Crash wrecks family’s finances; still recovering from September accident

GRAND JUNCTION �” A young family is struggling to recover, months after a devastating accident that left its breadwinner effectively disabled.

“We need money for bills,” Shana Stegman said Wednesday. “We don’t have money for medication. We’ve run out of every bit we’ve had.”

Stegman was traveling back to Grand Junction last Sept. 14 with her husband, Torre Stegman �” a former radio personality at KRYD �” and their two young daughters. As they topped Menoken Hill on U.S. Highway 50, a vehicle turned from 60.75 Road and into their path.

Stegman braked and swerved, trying to miss the other vehicle, whose driver the Colorado State Patrol identified as Cynthia Sanchez of Olathe.

Sanchez reportedly collided with the front passenger side of the Stegman’s Chevy Suburban, which spun for 47 feet before coming to a rest on its top.

The CSP said in September Sanchez told them she had not seen the other vehicle coming. Her case is still pending and according to court records, she’s due to enter a plea Jan. 29 to charges of careless driving causing injury and failure to yield. Her attorney did not immediately return a call made Wednesday.

“It was really horrifying,” Shana Stegman recounted. “Stuff in the car was just flying. I saw (Torre) twist.

“The door had come open,” she said. “It pulled him. ...His leg had been sucked out, underneath the car. I started screaming at him to get out of the car and he said he was stuck.”

Shana, who was removing the girls from their car seats with the help of passersby, tried to undo Torre’s seat belt, but he still could not extricate himself, and Shana was unable to move the Suburban’s windshield off him.

Torre’s mother, Nancy Ring, said the couple did not know Torre’s foot had been basically severed.�  It was hanging by a few tendons.

She said her son’s elbow, scraped to the bone when it hit the pavement, needed skin grafts, while Torre also said most of the ligaments in his knee were ripped off.

The family said spinal surgeon Dr. Kirk Clifford of Rocky Mountain Orthopedics in Grand Junction was able to reattach the foot.

“He’s my ultimate hero in life,” Torre said.

Ring said Torre was hoping to return to work as a salesman for Carville’s Automart after spending a week in the hospital. He previously worked for KRYD, where he operated “Torre’s Kids,” a charity that obtained birthday presents for economically disadvantaged children.

“He kept trying to go to work, but he couldn’t do it,” Ring, who sometimes spoke through tears, said. “Then he feels guilty because he can’t work.”

Torre’s wounds began reopening in December. His foot swelled and became discolored, which doctors eventually diagnosed as reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

According to the RSD Syndrome Association’s Web site, RSD is a malfunction of the nervous system, in which nerves “send constant pain signals to the brain.” Though there are different levels of severity, RSD develops in response to trauma.

“It’s going to be a lifelong disability,” Ring said. “It doesn’t get better.”

Ring has “pretty much tapped herself out” trying to help, Shana said, calling her mother-in-law “amazing.”

Ring gave them money, is in the process of obtaining a scooter for Torre and recently helped them file for disability. She also said she is seeking legal counsel and will likely set up a bank account for donations. For now, donations may be sent, care of RIng, to P.O. Box 306, Platteville, CO 80651.

The Grand Junction Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sixth Ward, is assisting the family with rent, food and some prescriptions. Additionally, Torre’s employer is holding his job for him and his boss gave him a Christmas bonus.

Still, the Stegmans are in dire need. Shana said the insurance companies won’t pay until the claim is complete, nor bill the other driver’s insurance. Instead, the Stegmans must pay out of pocket and have already been sent to collections.

The original surgery was deemed an emergency, but to repair Torre’s knee, the family must come up with a quarter of the cost in advance.

“I think people who need health care should get it,” Shana said. “I’m not a real political person, but I know my kids cannot get health care right now. It’s sad.”

“I think that being an American citizen, I’ve paid my dues,” Torre said of health-care costs. “I shouldn’t be stuck with a leg I can’t even walk on, when, if I had money, I could.”

He said he was also going without some needed medication because of the costs.

Torre was the sole financial support for the family. Shana cannot work because she must care for Torre and their daughters, Angela, 2, and Robbie, 18 months. She said she hopes to find a night job, so she can work while everyone else is sleeping.

Torre has three other children and Shana said the accident is also affecting them. Their mother, a waitress, had the heat shut off recently because without child support, she could not pay the bill.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking,” Shana said. “It’s not just our family. It’s a whole ripple effect.”

But both Stegmans are grateful to be alive �” and to have one another.

Shana and her mother-in-law credited two unidentified women who helped Shana remove the children from the wrecked vehicle. They said the women weren’t there by the time authorities arrived. “I think there were some angels there that night,” Shana said. “Luckily, we’re all alive.”

Torre said his children gave him a reason to live. “Even to this day, it brings a tear to my eye to know they’re OK. This injury didn’t kill me. It didn’t kill our family.

“Thank God for seat belts. It saved all of my family.”