Are You Still In There?

A car crash left Molei Wright functionally decapitated. Even if her body survived, her mind might never be the same. Her boyfriend was willing to take that chance.

- Bill Hangley Jr

 THE SNOW CAME earlier than they’d expected, but Jeremy Osheim wasn’t worried. He’d driven this route a thousand times, and he knew exactly what to do. Take it easy. Watch the road. You’ll get there when you get there, and when you do, it’s gonna be awesome.

It was January 2016, and Jeremy and his girlfriend, Molei Wright, were leaving Denver for a weekend of fun with friends on the slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado. They were two like-minded Colorado natives: ambitious, gregarious, and thoughtful, both lovers of books, plays, music, the outdoors. Jeremy, then 29, was a PR specialist who moonlighted as a mixed martial arts fighter; Molei (pronounced “Molly”), then 28, was the first in her family to graduate from college and worked selling mutual funds to financial advisers. They’d been together for less than a year, but it had taken only a few dates to realize that they clicked. They’d never formally professed their love for each other, but Jeremy was pretty sure that Molei was the one. As the car began the twisting climb toward the resort town, Jeremy felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude.

“Life was really great,” he says. “Probably the best moment of my life, just feeling so good about what was ahead for us. Then, within a blink of an eye, everything was shattered.”

The truck that hit them came out of nowhere. One minute, Jeremy’s Mitsubishi Montero was rolling smoothly through the falling snow; the next, he was sitting by the side of the road in a mangled SUV, pinned to his seat by the steering wheel, his body screaming with pain. To his right he saw Molei. Her eyes were open, but Jeremy could tell they saw nothing. He could think of only one thing to say: “Don’t die. I love you. Don’t die ...”