Hello, my name is Gary and I'm a US ARMY veteran. After doing two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq I decided not to re-enlist but instead to get out of the military. A few months later on August 11, 2013, I had finally completed my four year enlistment and I returned home to raise my family. We arrived back in Georgia and stayed with family for a few weeks while we searched for a house. After we found the perfect house at a great price, we immediately took all our savings that we acquired while I was in the ARMY and made a down payment on our first home.
I then immediately started working fulltime at a great job offered to veterans building fuel tanks for airplanes. I needed to make a good income so my wife could return to school fulltime to finish the last few courses that she needed to finish her degree as a licensed practitioner nurse. Upon graduating she was going to start working and I was going to only work part time. When she got her LPN i could afford to go back to school fulltime. I acquired 40 credit hours for college while in the ARMY in the medical field and i want to specialize in physical therapy or sports medicine once I'm able to return to school.
After we started work and school and started to get settled into our new house we couldn't have been any happier. It was me, my wife Brandy and our daughter Cassidy and we were also expecting another child. Everything was going amazing until the day that our lives as we knew them were changed forever. On the morning of March 16, 2013 me and Brandy dropped our 5 year old daughter off at my mothers house and we started to the next town over to the OB/GYN doctor. She was having a routine check up and 3D ultrasound performed to find out the sex of our child. We never imagined that we wouldn't make it to our destination that day and that our lives would never be the same after the events that were about to take place. As we were stopped at a redlight waiting for it to change a towtruck traveling 60 mph struck the driver side of our vehicle. I had to be air lifted to a hospital in Tennessee with life threatening injuries. After arriving at the hospital and being stabilized the Doctors told my family I needed surgery but I was stable, that I was very lucky to live and that I had a long road to recovery. I underwent 3 surgeries over the next 24 hours.
Almost 40 hours after the wreck i finally woke up in a hospital with no memory of what had happened to me. I tried to smile when I seen my wife and daughter sitting at the foot of my bed but my face was in to much pain. When she noticed I was awake she quickly stood up and told me she loved me repeatedly as she softly kissed my cheek. She helped Cassidy give me a kiss then layed her down on the bed beside me and she set there and held my hand. I told her I didn't remember anything and I asked if her and the baby were okay. She started to cry as told me what happened in the wreck and assured me that she was okay and had only minor scrapes and bruises and a minor concussion. She said it was a miracle that she escaped with no serious injuries. Shortly after she was examined at the hospital she was released but told to see her OB/GYN doctor asap. She went the next morning and our baby was completely untouched and unharmed. To be safe she was ordered to spend the rest of her pregnancy in bed to keep all stress off of the baby. I felt relieved my girls were all okay. I then asked her the extent of my injuries but she had already gotten so upset she wasn't able to talk about it anymore. She went and got my Doctor and he came in with a list of my injuries. I had internal bleeding that was caused by 4 broken ribs. My lung and my smaller intestines were punctured and required immediate surgery. My back had been broken in two places, my left arm and shoulder were crushed and my left leg was broken right above my ankle. I suffered from a severe concussion and bleeding on my brain. My face was split from my hairline down the middle of my face, between my eyes, beside my nose all the way to the top of my upper lip requiring 36 stitches and 6 more in my bottom lip. I also suffered many cuts and a lot of other non serious injuries all over my body. The doctors done their best to fix my back and shoulder but they will never be the same but they said my organs will recover. My broke leg healed great as well as my head and face but my eyes are still black today. After 28 days in the hospital I was finally able to go home on April 13, 2013. I started physical therapy 4 days a week to gain my strength back in nearly my entire body. I have made amazing progress and continue getting better every day. With the injuries that i sustained I have lost my ability to work and provide for my family. I am physically unable to work and to avoid further injury I was advised by my lawyer not to work until my Neurologist said i could, therefore my income immediately stopped.
One week after the accident we were completely broke except for some stocks/shares we had purchased a few years ago. We sold our 100 shares at a 31 percent loss to put food on the table for the time being. My wife started working just so we would have some kind of income to live on. We then went to Family and Children Services to ask for assistance and were approved for food stamps and health insurance for the kids at nearly no charge. The assistance we receive helps us but it and my wifes small income together are still not enough for us and our two girls to live on. We have let all of our luxuries in life go including cable, internet and home phone along with eating out and most family activities and we are still short every month when paying bills. I have received nearly 600,000 in unpaid medical bills since the accident occurred and I am still having to visit the doctor often. The company owning the tow truck was at fault for the accident but did not have any type of insurance on the vehicle because it had been out of service for months and was being fixed and road tested at the time of the accident.
The company at fault will be held liable and have to pay my medical bills and other expenses resulting from the wreck. Since they had no insurance on the vehicle involved in the wreck their business insurance has refused to pay and the company and driver are financially unable to pay the medical bills or help me and my family in any other way. My personal car insurance along with my GAP insurance payed my vehicle off but did not help me get a new vehicle.
I hired a lawyer and he filed lawsuits against both the towing company and the driver of the vehicle but told me it could be up to two years before the case was settled in court and awarded any compensation for my bills and pain and suffering. My attorney has assisted me with some of the costs of physical therapy, doctor visits and prescription medications. Every little bit has helped us but we are still unable to pay all the bills and keep gas in the car and we keep sinking deeper and deeper in debt as everyday passes. Neither me or my wife smoke tobacco or drink alcohol and we are both God fearing, church going individuals. We are asking for someone's help in our time of need. We are asking for donations of any amount to help with the costs of daily living such as groceries, utilities and all other household expenses that we require.
Please find it in your heart to help me and my family stay afloat until we receive the compensation that we are entitled to. This wreck literally destroyed our life as we knew it and put us in a very bad bind. Any donations are greatly appreciated no matter how much. Please find it in your heart to help my family in our time of need. Anyone who believes they can help us or knows of any assistance we qualify for please email us at Garycoggins1988@gmail.com or send your donation of any amount to our Paypal account listed as Garycoggins1988@gmail.com. All donations are greatly appreciated and we want to say Thank You and God Bless to you all.
Love from our family,
Gary, Brandy, Cassidy and Abigail
