BILLINGS — An annual camping trip with family and friends at Cooney Reservoir quickly turned into a long road to recovery for 62-year-old Billings resident Mark Young after a jet ski crash on Saturday, but his family says that Young is resilient and they are hopeful for a future of healing.
Jacob Young, Mark Young's son, wasn’t at Cooney when his dad was severely injured, but says a family friend and a 10-year-old girl were on one jet ski, while his father was on another when the two watercrafts collided.
This left Young gravely injured, with a large wound on his leg. His family now has a GoFundMe set up for medical costs and to pay Mark Young's bills while he is recovering.
“Pretty much t-boned. There's not much the other driver could have done,” said Jacob Young on Wednesday. “(He has a) broken femur, broken tibia and fibula. Another major one, his lungs were saturated with water. He does have a small puncture in his lung.”
Jacob Young, who lives in Rapid City, S.D., found out about the crash Sunday morning and immediately drove to Billings to be with his father, who was put into a medically induced coma.
“There's no amputation as of yet. It is a fairly clean wound. It didn't mangle," Jacob Young said. "The hard part is we're just kind of at a waiting game to see if anything turns up, infections and stuff. Right now, he's stable.”
That’s all the family said they can ask for in this situation, hoping the loving father and grandfather continues to improve.
“He’s stubborn, he’s still going. Keeping strong," said Mark Young's relative Della Garner. "He actually fluttering his eyes and actually responded to us so that was awesome.”
His family said the 62-year-old has a long road to recovery, but one that they are grateful he is alive to see.
“I always make the joke he's the grumpy old man. He's grumpy, but he'll sit and joke with you, just about the most caring guy you could find,” Jacob Young said. “We would like to thank all of everybody who was out there.”
