For 25 years, the Reif family has lived with the aftermath of the 2001 Seward High band bus crash.
Both Luke and Tait were on the bus that dropped from Highway 6 into Papillion Creek in Omaha on Oct. 13, 2001. Luke, a senior that year, was injured but recovered enough to play football for the Bluejays in their state semifinal and championship games in November.
Tait, a freshman, was still in the hospital after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Brenda was in the back of the second bus of the caravan. She felt the bus pull over and, since she knew CPR, went to see what she could do to help.
“I didn’t know the boys were on that bus,” she said Oct. 17.
The day was a beautiful one, but the ground around the creek was muddy, she said. She took all the coats she could find to help people in shock. When she got to the bottom of the ravine, she said, she stayed with student Eric Bader, who was lying on a concrete ledge after being taken off the bus.
She saw Luke on a ledge, too, and he told her Tait was also on that bus.
“I finally saw them bring Tait off across the creek,” Brenda said.
Her brother didn’t live far from the site and came to help. She said she found someone with a cell phone and called her husband Tom.
“I knew it was bad,” she said.
Tait said he remembers the band competition that day. He played trumpet. When they got back on the bus after marching at Omaha Burke, he put on his headset to listen to the Nebraska football game. He doesn’t remember the crash itself.
“I woke up days later,” he said.
Tait spent months in the hospital and at Madonna Rehabilitation Center. He remembers the pain of tight muscles when he did awaken. He said his first word then was “ouch.”
Brenda said she kept telling Tait he was going to be alright.
“I said ‘right,’” Tait said, grinning. “My sarcasm crept through.”
He said he felt like his whole body was one big bruise and took medication to help the muscles relax.
He had braces at the time and kept gnawing on things, Brenda said. A dentist came to the hospital to remove them.
People who suffer a traumatic brain injury go through stages of recovery, the Reifs said. The injured could get stuck in a stage for lengths of time.
At one point, Brenda said, her brother described the sound Tait was making as “a moose in heat.” He got through that stage and began talking again, but he spoke fast and quietly, Brenda said.
She didn’t leave the hospital. She took a couple days to go home while Tait was in ICU, but her brother and a friend stayed with Tait so he wouldn’t be alone. He was in ICU for 20 days, then at Madonna for four months.
“His brain twisted in the skull, and that tears the connections,” Tom said.
Only 10% of those with an injury that severe survive, and only 1% recover to the level Tait reached, he said. In fact, the head neurosurgeon didn’t expect Tait to get out of bed again.
“He is a miracle,” Tom said.
They left the TV on in his room, and he turned his head the first time during the Nebraska/Oklahoma football game.
“That was the first time we knew he was there,” Tom said.
Luke stayed with his grandparents after being released. He was in the hospital for a week, Brenda said and went to the next week’s football game.
He was able to play defense in the quarterfinal game against Gering, Tom said.
“He had worked hard to become a starter,” Tom said.
He said the strength Luke had developed in the weight room may have saved him in the bus. He heard the crash happening and was able to brace himself.
“He became his own seatbelt,” Tom said.
Tait went through several surgeries to repair broken bones (pinkie, left arm which was in nine pieces) suffered in the crash, as well. People thought he’d broken his right thigh, too, but it was a severe bruise.
The time spent in the hospital and away from physical activity saw his weight drop from 170 before the crash to 107 at Luke’s graduation in May.
Brenda said it took awhile for Tait to be able to eat. He had a tube into his stomach. In order to let him go home, she said, she learned how to administer IV antiobiotics.
Going home was a big thing for Tait, he said.
“I felt better than in a medical prison,” he said.
Brenda said the accident and its aftermath made her more empathetic to people going through difficult circumstances.
“You can’t image going through it until you do,” she said.
Tait said the angel dogs at Madonna were a great thing, providing “moments of distraction.”
Brenda then became a handler for Nico the comfort dog through The Rock Lutheran Church. Tom was one of those who worked to bring the dog to Seward.
The Reifs spent seven years driving from Seward to Madonna three to five times a week. When they built their house, they added a therapy pool so Tait could continue his work.
Brenda said Tait has reached a plateau where they where told “this is as good as it will get.” He’s been able to stop most of the medications he started with.
The family has gone back to visit the workers at the hospital and at Madonna who helped during Tait’s recovery.
Tait said he looked forward to going back to school to see his friends. His goal was to walk across the stage at graduation, and he accomplished that.
“Then he took a bow. That scared us,” Brenda said with a smile.
Today, Tait gets around in a motorized wheelchair. He can walk for short distances and does when he can. He said his legs bend better today than they used to.
“People look out for him,” Tom said.
The accident left him with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a disorder that leads to a shortage of proteins that the muscles need to function.
He works at Sparetime, helping in the kitchen weighing and bagging items and washing potatoes, among other tasks. He also works the lanes at Seward Bowl.
“I grew up here,” Tait said.
He continues to lift weights to keep his muscle tone. Tom said Tait continues to discover things he can do.
“That’s part of the reason his recovery is as good as it is,” he said. “He’s not one to give up.”
“I know how much you can deteriorate,” Tait said.
He’s also spent more time with books.
“I’ve read more books than I ever thought I would,” he said with a grin, adding that he likes George R. Martin and the Wheel of Time series.
Luke is married and is a civil engineer. He helped design the Reifs’ house, which Rick Pike built.
Tait said he doesn’t plan too far ahead. He does have some goals to meet though. He’d like do visit all 50 states and travel to Egypt, Peru and the Middle East. He’d also like to tour the NFL stadiums, starting with Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
He said he misses sports and has had to give up bowling because of his shoulder.
Tom and Brenda said they received so much help from Seward after the accident. People sent checks because they weren’t able to work.
“The unbelievable generosity of the community was very humbling,” Tom said.
Brenda said their faith was key to getting through everything. Joshua 1:9 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Tait has become involved with Crossmakers of Seward, as well. He traces the crosses onto the wood for others to cut out.
