Skyler Schwegel’s memories of the accident come in flashes. But he remembers vividly the sound of his friend Noah Gillund screaming. 

“That’s when I knew he was OK,” Schwegel said. 

The boys, both sophomores at Whitefish High School, were driving home from work on the night of Aug. 31 near Beaver Lake Road when Gillund lost control of the minivan. 

“I’m not too sure how it happened, but the next thing I know, we both screamed,” Schwegel said. “It happened in two seconds. I remember hitting the jump and we were in the air, rolling, and the lights went out. I think it was like three rolls.” 

Schwegel recalls coming to a stop, hanging upside-down. Both boys were wearing their seat belts. 

“I could hear Noah gurgling, like something was stuck in his mouth,” Schwegel said. “That’s when I snapped.” 

Schwegel said he lost his sight for about five minutes. A passer-by stopped and called 911 and tried to calm the boys down, talking to them through the shattered windows of the van. At one point, Schwegel remembers someone whispering, “His leg. . .” and described feeling as if the bones in his legs had gone up into his hips. 

A few minutes later, Gillund started to scream. It was a welcome sound for Schwegel, since it meant that his buddy was still alive. 

“I tried talking to him, but he just kept screaming,” Schwegel said. “I didn’t know what was wrong with him, but I thought it wasn’t too bad. 

“Apparently, it was really bad.” 

Gillund, whose 16th birthday was two weeks before the accident, suffered bleeding in his brain, a fractured skull and a lot of broken bones. The van landed on his arm, trapping it. 

Schwegel, 15, had two broken legs, a broken arm and severe internal injuries. He underwent surgery in Kalispell and was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he underwent seven more surgeries in one week. Doctors were unable to restore circulation in his lower left leg. 

On Sept. 3, Schwegel’s left leg was amputated from the knee down. 

“I’d rather lose my leg than be paralyzed,” said Schwegel, who will be fitted for a prosthetic leg next month. “I was just glad that it was nothing life-threatening. I mean, he had a really bad head injury and I lost my leg, but I was just thankful we were both still alive.” 

Finally home

Schwegel went home for the first time Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. He had been rehabilitating at The Retreat at Buffalo Hill in Kalispell, where he stunned his physical therapists and nurses with his determination and positive attitude. 

“The first week at Buffalo Hill Retreat, I was having a bad week,” said Schwegel, who said he has been depressed “about 10 times” since the accident. “I couldn’t sleep and kept having night terrors. But after that, I got through it all.” 

On one particular Friday, he struggled to sit on the edge of his bed. When his favorite nurse, Claudette, returned to work the following Monday, Schwegel had a surprise for her — he was able to roll over on his side by himself. “She was pretty amazed that had happened in two days while she was gone,” Skyler said. “Therapy was really hard at first because all of my muscles were mush and I had to rebuild them back up. And when you’ve been lying down for a month, your nerves aren’t used to it.” 

Skyler’s recovery has come in strides since then. He practiced getting into his wheelchair using a slide board and was eventually able to do that by himself, too. 

“It felt amazing,” he said of getting in the wheelchair. “It was just awesome because I was getting my independence back.” 

Next came the parallel bars. At first, he stood for three seconds, using the bars to steady him. Three seconds turned to 10 seconds, then 15, then 30. His record was standing up for 2 minutes, 30 seconds. 

“I lock my brakes, scoot on to the edge of my wheelchair, and I get up,” he said. “It felt great, it was the first time I could stand up in a month and a half. It was extremely hard, but I wanted to do it. I had the faith. I was not going to go without standing.” 

Benefit planned

A benefit for both boys will be Sunday at the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish. Grouse Mountain donated the lodge for the event, which will feature a silent auction, live auction, door prizes, food, music and more. 

The Schwegel family already has felt an outpouring from the community. 

Swank Enterprises built a ramp at the Schwegels’ home, using lumber donated by Plum Creek. Wright’s Furniture in Whitefish provided Schwegel a new bed that lifts, adjusts and massages, which helps with the phantom pain from his missing leg. 

“This year, Thanksgiving had a special meaning for us,” said Cheryl Schwegel, Skyler’s mom. “I always see life as things are meant to be, and I’d rather have him have his leg back, but it’s not that way. 

“There’s a reason why and he’ll find that reason. Sometimes it takes time to find why things happen to us, but Skyler’s a go-getter. He’s not going to let this get him down. I’m so proud of him. His dad is so proud of him.”

A happy kid

Skyler Schwegel is the first to admit he’s a happy kid. 

“There have been some depressed times, but I have a great spirit,” he said. “I’m just a super happy kid. You could ask anyone, even when I was in kindergarten. . . I’ve just always been that way.” 

He’s excited to go swimming at The Wave next week with his physical therapist because he loves to swim. He loves to cook, enthusiastically talking about being a cook and owning his own restaurant when he grows up. 

And he’s already thinking about how he can help others in similar situations.

“I want to write a short story or a book about what happened so I can help other people get through it,” Skyler said. 

He also hoped Noah would be able to come over and hang out this weekend. The two have been friends since second grade. 

“He’s my best friend forever,” Skyler said. 

Cindy Gillund, Noah’s mom, said the boys have always been tight. 

“Noah has an awfully good support system, and Skyler’s family is a real big part of that,” she said. “They’ve been friends forever, and they love Noah. When Noah first woke up in the ICU — he was probably out for about four days — when he started to talk, one of the first things he asked was where Skyler was.” 

According to Noah, “With Skyler being as positive as he is I think his humor helps him a lot to take his mind off of losing his leg. When they first told him he had to get it amputated, he was still kind of loopy. About a week later, he started getting kind of emotional. But nowadays, he even makes fun of it sometimes. He’s always been funny.”

‘Seat belts, dude’

Cindy said that both boys felt some guilt and responsibility after the accident, but no blaming was done.  

“When he was getting his driver’s license,” Cindy recalled, “we told him he was responsible for everyone riding in his vehicle. There’s no way they would have lived through that if they weren’t wearing their seat belts.” 

Cindy said Noah doesn’t remember the accident. Before waking up in the intensive care unit, his last memory was getting into the vehicle and telling Skyler, “Seat belts, dude.” 

Noah returned to school in mid-November. He attends three half-days a week and usually comes home with a headache. The headaches come on stronger when he tries to read, so he has turned to books on tape. 

He’s expected to make a full recovery but has some neurological problems with his balance and short-term memory. 

Bills piling up

Skyler said he’s excited about Sunday’s benefit. The Whitefish Fire Department, including the firefighter who pulled Skyler out of the van, is planning to attend. 

“I’m looking forward to the benefit,” he said. “I want to meet a lot of people and say hi. I think the benefit’s really cool because I want my friend Noah to have it because his bills were a lot and I feel bad because they’re expensive. Hospital bills are so expensive so the benefit is really going to help us.” 

Medical bills are still coming in the mail for both families. Cindy said that some are smaller, a couple of hundred dollars, but one bill is more than double her yearly salary. 

Skyler’s bills are well over a million dollars. 

To donate to either family’s recovery funds, visit their GoFundMe sites at www.gofundme.com/skyler-schwegel or www.gofundme.com/ekbtvc or stop by Sunday’s benefit in Whitefish.

Reporter Brittany Brevik may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.