Bridge Collapse

(WCCO) Among the injured when the Interstate 35W bridge collapse last August was a family of four -- a mother, a father and their two teenage daughters.

When you're a teenager, your biggest worries are often over the littlest things. That was once true for Brianna and Brandi Coulter. But after talking about their experience when the bridge collapsed, it became clear that they've grown up fast. A brush with death will do that to you.

"My priorities have changed so much," said 18-year-old survivor Brianna Coulter. "My senior year (of high school) was all about friends, and then I was supposed to go off to college and I was going to meet more friends and stuff. It was kind of like a reality check and you can't take things for granted."

Brandi and Brianna Coulter know exactly what it means to have your life change in an instant. You can see what they survived after looking at the family's minivan that went down with the bridge.

"Right above us was four lanes of highway that was just hanging over our van," said Brad Coulter.

"I looked over and I saw my mom hanging there, and I heard her moaning so I ran across the other side of the car to try to help her out but her window wasn't shattered. And then there was a construction worker laying next to our car, that was working on the bridge, and he was moaning and screaming," said 17-year-old survivor Brandi Coulter.

Brad Coulter, father to Brianna and Brandi, was driving at the time and looked over to see his wife, Paula Coulter, hanging upside-down, unconscious, from the seatbelt.

"My first thought was she's hurt pretty bad," recalled Brad Coulter.

Construction workers and everyday people carried the family to safety. For Paula, it didn't look good.

"She held my hand and told me she loved me and then the next thing I know she was in brain surgery," said Brandi Coulter.

Weeks dragged on... and Paula Coulter didn't move or talk. Doctors prepared the family for the worst.

"A rehab doctor came and talked to us and said she was never walk again, and her brain was never going to be functional again. And we should start looking for a home for her, and that was probably one of the worst days of the whole thing," said Brandi Coulter.

But Paula Coulter, already a survivor of thyroid cancer, fought her way back. She shocked the doctors and inspired her family. On Oct. 5, Paula was the last bridge survivor to leave the hospital.

For Paula Coulter and her family the healing hasn't come easy.

"I think you have an idea of how well you should be. And to me, a year's quite a long time so to me it's like by a year I should be back to sort of my old self and I'm definitely not there," said Paula Coulter.

It's the little things, like gardening and getting dressed, that are still a struggle. When she's back to 100 percent, Paula said one of the first things she wants to do is go for a walk.

Today each of the Coulters pushes on, working to heal their bodies. Emotionally, their family and their faith, hold them together.

"I guess God gives you what you can handle and we've handled it," said Brianna Coulter. "I hope we don't have to go through anything worse than this. I think we've had enough."

The Coulters will still be on the road to recovery long after the new bridge opens this year. They all suffered fractured or broken vertebrae.

The cost of surgeries and rehab is adding up. Brad Coulter estimates at least $700,000 in medical expenses and they're still getting bills.

 

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