SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man severely injured by a landscape truck that crashed into a dentist office in Elk Grove is slowly recovering in ICU after two surgeries.
“He thinks it has been two days,” said Kim Meggs Berglund, when talking about her husband and recounting his hospital visit. “I am grateful. He only thinks it has been two days.”
A week has gone by, and Meggs Berglund is trying to wrap her mind around the accident that sent her husband Bob Berglund, and their entire family, on an uncertain road.
“It is like your life taking a direct turn. A big left turn that you did not expect,” said Meggs Berglund. “Life is unpredictable.”
It's a road that has kept them at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento for the past week, fighting and praying for small progress, which could lead to big results. Berglund is fighting for his life in the ICU, but he is stable.
“Patience is what he needs right now, which is hard,” said Meggs Berglund.
Berglund, a Navy trained dental repair tech and a veteran, was at Laguna Park Dentistry near Franklin Boulevard and Laguna Park Drive installing new equipment.
The truck pinned him between the truck’s hood and debris from the crash and he was alive through it all.
The Navy veteran suffered a fractured skull, shoulder, ribs, back and leg injuries.
“The doctors are like, they cannot believe he is not dead,” said Meggs Berglund. "I think the fact that he was tall, because if he were a shorter person, all the injuries would have been internal. Instead, it is like he got pinned by most likely the bumper or the grill with his leg.”
Soon, Meggs Berglund and their blended family with seven kids learned he was rushed into brain surgery.
“The back and the head right now are the things that are causing him the most pain. Really bad headaches, blurriness, dizziness,” said Meggs Berglund. “Trying to get him to eat, he has not had an appetite.”
She says the most challenging part is the uncertainty this ordeal has brought, but each day has brought small wins, as Bob is slowly trying to remember the past 30 years of his life.
“I just have to be uncomfortable with not knowing and just take one day at a time and just enjoy the moment that he is happy,” said Meggs Berglund. “The brain is sorting itself out right now, and it is messy.”
With a long road to recovery, the family has set up a GoFundMe as the medical bills pile up.
The Elk Grove Police Department has not released new information about its investigation or if the driver of the truck will be arrested.
For more Elk Grove coverage, stream ABC10+ on your TV for free:
► Roku - click here
► Amazon Fire - click here
► Apple TV - click here
