LIVINGSTON PARISH — A young engaged couple is still adjusting to their lives since a serious motorcycle crash in July turned their world upside down. The community is coming together later this month to help raise funds for their ongoing medical care and helping the couple with their young children.
On July 14, Hunter Hue and his fiancée Madison Shaw were in a serious motorcycle crash on Hwy. 22 that left Hue a double amputee and Shaw with severe road rash burns. Shaw spent around two weeks in the burn unit in New Orleans.
“Maddie is getting stronger everyday; she is still having to travel to New Orleans for her wound care, and her legs and arms are scarring, but she is doing better,” said Rebecca Grdinich, Hue’s mother. She added that things have been more difficult emotionally for her son.
“He is still very positive; it’s just being tied down to a chair all the time right now that he’s struggling with. Hunter has always been a very outgoing person, outdoors all the time so it’s difficult for him right now. We know when he is able to receive his new legs things will get better for him.”
Hue is receiving in-home physical therapy and medical care at this time. His mother said that they will have their second meeting with the prosthetics company on Sept. 16 regarding Hue’s right leg.
Between the two, they’re having almost daily doctor and medical visits.
“We ask the community for continuous prayers as we continue to navigate through this new beginning, new way of life together for all of us,” Grdinich said.
To help with their medical costs and other expenses, the community will rally together on Sept. 26 at Harris Seafood in Ponchatoula. The event will take place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. with live music, food, silent auction and raffles, fun for the kids, and more. The benefit will help the couple with their ongoing medical expenses, rehab and other expenses.
For those who can’t attend but want to help the family, there is a GoFundMe to help with their expenses. In addition, Elite Designs in Ponchatoula is selling t-shirts and hoodies online and in person at their shop. T-shirts are $20 and hoodies are $30.
Original story Aug. 16
LIVINGSTON PARISH — A newly engaged couple, who are the parents to multiple young children, including a nine-month-old baby, is fighting to push through a major setback after a serious motorcycle crash left them injured. The young man ended up losing both of his legs from the crash.
Hunter Hue, 25, and Madison Shaw were involved in a serious motorcycle crash on July 14. In just a moment, their worlds flipped upside down, and now they’re fighting for their health and a sense of normalcy for themselves and their children.
The couple was heading toward Ponchatoula from the Holden area when the crash happened on Highway 22. Another vehicle coming from the opposite direction made a left-hand turn in front of the motorcycle, leading to the crash, said Rebecca Grdinich, Hue’s mother.
Hue’s helmet is equipped with a device that detects when a crash has occurred and contacts 911 immediately, Grdinich explained.
“They did get there pretty fast because it detected that it had a crash and that’s how 911 got called,” she said.
However, Hue’s left leg was injured so severely, he needed it amputated at the crash scene.
“When we got to the hospital, we were able to see Madison, and they took her immediately to North New Orleans, because she couldn’t go to Baton Rouge, because she needed to be in a trauma center. So she had to be sent to New Orleans, and we couldn’t see Hunter. He was in a 12-hour surgery,” Grdinich recalled of that night. “We didn’t even know if he was alive or not.”
Once he was transported to the hospital, Hue spent a week in the ICU on life support. While there, doctors realized Hue’s right leg was injured more severely than they initially thought. They made the decision to amputate his right leg.
“They tried to save his right leg during this time, but they were unsuccessful. They tried very hard to save it, but it was unsuccessful. So he’s lost both of those limbs,” Grdinich said.
While Hue was in the hospital for his leg, his fiancée was dealing with severe burns and road rash. Grdinich said that in the impact, Shaw flew around 170-plus feet through the air before landing.
“She was at the burn unit for 14 days, I believe and she’s still having multiple skin grafts,” Grdinich explained.
Shaw is back home, but she has to travel to New Orleans frequently to do her wound care. She continues to experience significant pain, requires daily wound care, and is unable to return to work right now. Her medical team also believes she will need more surgeries to do extra skin grafts.
“The synthetic skin’s not taken well, so they’re gonna have to do skin grafts,” Grdinich said.
Hue just returned home after spending time at a rehabilitation center, where he learned how to use a wheelchair to get around. Home health is now part of his ongoing care.
Although the newly engaged couple and young parents are dealing with a lot physically, Grdinich says they are blessed the outcomes weren’t worse.
“They are extremely lucky because the majority of the time, a passenger on a motorcycle does not survive, first off, but just the whole situation is a complete miracle. Hunter does have a broken collarbone and a broken pelvis, and she had a fractured spine. But other than that, they had no brain bleeding and they were both burned really bad, but they didn’t have any damage to like their organs or anything like that.”
Both Hue and Shaw were wearing protective riding gear and helmets that Grdinich says probably saved their lives.
Ben Kling, who was driving his kids home from an evening of swimming, was one of the first people on-site and immediately sprang into action when he saw Hue laying on the ground and the extent of his injuries. He said that while he initially didn’t know what was needed, he knew he needed to help.
“Hunter was laying in the road, and his left leg was basically amputated above the knee. It was basically gloved, no foot, and he was bleeding out.” Kling said. He added that the amount of blood the young man had lost by the time he walked up was probably around two liters, and much of it was spilled out toward the ditch.
Kling, who’s an engineer, remembered he had some rope in his vehicle.
“I ran back there and grabbed the rope and tied a tourniquet around his leg and twisted by hand, and that slowed the bleeding down. And then the guy with the flashlight, I asked him to go get a stick out of the woods,” Kling recalled. “He ran off and come back without the stick. You know, they need a stick. You know, you’re not helping us. He ran back, got a stick, and I even tightened it by hand before I got the stick. It slowed the blood flow down dramatically, and then when I got the stick, we tightened a little more.”
Hue was conscious throughout the experience and Kling said the young man screamed out in pain as he worked on the tourniquet.
“I held the tourniquet until emergency response showed up a few minutes later, and they put a tourniquet above mine,” he said.
When he left the scene, Kling said he didn’t think Hue would make it due to the massive amount of blood he’d already lost, but he tried calling the hospital to find out more. When they wouldn’t release any information, Kling started looking around online where he found the social media post about the crash. “Since then, I went to visit him in the hospital, and he gave me a big hug. You know, he was happy to see me, so it did make me feel better, knowing that he did survive.”
Kling also decided to order trauma kits for his vehicles and boat in the event of future emergencies, “So you know, next time I won’t be scrounging for a piece of rope and a stick.”
The family is grateful for Kling’s actions and the new bond they share.
“He’s just amazing. He does not think that he’s a hero, but he will forever be our hero,” Grdinich told UWK, choking back her tears.
How you can help
Because of the crash and spending time in the hospital and rehabilitation center, the young parents have lost income. Before Hue can even begin the process to be fitted for prosthetic legs, his insurance deductible must be met. For now, he must use a wheelchair and rely on home health.
Right now, Hue and Shaw are looking at mounting medical expenses, making their home wheelchair accessible, and the everyday needs of their four children, including diapers, baby food, and other essentials, according to their GoFundMe.
Any donations made through the GoFundMe will go directly toward: medical expenses and insurance costs; home modifications to make their home accessible; prosthetic-related expenses; daily living expenses while they are unable to work; and the needs of their four children.
There will also be a fundraiser event on Sept. 26 at Harris Seafood in Ponchatoula. It will take place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. with live music, food, silent auction and raffles, fun for the kids, and more. The benefit will help the couple with their ongoing medical expenses, rehab and other expenses.
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