More than 100 days ago, Juletta Aycock learned that her son Nick Aycock, 29, was critically injured in an accident. Both mother and son make their homes in Vandalia.

Juletta said that Nick was driving a “kind of glorified golf cart” on Aug. 15, the last night of the Amateur Trapshooting Association Grand Finals in Sparta, Ill.

“It was in the dark of night,” she said. “He hit a post protruding from the ground and the steering wheel pushed into his body and ruptured veins and arteries that carry blood to vital organs.”

She explained that Nick, as a young boy, always enjoyed hanging around the activities surrounding the ATA when the Grand Finals were held in Vandalia.

“By the time he was 19, he was a line supervisor and when he reached age 23 he was the assistant marketing manager, “ Juletta said. “At the time of the accident, he was in the position of marketing manager. He was driving the car back to the camp site, he said, at about 20 miles per hour.”

For five years, since the trapshooting contest moved to Illinois, Nick has spent time in Illinois and Ohio promoting the event.

“Nick was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then a medical helicopter moved him to St. Louis University Hospital,” the mother said. “There was just massive damage internally.”

Juletta drove to be at her son’s side as soon as she was notified of the accident and has been there since.

“Even though there is so much damage done, his brain was not injured,” Juletta said. “After he came out of a 60-day coma, he has been able to talk to me. He knows his mother is at his side.”

She stays in his room most of the time, but occasionally gets a night’s sleep in a house provided for family members who are visiting long-term patients at the hospital.

“I stay with him as much as I can, praying for him, trying to help him as I can.”

She said Nick has undergone 18 surgeries, and is awaiting further surgery. “I know he must be in pain at times, but he remains upbeat and cheerful,” she said. “I have never heard him complain.”

The family has been told that Nick will be in the intensive care unit through the holiday season, and “most likely until next summer,” Juletta said. “We hope the family can all be here at Christmas time to see him.”

Nick’s brother, Nathan, 31, is a sheriff’s deputy in Champaign County and along with sister Natalie, 36, who recently became a new mom, have both visited their brother in St. Louis. Juletta said Nick’s friends have been sending cards and she said that in October some of the friends held a fundraising event at Wings restaurant on North Dixie Drive in Vandalia.

“The hospital bill is humongous,” the mother said. “We need help in paying things not covered by insurance.”

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