Owner of Chicago-area insurance agency makes full recovery after near-fatal car accident thanks to life-saving surgery

CONTACT:

Allison Peters 
allison.peters@luhs.org
708-216-6140

MAYWOOD, IL – On a rainy night, Greg Jones was driving home after spending the day with his father and brother. The roads were slick. While coming around a bend, Greg lost control of his car and hydroplaned off the road. His car crashed into a pole, knocking Jones unconscious. 

“I looked to the left just before the impact and all I could see was a telephone pole,” said Greg. 

At home, his wife Wendy was wondering if her husband would make it home in time for dinner. She opened her shared location app to check if he was almost home, and his location wasn’t moving from the side of the road. 

“In hindsight, what I saw was him on the side of the road and in the ditch, but I just assumed the location wasn’t refreshing,” said Wendy. “Later, I saw it moving in the opposite direction toward the hospital.”

Greg remained unconscious following the impact of his accident. He recalls waking up in his car as emergency personnel asked if he was able to move—he could not. He heard the loud sound of the Jaws of Life as first responders began cutting open the car door—he then lost consciousness again.

Greg was rushed to a local hospital in Geneva, where doctors in the emergency room were able to stabilize him for transport to a trauma center. Due to the storm, Jones was unable to be transported by air and was driven by ambulance to Loyola University Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center. In the ambulance, Jones became hypotensive and was given five units of blood. 

After arriving at Loyola with a weak pulse, emergency room doctors worked for six hours to stabilize Greg, including extensive resuscitation. Once he was stable enough, Greg would have surgery.

Greg had significant injuries to his chest, including a punctured lung and fractured ribs. He had large lacerations to his liver and his spleen. His right femur was broken in multiple pieces, and his pelvis was split in half, including nerve and blood vessel damage in his pelvis, which can be life-threatening. 

“In many cases, this would have been a fatal accident,” said orthopaedic trauma surgeon Joseph Cohen, MD. “He got pretty lucky in some ways.”

“We didn't know what the outcome was going to be,” said Wendy. After hearing the extent of Greg’s injuries, she asked Dr. Cohen if her husband would be able to walk again. “He said he’ll be on a bike in two weeks, and I just couldn't get over it, and it’s all because of his skill.”

In a single five-hour surgery, Dr. Cohen and his surgical team repaired Greg’s injuries, placing a titanium rod in his femur and a plate in his pelvis. Greg would require a bone graft for a gap in his femur. 

Greg faced an extensive and lengthy recovery process. He spent weeks in the hospital recovering from surgery, followed by three months of physical therapy with limited weight bearing until his bone could heal. After that, he began more aggressive physical therapy. 

“Greg has been essentially an ideal patient,” said Dr. Cohen. “He’s worked really hard on his end trying to get back the life he had before the accident. I really look forward to seeing him every time he comes into clinic. The coordination of care between so many people in the hospital really changed his life.”

Greg is back to living the active life he enjoyed before the accident. He hikes with his family, bikes with his son, and lifts weights in the gym with his daughter. Greg owns his own insurance agency, and with 36 years of experience working for, and now with, insurance companies, he understands the serious and sometimes fatal nature of auto accidents like his. 

“I have seen my post-accident photos and have stories from my time as a claim manager,” said Greg. “I know what could have happened if that pole had been in a different place. I would have died. I’m fortunate and lucky not only to be here, but also to be placed in the capable hands of the team at Loyola to get me back on this path so I can continue the important parts of my life with my wife and my family,” said Greg.   

Watch Greg’s story here: From trauma to triumph: patient makes full recovery after near-fatal car accident