GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two weeks ago, a crash on I-96 in Ionia County killed a semi-truck driver and sent another driver to the hospital. The hospitalized driver is still recovering, but its not just her health she wishes she had back.
On August 8, Stephanie Mikulski got a phone call she hoped would never come.
"It just felt like everything, like time stood still," she recalls.
Mikulski could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her mom, Kathy Hasty, was in a car crash.
"She's the most vigilant, most defensive driver," says Mikulski. "And we thought, this is not her. Like, this has to be about someone else."
Kathy was rushed to the hospital with several injuries. It's a miracle, Stephanie says, that she's still alive.
"Five rib fractures on the left, ten rib fractures on the right, a fractured sternum, one cracked bone in her neck, one cracked bone in her low back, two fractures in her pelvis," lists Mikulski.
A broken bone in her arm required surgery, and the hospital put her wedding ring and engagement ring in a bottle beforehand.
"She's kind of coming more around after the dust is sort of settling and she realized, you know, 'can I get my rings back?'" says Mikulski. "And they couldn't find that bottle anywhere."
The rings were gone. Kathy's heart was broken.
"I can still see in those little kind of peek-through moments how sad she is about it," says Mikulski.
The wedding ring is a symbol of more than 40 years of marriage. The engagement ring is a family heirloom.
"That was given to her by her own grandma," says Mikulski. "And she and her grandma had a really close bond."
That bond, Stephanie believes, may have saved Kathy's life.
"Maybe, you know, you were meant to have that ring until that day, maybe that ring was the last bit of her protection for you," Mikulski told her mom.
Two weeks later, both Kathy and Stephanie know the chances of the rings returning are slim.
But they still hold out hope for another miracle.
"I think she's kind of coping with the possibility that they'll never come back but, my God," says Mikulski. "It would be such a lift for the soul if she had those back."
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