The van did not slow down, swerve or honk at Kurt before it hit him. He was hit by the front left corner of the van and flew over 40 feet up the street. He was knocked out of one of his shoes and my wife and Tana saw the whole thing.
My wife took Tana to her baby sitter several doors up the street while Kurt was being tended to by the Norwood Volunteer Fire Department. The baby sitter called me at work to let me know what had happened and I left immediately for Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia. I got to the hospital and met Sheryl who was very distraught. The doctor came out and told us Kurt was in bad shape and he was going to be flown to Hennipen County Medical Center. We had to drive all the way downtown and not knowing if Kurt would still be alive when we got there.
We arrived at HCMC around 6pm and we were told that Kurt was in surgery and he was very sick. I don't know why they used that term, very sick. We were then told to go upstairs and wait in a waiting room. A chaplain stayed with us for a while and a Minnesota State trooper came up to talk to my wife about what had happened. Time becomes blurry but at some point late in the evening Kurt came out of surgery and was wheeled into Pediatrics intensive care.
The doctor told us about his surgery and wanted to let Kurt get settled in over in Pediatrics before we could see him. The surgery was to stop the bleeding in Kurt's chest and there had been quite a bit. We were told his heart had stopped on the helicopter ride for five minutes and cpr had been performed. We were allowed to go in and see Kurt. Tubes were everywhere and he did not look good. We both said hi, told him to get better, and that we loved him. I touched him and he was cold. The nurse were giving him shots and checking everything. We went to a private room to wait.
Sometime after midnight my wife's cousin Scott and his wife Robin showed up from Rochester. It was so good to have them there with us. We told them what had happened and about the surgery. It was not too long after that the doctor came in and told us Kurt only had a few minutes left. We broke down. Our son was going to die. We went in to talk to him and then we were told Kurt was going back into surgery. They had found more bleeding in his belly and they were going to try and stop it. He was then wheeled back into surgery. Several hours later he came back out. They had stopped the bleeding by removing his ruptured spleen. The doctor said he was not out of the woods yet as the next several hours would determine if he lived or not. We talked to Kurt again. I told him how much I missed him and that I loved him very much.
A little after five am the doctor came in to tell us the bad news. Kurt was trying hard to live but his injuries were severe and he had gone through two surgeries. He told us that one of the nurses was taking a blood sample and had spilled some. It had come out of the vial like kool-aid. They had given Kurt so much to make up for his blood loss that blood would no longer clot. The blunt force of being hit so hard had caused many of his blood vessels to rupture. The doctor wanted everything to settle down for Kurt before letting us in.
We went in to see Kurt around 5:15. Scott and Robin each gave Kurt a kiss saying they loved him and good bye. The nurse asked if I wanted to hold Kurt and I said yes. The nurses brought over some blankets to put on me. They began to unhook some of the equipment from Kurt, they saved the air for last. It stands out so clearly in my mind when they were getting ready to take off the air the doctor had said it was helping Kurt to breathe. Then he was put into my arms and that is where Kurt Johannes Osweiler died. All of my dreams died. I will never be the same again.