One moment Jason Garrett was on his way to work on U.S. Route 50. The next moment he was certain death was paying him a visit.

 

It all happened in a few seconds – almost a year ago to the day, on April 9 to be exact. Yet, the Bridgeport resident was able to process one thing and that was that his life was over.

 

“It was as simple as the lights going out. I had time to process this is death; this was it,” said Garrett. “I felt nothing and just remembered thinking it was over.”

 

Garrett’s line of thinking is justified. The aftermath of what happened, both from pictures and what he would endure for months, and still endures, are testament to just how bad things were.

 

The 1990 Notre Dame High School graduate was on his way to work that day. He was heading to Ohio as part of a pipeline job where he worked as a utility inspector.

 

“I would be staying in Ohio a couple of days. I was working a lot, but had worked it out with my kids, my wife, that I would be back home when I could,” said Garrett. “The drives were tough because I was leaving my family constantly and thinking because I was making a lot of money was justification. I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was almost too late.”

 

The arrival of “almost too late” came on that April morning along U.S. Route 50 West, about an hour away from Bridgeport. It was still early, still dark as he approached Parkersburg when it happened.

 

“There was a logging road that comes out on to (Route) 50 and when I came around the turn it was just starting to chug up the hill and I was traveling, I’m guessing around 65 miles per hour or whatever the speed limit was, drinking my coffee,” said Garrett. “When that turn arrived, there was the truck in a blind spot. I remember seeing him, and hitting the brakes and, thankfully, I don’t remember anything else.”

 

Garrett slammed his 2016 Nissan Frontier into the back of the truck. The collision was violent enough to entirely collapse the front end of his vehicle with Garrett still inside.

 

The next memory let him know he was alive. Yet, looking back, it is not a pleasant memory.

 

“Your last thought you had is the first thought you have when waking up, and that was that I was dead,” said Garrett, whose voice cracked with emotion as he spoke. “After waking up there was a paramedic telling me they were going to get me out of there. I was trapped, but they thought I was going to be dead.”

 

As one may be able to tell from the photo of the damaged vehicle, it is obvious why he was trapped. In fact, emergency crews needed the jaws of life to extricate him from the wreckage.

 

The fact he was alive was a miracle. The wreck left him needing 25 stitches in his head, a concussion so bad it required therapy and still causes occasional problems, a broken ankle, bruised ribs, damage to his rotator cuff in his right arm with several muscles completely torn off.

 

Despite all of that being diagnosed and treated with all of that at the emergency room at Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg, another somewhat surprising miracle was about to take place. Garrett was treated and released.

 

As his body and mind began the healing process, another process was taking place. It was a process that took place heavily for the eight months he spent in serious rehabilitation and one he continues to this day.

 

“During those eight months I sat at home and thought about stuff. I realized I’m just mud and got depressed,” he said. “I realized I was money hungry. The least I was working was six days a week and 15 hours a day then it turned into seven days. I would be home just long enough to see my wife and to kiss my kids good night in most cases.”

 

He soon realized he was missing precious time with his wife – Kelly Franke-Garrett – and their two children. The boys, students at Johnson Elementary School, are 7 and 5.

 

“I told Kelly that I wasn’t going back to my job. The particular job I was on had ran its course so I didn’t know where my job would take me next and, at that point, I couldn’t even drive,” he said. “I knew I needed a change.”

 

The change came when Garrett decided to start his own business. He delved headfirst into classes needed and became a licensed home inspector doing business today as Eye Spy Home Inspections, LLC.

 

“The beauty is I get to set my own hours and see my kids and my wife when I want to,” he said. “I’m taking my kids to school, going to school plays now that I consider myself a local worker. I get to kiss my kids goodnight every night and go out and play ball with them. That couldn’t have happened before.”

 

Garrett admits it may not have happened without the wreck. The near brush with death has given him a new lease on life.

 

“It’s been a hidden blessing, but I wouldn’t want anyone to have to choose that option to find a blessing,” said Garrett. “It was a wakeup call and I thank God for that every day.”

 

The wakeup call came around Easter last year. This year, on Easter Day, Jason Garrett will turn 50. While he is looking forward to both, he is looking forward to time with family, time with a new job, time with a new outlook.

 

“Money nearly cost me my life, chasing it, and now I don’t care about it. I praise God every day,” said Garrett. “I was raised Catholic, went to church, and was raised to say prayers, but today, I’ve never felt closer to God spiritually than I do now.

 

“I have God to thank for finding a new life, and it has extra meaning with Easter (tomorrow),” he continued. “He saved me that day in more ways than one and even after by making me realize having money and taking care of my kids was not as important as taking care of my family and being a dad. Being that close to death makes you appreciate life.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Jason Garrett's Nissan Frontier in the aftermath of the wreck. In the second and third photos, he's show leaving and in the hospital in Parkersburg, while he's shown with his wife and two boys below. All photos courtesy of Jason Garrett.