Caring Like Family for Family

Kody Koger recalls one of the worst days of his life, doing the one thing he loves – riding his motorbike. Kody was out for a normal night practice with his friends, until an accident occurred and he found himself in the back of a truck on the way to the hospital.

“After finding everything out, we learned there was a lot of stuff broken,” said Kody. “We thought it was just going to be a shoulder issue, but it ended up being a whole bunch of things.”

Kody recalls his wife, Kristi Koger, Director of Methodist Hospital | Atascosa’s Emergency Department, immediately driving him to the hospital and calling her team for immediate assistance. He noted that she drove by two other local hospitals to ensure he was treated and seen at Methodist Hospital | Atascosa because of the great care she knew her team was capable of.

As leader of the hospital’s ER, Kristi knew she had a more important role in that moment – being a wife and mom to their young daughter, Kennedy. 

“I was never involved as a nurse or director, I was a mother and wife that day,” Kristi shared. “I took our daughter from the truck and as I walked in, they already had him in CT, called a trauma alert, and knew that he needed to be transported as soon as possible. I wasn’t involved in his direct care as I was so scared and crying. My husband and daughter needed my support at that moment more than anything, and I knew this team could handle it.”

The couple mentioned they were alarmed by how badly he was injured. The hospital staff had to immediately sedate him and insert a chest tube as soon as they found out he had a collapsed lung. It was there they learned he also had a broken shoulder, broken foot, ribs, and a compressed sternum. 

The staff at Methodist Hospital | Atascosa showed up and helped them in every way possible. As soon as the decision had been made to transport Kody, EMS showed up, but could not take him as he had a chest tube inserted. One of the nurses, whose shift ended hours ago, jumped in and rode in the ambulance with him so they didn’t have to wait on another transportation and get him there as soon as they could. She shared how grateful she was for the commitment and kindness the employees showed to her and her family.

“The care here, with me just being on the other side of it, it spoke volumes to me,” said Kristi. “We have no family here. My leadership team here was incredible and just making sure I was ok and making sure I wasn’t worrying about anything else except my husband. The amount of texts and emails checking in on us was unbelievable. The nurse who was with him in the EMS truck still texts me to this day to see how he’s doing.”

Kody shared that he continues to recover and is thankful for a second chance at life. Kristi also acknowledged that she appreciated seeing how much her team did for her husband, similar to how they treat all patients.

As Kody stays in his recovery, he hopes he can still offer support to his motorbike team off road.

“Many people in this community know him (Kody) and reach out to him asking for mentorship and training a rider for a race,” said Kristi. On the day of the accident, Kody was training and the trainee was the one who was trying to help us and make sure he was ok the entire time, too. They keep asking him ‘When are you going to get back out 

there.’ They’re waiting for his return and so thankful he’s alive.”