Lucas Shawstad

**ATTN: The only officially approved fundraisers are listed here on this caring bridge page, there are several journal entries with the different fundraisers and they are also listed under the "ways to help" tab at the top of the page.  Thank you for your continued support.**


I received a call this morning that is every parent’s nightmare, my son had been in an accident and was being air lifted to a larger hospital.

Chad, Gunner , Grace, and I are headed to Billings, MT where Lucas us currently in surgery after sustaining severe head injuries.   The friend he was traveling with is ok, I spoke to him and assured him that all will be ok.

Casey is shortly behind us.

Thank you to all our prayer warriors that have jumped into action.  

Communication outside of this site will be minimal as I’m waiting for the neurosurgeon to call and I’m trying to stay connected to my parents and family.

Please lift us up in prayer.....

**FYI**

Lucas and a friend had been in Washington state for work and while traveling back to MN they had an accident.  It happened east of Glendive, MT, so Billings is where he was airlifted to.

Lucas called me at work the day before leaving on this trip and he wanted me to go shopping at Walmart with him.  I told him I had plans to go ice fishing with my husband.  Lucas was persistent and even called his stepdad to see if it was ok with him to "steal" me, LOL!  Lucas pulled up to the front of the clinic to pick me up and off to the store we went.  At the time it was so strange....he'd never asked me to go shopping with him before and he even paid for his groceries.    Then I picked up food from DQ and he came out to the house and we had supper together as a family. 

Lucas then hugged everyone goodbye and told us that he loved us, that he'd see us in two weeks.  I even took his face in my hands and said, "You be careful!"  He just laughed at me,.....over the next two weeks he kept in touch with us, some facetime to show progress on their project.   He even was facetiming with me when he and a friend went to get snacks on break and as his friend got into the back seat behind Lucas, Lucas announced," Before you get any ideas, she's taken!" LMBO  Poor guy was confused and I was embarrassed. 

He called me Friday, Jan. 22, early evening, to let me know that he and his friend were going to be headed out soon and that he would be home by noon, or 1 at the latest the next day.  He was on his way home....he had missed us.  

We had also had some very deep discussions the last two weeks prior to that, about traumatic events in his childhood, about where his life was going.  At one point he said, "Mom, this is weird....you're my mom and I don't know if I wanna talk about this."  Then we kept talking.  We had some serious tears and then the laughter came.  

At the time it just seemed so odd, he said he was nervous about the trip cuz he'd never been that far away from home and never for that long. 

I, Karen Mitchell...am THE luckiest woman on the planet.  I get to be his mom, plus mom to 3 others+1 bonus and I have an amazing husband that has stepped up to keep the family functioning in my absence.   

No matter the outcome of Lucas's story, he is an amazing young man that has known fear and trauma but also such deep love given and received.   


**Please see the Prayer Chain journal entry, we'd like to see what city and/or state that you are praying for Lucas in**