Cole Eidem is recuperating at home with his family in Luverne. He's pictured with his parents, Korissa and Micah Eidem and his brother and sister, Carter and Courtney.By Lori EhdeFive-year-old Cole Eidem is recuperating at home with a cast on each arm and a bandage around his head.Considering he was hit by a pickup on Highway 75 last week, his parents, Micah and Korisa, say he’s doing remarkably well.Cole was injured last Thursday, Jan. 22, when he and his mom and aunt were on their way to Hendricks to visit his grandparents.According to Korisa, a plastic box of GI Joe toys and accessories were forgotten on top of the car when they were getting ready to leave Luverne that day.As their vehicle picked up speed just north of Luverne, they noticed the box fall off the car onto the other lane of the highway, so they turned the vehicle around and pulled over onto the west shoulder to pick up the pieces.Korisa said the adults picked up most of the toys, but Cole found one he wanted to retrieve personally.In doing so, he got out on the passenger side, crossed in front of the vehicle and ventured partway into the driving lane.At that time, 34-year-old Steven Meyers, Stanton, Iowa, passed in his 1989 Toyota pickup and struck Cole with his passenger-side corner bumper.Magnolia firefighter and first responder Steven DeGroot was following Meyers and witnessed the accident."It was terrible. I saw the whole thing happen," he said Tuesday. "I saw this little boy run out in front of the parked vehicle in front of the pickup, and my heart fell down to my stomach."DeGroot said both he and Meyers had slowed down when they noticed the car pulled over and people on the shoulder.But he said traffic was approaching from the opposite direction and Meyers wouldn’t have been able to swerve, even if he had seen the boy in time."That pickup just didn’t have time to stop," said DeGroot, who said he was traveling about 40 to 45 mph at the time, and that’s likely how fast Meyers was going when he hit Cole."He caught him in the corner of the bumper and sent him straight in the air," DeGroot said.He radioed the dispatch office for help. The time of the call was 3:45 p.m."He was bleeding real bad from a big gash on his cheek, so we just kinda wrapped it around without moving his head," DeGroot said. "I held him in c-spine stabilization until the ambulance got there."While Cole was crying, DeGroot said Korisa remained calm. "She seemed to hold it pretty well," he said. "She didn’t panic a whole lot."Korisa said she focused on keeping Cole conscious until the ambulance got there."I just kept talking to him the whole time," Korisa said. "We went through his morning preschool routine … what’s his name, what’s his dad’s name, what’s his address and phone number."From Luverne, Cole was airlifted to Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, where a plastic surgeon stitched the gash along Cole’s right cheekbone.Doctors found two hairline fractures on one arm, and a simple fracture on the other, but both were reset and Cole was sent home Friday night.After the swelling went down in his arms, he returned to Sioux Valley Tuesday to have casts put on, and he’ll have to wear them for 3 1/2 weeks.His head wrap comes off Monday.Meanwhile, he’ll return to Discovery Time Preschool Feb. 2, and his parents say Cole appears to be in good shape, and they’re proud of how he handled the trauma."He was so good the whole time," Korisa said. "He did what the doctors told him to do, and answered his questions."While he doesn’t have a clear recollection of the event, or even his helicopter ride, he does have a tangible memoir of the ordeal.The Sioux Valley helicopter flight crew members gave him his own golden wings to pin on the front of his shirt.DeGroot, who is also a parent of a 5-year-old, said he was relieved to hear Cole was OK."When Trooper (Jeff) Stearns called Thursday night to take my statement, he said the boy was doing really well," DeGroot said."I sighed a huge sigh of relief. I didn’t know if he was going to make it at all the way I saw him tumble through the air."
