Mom: Pray for my boys

UNION – A two-vehicle accident at the intersection of B Avenue and 330th Street (D67) in between Union and Conrad, sent several teenagers to the hospital during the afternoon of Tuesday, June 15.

According to an Iowa State Patrol Crash Report, a 2011 Chevy Cruze vehicle driven by Anistyn Borsch, 15, of Union, was eastbound on 330th Street and failed to yield to a stop sign at B Avenue. Teresa Hollingsworth, 50, Eldora, the driver of a 2012 Ford Expedition struck the Chevy Cruze on the driver’s side forcing both vehicles into the east ditch of B Avenue.

Others involved in the accident include 16-year-old Benjamin Runge of Marshalltown; Logan Aicher, 17, of Liscomb; Jaice Aicher, 18, of Liscomb; and Severiano Gonzalez, 17, of Beaman.

Brothers Logan Aicher, who will be a senior at BCLUW next year, and Jaice Aicher, a 2021 BCLUW graduate, suffered the most injuries, and were airlifted to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. A Go Fund Me account has been set up for the brothers and had raised over $16,000 as of Friday morning. Jaice had a rod placed in his left femur, suffered a broken sternum, fractured pelvis and broken jaw. Logan suffered a brain bleed, broken ribs, collapsed lung, bleeding in the abdomen, fractured skull and a broken pelvis.

“Logan still has blood on his brain and internal bleeding, but it’s stabilized,” said Malynda Aicher, mother of Logan and Jaice Aicher. “He’s off the ventilator and breathing on his own. Hopefully today (Friday) they will take the tube out of his collapsed lung. He has a hemorrhage on the brain but it is not bleeding any more.”

Malynda said the group of kids had just left her home in Liscomb and were headed to Union to get someone else’s swimsuit because they had planned to go swimming at the Grundy Center pool. They were heading to Grundy Center from Union when the accident occurred.

“It hit them very hard,” Malynda said of the Ford Expedition, the other vehicle involved. “One of the kid’s friends went by the accident and stopped. They were screaming ‘get Jaice and Logan’s mom!’ I got there and saw my kids were trapped.”

“He is still in ICU and probably will be there for a long time,” Malynda tearfully said of Logan. “It depends on him, and when his brain is ready for him to wake up. He’s in there, I know he is.”

Malynda, who is also an EMT, had to go to her boys’ accident. “They had to get Jaws of Life to get kids out,” she said. “They put Logan on the ground on a stretcher and intubated him and they were calling life flight because both of my boys were in trouble.”

Jaice, who is 6’ 5” was in the back seat and has a broken jaw, ribs, pelvis, ribs, left femur, and staples all over body from the broken glass. “The top of his sternum is the only thing left connected,” she said.

Jaice was moved out of the ICU at Blank’s Thursday because he was more stable. “He did get to eat a little Jell-O,” she said. “That made me very happy.”

“We’re just praying to get through this physically and emotionally,” Malynda continued. “Sometimes it’s nobody’s fault. All these kids need prayers. I don’t know God’s plan, but he has a plan. He’ll know best when the time comes.”

In addition to the Go Fund Me for the brothers, the Lennox Credit Union has set up an account, as well as both banks in Conrad, she said. Friends of the kids are also putting cans out in small businesses.

“All I want is prayers,” Malynda said. “Donations are beautiful, but prayers are so important. I need my boys… they are my world. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but God has a plan.”

Malynda and her significant other Travis appreciate everyone who has stopped and “we’re just praying.”

At the accident scene, Malynda said people stopped and asked if they could pray with her. “It was amazing,” she said, and now Jaice is asking questions about his brother. “I don’t have the heart to tell Jaice (about Logan). He says, ‘I’m the worst one, right mommy?’ Right now I’m like, you have to worry about you. He’ll wake up when he’s ready. Your mommy is not leaving until the day we all walk out together.”

Another Go Fund Me page has been set up for Severiano Gonzalez and as of Friday morning had raised over $2,100, however no information was available on the condition of other teens injured. The accident remains under investigation and was assisted by Hardin and Grundy County Sheriff’s offices, Hardin County EMA, Whitten EMS, Grundy Center Ambulance Service and Mercy Airmed.