Dispatcher Fighting For His Life After Crash: 'He Needs The Help'
PUEBLO, Colo. (CBS4) – As a volunteer Pueblo firefighter and South Metro dispatcher, Kyler Hewes has helped thousands of people around Colorado during their darkest days. Now, he is the one in need of help.
On Aug. 16, Kyler left his Pueblo home early in the morning for his nearly two-hour commute to the Dispatch Center in Centennial. Ten minutes into his drive, the 26-year-old somehow lost control of his car and crashed into a concrete culvert. Authorities believe speed was a factor.
"I was just praying it wasn't anything serious, that he would be at the hospital and up talking and we could walk out of there the next day," Taylor Hewes, Kyler's wife, said. "It wasn't like that."
Paramedics rushed Kyler to Parkview Hospital in critical condition. He suffered a broken leg and a serious head injury. The father of two is in a medically-induced coma to help with swelling on his brain and still in the Intensive Care Unit as of Wednesday night.
"It's been hard to see these kids without their daddy," Taylor told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann. "He's missing weeks of their life. We've told the three year old that his daddy is in the hospital and that he is hurt, but we haven't really let him see him yet. We just don't know if that would be too much for a three year old, and for Kyler to handle as well."
Taylor said it could be weeks before doctors can determine how much damage there is to her husband's brain. Even when he's briefly awake, Kyler doesn't recognize some of his family.
"It breaks your heart," Kyler's father, Jeff, said through tears. "He may be in a wheelchair. He may not ever talk to us again. He may never pick up his kids."
Holding tight to her husband's wedding band strung on a necklace he gave her, Taylor is leaning on family and faith that her best friend will come home soon.
"It's hard, but I know he's in there still and we'll get him back," she said.
Until then, Kyler's team at the South Metro Dispatch Center is doing what they can to help. Just hours after the crash, some traveled to Pueblo to bring food, diapers and more to Kyler's family.
"It's like another family member," Dustin Kern, lead South Metro dispatcher, said. "Kyler is one that holds this team together."
The hope is others will also step in to support a man who stops at nothing to help Coloradans in need.
"He's always the first one to answer the phone, stopping on the way home on a wreck," Kern said. "I think right now is the time that he needs the help, unfortunately."
Friends and family have set up a fundraiser to help Kyler's family with medical bills.
Kelly Werthmann joined the CBS4 team as the morning reporter in 2012. After serving as weekend morning anchor, Kelly is now Covering Colorado First for CBS4 News at 10. Connect with Kelly on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @KellyCBS4.