it means everything to me and my family. They are amazing.”

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