LAKESIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - A Lakeside man is defying the odds after a motorcycle crash in mid-June left him with devastating injuries doctors feared he would not survive.
Matthew Harger, 20, was riding home from a family friend's house in Campo on a Wednesday night when he crashed on Buckman Springs Road near Cameron Truck Trail. The cause of the crash remains unclear. Passing drivers discovered Harger in the middle of the road, about 15 feet from his mangled motorcycle.
Harger, who had been wearing his helmet, was airlifted to a San Diego hospital with a massive brain bleed. He suffered fractures throughout his skull, and injuries throughout his upper chest.
"Seven fractures in front of back of skull, everything in his upper chest is smashed," his sister, Jeanette Aishman, said.
Doctors delivered a grim prognosis to the family.
“We were told to prepare for the worst, to say our goodbyes," Aishman said.
Family members refused to give up hope, but days passed and the prognosis did not change. Then, about 4 days after the accident, with sedation dialed down following wrist surgery, a nurse gave Harger a simple instruction.
"The nurse told him, 'Matthew, open your eyes'… and he opened his eyes and they rolled around. He closed them again, and that was my, 'He's there,'" Aishman said.
For Aishman, that moment was everything.
"The miracle moment was being in that room, watching him move and open his eyes," she said.
About a week later, surgeons removed part of Harger's skull to reduce pressure on his brain. Within 24 hours, more encouraging signs followed.
"As soon as I came into the room, (he) lifted his arm up to give me a hug. That was beyond special," Aishman said.
Then last Saturday, Harger laughed — a moment his sister said told her everything she needed to know.
"Hearing his humor just makes me know he's there. It's just a miracle that he's even this recovered at this point, so early," Aishman said.
His doctors have been equally surprised by the progress.
"They are as dumbfounded as we are," Aishman said.
Harger's long-term prognosis remains unknown, but his sister says she has no doubt about what lies ahead.
"I have full confidence he'll be living his adventurous life again, and becoming the man he wanted to be," Aishman said.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help Harger with medical and other expenses.
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