First, there was pain. A lot of pain.
Then, sirens blaring. Flashing lights. And a million questions.
He was thinking, What happened? Where is my family? Is my girlfriend okay?
Aiden Beemsterboer doesn’t understand yet, but he was just involved in an enormous traffic accident that totaled their vehicle, terribly injuring and permanently changing the lives of him, and his entire family.
Thirty minutes ago, he was dozing off in the backseat of his family’s car. He was on the way home from Winterland at Wrigley Field with his girlfriend and family, which topped off the evening to an average day in December, 2023.
Before falling asleep, the last thing on Aidan’s mind was a life-altering accident. But now, it was a reality. Now, he was in the back of an ambulance trying his hardest to put the pieces together on where it all went wrong.
“I got in the ambulance and I was like, ‘Where’s Maggie, where’s my whole family? What is going on?’ But they had no answers, and they were just like, ‘You’re okay, you’re fine.’ That’s all they would tell me. They wouldn’t really say if Maggie was in the car or not,” said Aidan.
The most he knew was that he was involved in some sort of car accident, and he was hurting, badly.
Aidan arrived at the hospital where they immediately began treating him.
“They wanted me to go down to the CT scan, but my shoulder was stuck in 90 degrees so I would not fit into the CT scan,” said Aidan.
The doctors decided they would have to return to Aidan’s hospital room and pop his shoulder back into place in order to fit him into the machine. When Aiden arrived back in the room, he was met with his sister. After his terrified and exhausted sister nervously questioned why Aiden was back in his room, he replied with what is possibly the worst-timed joke of his life.
“I saw my sister out of my dads room, and I told her that they’ll have to cut my shoulder off. I thought it was hilarious, the nurses thought it was hilarious, but she did not find it funny. We still talk about it to this day,” he said.
After his scan, he was diagnosed with a multitude of serious injuries. Three broken ribs, a fractured ankle, and a broken shoulder in two different places, yet he was still demanding answers about his family’s well-being, and refused to comply unless they told him.
Once he was finally presented with more information, he learned his family members had all suffered their own serious injuries, but were fortunately stable in the hospital. Aidan was also relieved to learn his girlfriend, Maggie had been dropped off prior to the accident.
Over time, Aidan learned more about the accident, and his family’s injuries. He was horrified when he heard their diagnoses. Both of his parents and his brother each underwent two surgeries. Although they made full reveries, side effects continue to affect them on occasion.
The next day, he was visited by an overwhelming support system from Marist: Mrs. Dunneback, Fr. Hurley, Mr. Tucker, and a few other close friends. Marist senior Gavin Rhodes was one of those friends.
“I was shocked, but I was glad he was okay. I was glad he ended up making it through,” said Rhodes.
Rhodes heard the news after Aidan sent him a photo via Snapchat of him in a hospital bed.
After eight days, Aidan was finally released where he began his comeback. He was sidelined for almost the entire baseball season, but still remained active with the team, traveling to games and cheering them on.
Today, Aidan has fully recovered, and is once again able to engage in the activities he loves. He is on the Marist baseball team, Marist band, and enjoys playing various instruments in his free time.
The accident forever changed the course of Aidan’s life, but through resilience he was able to return and inspire others.
“What inspired me the most was how he decided to stick with baseball, even after the accident and how much pain that would cause,” said Rhodes.
