Our whole family wants to thank you for praying Caleb through this insane year! It’s hard to believe that on October 3, 2019, Caleb was fighting for his life in Trauma ICU.

Despite heart surgery and the pandemic both hitting hard in March, Caleb’s made huge strides! Here are some highlights from him & his wonderful wife, Shannon, to share:

-Caleb got an awesome new recumbent tricycle (which he named Hyperion!) late this spring. The bike’s tripod stance helped keep him safely and smoothly up and running despite lingering muscular imbalances between his right leg (which was shattered and pinned/screwed together if you recall) and his left. He gained a TON of muscle strength in his legs back by pedaling it around on bike paths, and on July 7, he took a ride around the circumference of Lake Stanley Draper (approx. 12mi.!). We were all amazed!

- Shannon finished her Master’s of Science in Microbiology at OU on June 10, which was quite a feat given the year she’s had! Since then, she’s stepped back for a season to follow a work-from-home opportunity that helps her balance her son, Jax’s, schooling and therapeutic needs, and juggle all the changes they’ve made at home since Caleb’s accident. It also allowed them to have a wonderful summer together despite the pandemic, swimming, camping,  grilling out, gardening, biking, working out, and taking very direct road trips (including one to Indianapolis as a birthday treat for Caleb! He really enjoyed going home for a bit).

-Caleb returned to partial time at work in the spring remotely, then jumped back in the saddle on July 1 to prepare for the most unusual school year ever in his teaching career at OU. He’s been teaching remotely by video, but still meeting one-on-one during office hours, while also keeping up with his research team at the Advanced RADAR lab. He’s been really glad to be back.

Aside from a fuzzy short-term memory at times (but what nerdy professor isn’t absent-minded?), and a bit of a limp and a dislike for stairs, Caleb is very much himself, and feeling like himself these days. It’s been a tremendous blessing to witness all this peace take hold. His neurological healing transition from January to June was a tumultuous one, filled with frustration and brain fog. Now that it’s lifted, things are looking bright.

Thank you all again and again for the prayers that helped sustain him and all of us who have loved and supported him through this crisis! We give thanks that God saw fit to gift him this time with us, and to give us all a testimony of the miraculous power God still wields in the world.