‘He’s literally everything to us’: Family has been at Logan Jacobs’ side in ICU since Oct. 23 crash

When Cassandra Fallon got a call that her brother Logan Jacobs had been in a serious car crash involving a tractor trailer on the afternoon of Oct. 23, she only had one wish.

All I kept thinking was, No, not today, give me one more day with him,'" said Fallon, 28, speaking to The Spectator on Nov. 4. I just couldn't bear to lose that guy."

That wish has since been granted - now more than 14 times over.

Jacobs, 19, was transported to Hamilton General Hospital with life-threatening injuries following a two-vehicle crash just shortly after 4:35 p.m. outside Caledonia on Oct. 23.

In a release, Haldimand County OPP said first responders were called to the intersection of Haldimand Road 9 and River Road in York for a crash involving a tractor trailer and a sedan.

Fallon's brother was gravely injured while the driver of the tractor trailer was uninjured, police said.

Still to this day, the family doesn't know exactly what happened that afternoon, said Fallon. Her brother had gone to Caledonia to run errands for the family and get gas.

Police said one witness saw Jacobs turned left onto Haldimand Road 9 and was subsequently struck by the truck, which was travelling westbound.

From what we understand, he probably just didn't see the truck and kind of came out," said Fallon. He wasn't speeding or anything, we've talked to witnesses."

But, Fallon said it's unbelievable" that she still has her brother - at first they thought he was gone."

A picture of Jacobs' vehicle shows the front end heavily damaged. The roof is partially crushed and the hood of the car is peeled back exposing the engine.

We saw the car, it was absolutely terrible," she added.

In the crash, Fallon said her brother suffered many" broken bones, including his legs in multiple places, his arms, some ribs, his sternum, as well as his nose and a bone in his face.

He had a bleed in his brain and his lung, but both have stopped. He's been fighting pneumonia as well as acute respiratory distress syndrome, also known as ARDS, which is a type of lung failure.

Jacobs also has severe brain damage, but his brain stem is still intact, she said.

They haven't given us a lot of hope about him cognitively," said Fallon. But brain damage is so different from person to person and he's quite young, so we don't know yet."

The first 10 days after the crash were absolutely terrible" for the family, with issue after issue, things stacked against him," said Fallon.

She and her husband Marty Taylor had even been called to come say goodbye.

But then Jacobs turned a corner," she said.

His oxygen saturation improved, the bleeding in his lungs had disappeared and he's since been taken off of sedation, but he remains on a ventilator and is unconscious.

Jacobs has wiggled his toes and on Tuesday he squeezed the nurse's hand, said Fallon.

He's ... giving us little signs of hope," she said. We've been praying so much."

Since the crash, Fallon has seldom left Hamilton to return home to Cayuga. Despite being her younger brother, Jacobs is more like her son - she and her husband have raised him since he was 10 years old.

For the first few days, they slept in their van. Now, they have a room at the Mark Preece Family House next door on Barton Street.

He's literally everything to us. He's our best friend," said Fallon. I can see the hospital from our room. It's really comforting."

But, keeping vigil by Jacobs' side in the ICU doesn't come without a cost. Fallon's husband has taken an unpaid leave and they're expecting to be there for at least a month.

We're not well off financially," she said. But, I would have found a way to be here because I can't be away from him."

To help keep the family afloat, a friend has started a GoFundMe to raise money to support their stay. As of Friday, they'd raised more than $9,500 of their original $5,000 goal.

The support from the community has been overwhelming," said Fallon. Friends have been taking care of their pets and even doing chores for them at home.

We literally feel carried by the prayers and love that everyone is just sending us," she said.

And Fallon thinks it has something to do with who her brother is as a person.

Everyone who meets him immediately realizes how intelligent, wonderful and kind he is," she said, noting that he's quick to lend a hand when someone is in need.

A lot of people have said, Why do bad things happen to good people, because he's one of the good ones,'" she added. He's a really good kid."

He's also already a survivor - having lived through the car crash that killed their mother.

He has never felt like a victim once," said Fallon. I feel like Logan is so strong ... he's my favourite person in the world."

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com