Melecio Tellez-Cordova wipes back tears as he describes his son who lies helplessly in a University Hospital bed.
He is a "very good son. He has helped to support the family in Mexico with money earned in Idaho. He always liked basketball. He's a very good person," Tellez-Cordova said Tuesday.His oldest son, Javier Tellez-Juarez, 23, lost his arms and a leg in a Dec. 13 farm accident near Malta, Idaho.
Juarez's wife, Norma Tellez-Juarez, 23, sat quietly near her father-in-law in a fourth-floor hospital waiting room, her eyes filling with tears at times as she fed the couple's 3-month-old daughter, Cristina.
Speaking through an interpreter, the father, who lives in Michuacan, Mexico, and his daughter-in-law shared their fears and worries about the critically injured man.
Tellez-Juarez and Martin Juarez Vargas, his uncle, were digging a post hole at the farm while Harold Tracy was operating the tractor attached to the digger, according to the Cassia County Sheriff's Department.
When the digger was in place, the two men placed their weight on the digging arm to help it dig into the ground more easily. Tellez-Juarez's clothing became entangled in the tractor's power takeoff. His arms were ripped from his body at the shoulders, and his legs were broken, according to a sheriff's report.
Tellez-Juarez was transported by medical helicopter to the U. Hospital where surgeons tried to reattach one arm, but the procedure failed. They also had to amputate one of his crushed legs below the knee. The other leg is badly mangled, hospital spokesman John Dwan said.
The man remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday morning.
"He is as badly hurt as anyone I've ever seen in my 20 years" (of hospital work). It is terrible," Dwan said of Tellez-Juarez, who underwent 15 hours of surgery and then had another procedure, a tracheotomy, performed Tuesday to help him breath.
Dwan said Tracy, who employed the injured man, and his wife, Charlotte, have been very supportive of the family.
"A lot of times we hear of Mexican farm workers who are hurt and then abandoned by their employers. This is not the case (in this accident). They are very supportive," Dwan said.
Charlotte Tracy traveled to Salt Lake City to stay with the injured man's wife until her father-in-law arrived from Mexico.
The Tracys could not be reached Tuesday, but Dwan said Charlotte Tracy reported the injured man is a legal alien.
Dwan said hospital workers will try to pin down what financial benefits Juarez may be entitled to. In cases such as this one, "it's not unusual for bills to run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Plus, he will probably need lifelong care," Dwan said.
Worrying about her husband, Norma Tellez-Juarez has spent six days at the hospital with her baby. Hospital social workers and others were finally able to convince her Monday afternoon that she should leave the hospital to get some rest. Workers had tried to find places for her to stay, but she refused to leave, Dwan said.
Since Monday, Norma Tellez-Juarez, her father-in-law and the baby have stayed in Holladay. The arrangements were apparently made through the Tracy family. The injured man's mother, Leonila, another son and Norma's mother, Aurora, are expected to arrive from Mexico Friday or Saturday.
Debbie Kim, a registered nurse and trauma nurse coordinator, said the hospital has made a lot of effort to supply the family with clothes, diapers and an infant car seat. She also commended the efforts of Sister Rosario, a nun at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
The nurse said the family will need more supplies, including clothing and personal items, for the injured man's wife and father-in-law, and she hopes the community will respond. The two don't know how long they will remain in Salt Lake City.
"I told Norma that Americans have very good hearts. We will see what happens," interpreter Maria Nakagawa said during the interview.
The injured man's wife and his father said the family is Catholic and "very religious."
"We just pray. There is nothing else we can do," he said.
The Rev. Terence Moore, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish, said prayers will be offered for Javier Tellez-Juarez at Mass Sunday.