An amazing Journey

Three months and one day apart earlier this year Mark Oeltjenbruns found himself in the middle of two defining moments of his life—each one with very different outcomes.
The first came on June 8 when his wife, Jessica, and their two young children, Alexis and Isaac, were in a serious car crash just a mile away from their home in rural Steele County. Though badly shaken and bruised, Jessica walked away from the crash nearly unharmed. But it was a completely different story for the two kids, ages 3 and 1. In the beginning, it was uncertain whether they would survive.
“You know darn well God has worked miracles,” Mark  says. “No child would be normal with what they went through to experience the injuries they did.”
The second defining moment came on Sept. 7 when Mark, who is a first responder on the Claremont Fire Department, responded to a gruesome car wreck on
U.S. Highway 14 on the edge of Claremont. Like his wife’s, the crash involved a mother and two children. But unlike his wife’s, one of the children was killed instantly and the mother died a week later.
Mark was one of the first responders to perform CPR on Rachel Harberts, a teacher on her way to school in Blooming Prairie. “It was depressing when she passed,” Mark said. In his 10 years with Claremont Fire, Mark says the Harberts crash was the worst he has
ever been involved with. “It’s something I will never forget.”
There has been a range of emotions for Mark as he has been forced to deal with both crashes within the past six months. “I think about both crashes every day,” Mark said.
During this Thanksgiving, Mark hopes people take a lesson from the hardships his family has encountered. “Everybody takes so much for granted until you get a reality check,” he said. “It just wrenches at your heart at what you thought you were go to
lose but didn’t and have it at the end.”
 
The amazing journey for the Oeltjenbruns family began in the middle of the afternoon on a summer day in early June when Jessica and the children were on their way home from running errands in Owatonna. They had gathered groceries and a quick lunch at Subway.
As Jessica was traveling southbound on SE 64th Avenue near Aurora Lutheran Church on the east side of Steele County, she crashed into a truck at the intersection of SE 38th Street around 2:11 p.m.
Jessica remembers looking left and that’s it until moments after her vehicle had ended up in a near-by field. “I have no recollection at all. It’s bizarre,” Jessica said.
After she came to, Jessica reached for her cell phone to call for help, but she couldn’t find it. It was later found wedged on the floor by the passenger’s side.
What happened next began a whole series of miracles that eventually led to the recovery of Alexis and Isaac. John Zuk, a first responder, had been at a near-by farm and had just wrapped up a meeting. Zuk immediately began administering first
aid until additional emergency personnel arrived.
“It’s a blessing that somebody else came by,” Jessica said. “That was one nice little miracle.”
Mark was in Owatonna when he found out about the crash. “My heart just sank when I got the phone call,” Mark said.
As Mark drove to the scene, he began hyperventilating as he had many thoughts racing through his mind. “It was the weirdest things that came to my mind,” he said. “I began thinking about funerals and how I was going to start over (with a family).”
Once he arrived at the scene, he immediately became scared about what had happened. “I just about fainted as soon as I saw the car,” he said.
He immediately found his daughter who was “balling in excruciating pain.” Mark said he noticed Alexis was bleeding and full of glass. Alexis tightly held onto Sheriff Lon Thiele’s thumb until she was loaded in Mayo One, one of two helicopters brought to the
scene. “She needed that love and something to hold onto,” Mark said.
Looking back at the scene, Mark said Alexis was physically worse off from the outside with blood coming out of her ears and nose while Isaac was worse inside with a fractured skull. With Isaac, Mark said, “It was like nobody was there. He was motionless. In my eyes, that was a very bad sign.”
Mark recalls one of the paramedics telling him at the scene that they were losing Isaac. “That was very hard. I wanted to go with in the worst way,” Mark said. “My babies need us.” However, no one is allowed to fly in the helicopter except crew members. Mark went with his wife in a ground ambulance. He was disappointed because they could not go lights and sirens because Jessica’s condition did not warrant it.
“I couldn’t breath,” Mark said of the ride to the hospital. “I felt like I was going to pass out. It was a long ride.”
After reaching St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Mark got to the hospital floor when he saw the doctor walking down the hall towards him. “My heart sank,” Mark said. “I was expecting the worst news in the world. I broke out. I was in my dad’s arms. I thought we were going to lose Isaac.”
The coming hours and days proved to be an emotional roller coaster for the family.
Alexis spent the next two weeks in the hospital, including three days in the ICU and five days in rehabilitation. Isaac spent 18 days in the hospital, which included nine days
in the ICU. Isaac moved out of the ICU on Father’s Day. “That was the best Father’s Day present I will ever have,” Mark said.
Isaac’s brain was so badly injured that doctors didn’t think he would have vision again. The following day after being told the bleak news about Isaac’s vision, it returned to normal. “It was completely unexplainable,” Mark said.
While in the hospital, doctors constantly referred to Alexis and Isaac as miracles. “Our doctors told us kids heal in different ways, but some kids heal in ways that are unexplainable,” Mark said.
In the end, the doctors related to the family that they were “very surprised” with the outcome of how Alexis and Isaac recovered. “The doctor looked at me and had no explanation for what happened. The doctor said, ‘it’s truly a miracle. We didn’t expect this,’” Mark said. “When they are puzzled, it’s a good thing.”
Doctors told the family it would be weeks or months before Isaac would be able to crawl
again. But within a week of being released from the hospital, Issac was back to crawling around the house. 
 
Both Mark and Jessica agree this amazing jouney wouldn't have ended up the way it did without a strong faith in God and the power of prayer. Since the crash happened, family members requested people to pray for Alexis and Isaac. The family was so touched by the outpouring of prayers as well as food and financial support.
“I would go into a room and just sit and pray,” Mark said. “Every night I would pray and feel at peace. I felt like everything would be okay, even though you’d look at the kids and would never believe it.”
The Oeltjenbruns family found itself on prayer chains across the U.S. and even into other countries. “The more angels, the more prayers helps to heal,” Mark said. “We are extremely grateful that thousands of people were praying,” he added.
Mark said the crash tried to pull their family apart, but they kept coming back and building on it. “Kids do a funny crazy thing,” Mark says. “It just melts you because we almost lost it all.”
For the Oeltjenbruns, the crash proved to be a true test of faith. Jessica and Mark agree the ordeal has strengthened their marriage beyond belief and left their bond of love even stronger than before.
“Our love and faith got stronger each and every hour (after the crash),” Mark said. “You thought you had the tightest love you could ever have, but you don’t realize how strong it is until you go through something like this.”
Alexis found a glimpse of God during the helicopter ride to the hospital. When she was asked who rode with her, she responded, “Jesus.” She also spoke of seeing the bright
sun as she flew away and that Jesus was with her. There was no sun that day.
“That was pretty touching that she was connected with God,” Mark said.
While Mark isn’t sure why his family had to experience this ordeal, he is confident it will become apparent some day. “There is a reason behind this. Hopefully, the good Lord will show it to us,” he said.
The other driver in the crash, Marshal Ahrens, 52, received minor injuries in the crash. The Oeltjenbruns family wishes to keep Ahrens in their thoughts and prayers. “Our family would like for people to continue
pray for Marshal and his family,” Jessica said.
 

Everything seems to be back to normal at
the Oeltjenbruns home with Alexis acting as a typical 3 year old and Isaac as an 18 month old.
“We feel that we’re back to what any normal family with two little ones would be like,” Mark said. “We have the normal joys of parenting and normal frustrations. Man are we so thankful the kids are loud and obnoxious.”
They are most thankful for the gift of normalcy. “They are happy, thriving and learning,” Jessica said.
Jessica and Mark are relieved that Alexis doesn’t appear to have any anxiety about the crash. “She has no hesitation to get in the car,” Mark said.
As a true test of this miracle for the family, Jessica and Mark do not expect any permanent damage from the crash.
The Oeltjenbruns are forever thankful that their family remains together. “I feel so fortunate that I get to share my life with my husband and both of our children,” Jessica
said. “Being able to raise them the way we feel is right.”
Mark says this ordeal has made him appreciate what he has in life. “Life is way too short,” he said. “You just never know. Life ain’t to take for granted.”
Mark also has a new appreciation for his wife. “I make sure I give my wife a kiss when I leave the house,” he said. When asked if that happens, Jessica nodded in agreement.
The crash has made Mark more empathetic to others that are having difficult times. “It has changed my outlook,” Mark said. “It  makes me feel so much more emotion and want to help others.”
 
 

When Mark responded to a motor vehicle crash on Sept. 7, he got a sickening feeling immediately once he realized kids were involved. His attention was drawn to Emerson’s Barbie blonde hair draped over the center counsel. “That really hit hard,” Mark said.
Mark put his emotions aside and began performing lifesaving techniques on Rachel. As rescuers tried to free her from the vehicle, Mark kept promising Rachel that she would be all right and that God is with her. “They may not respond, but they hear it and feel it,” Mark says. “It’s good to talk to them because they hear a voice.”
Rachel had gone between 10-15 minutes without air.
Emergency personnel lost a pulse on Rachel once they removed her from the vehicle. CPR was performed at that time, Mark said.
Sadly, their efforts proved to be futile as Rachel died one week later in the hospital.
To this day, Mark is left wondering if there was something more that could have been done to save Rachel.
And Mark can’t help but compare the two crashes. “What Brandon (Harberts) is feeling currently is what I felt coming out there to the scene of my family’s crash,” Mark “Our outcome is completely different.”