Local family hopes father will recover from traumatic car accident
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POCATELLO — A local family is hoping a husband and father will make a full recovery as they struggle to make ends meet.
Roger Valentin, 42, is a patient in a Pocatello nursing home, recovering from a traumatic brain injury. His injuries are so severe that he may never be able to move again.
“It’s heartbreaking, I hate it,” said Valentin’s wife, Autumn Retford, 41. “I want him home so bad.”
Valentin and Retford, who live in Blackfoot, have six children, RJ, 24, Nataya, 20, Kayden, 19, Kyler, 17, Naya, 14 and Rayce, 8.
Valentin and his family have been through a great amount of hardship since 2019. In the last four years, Valentin has survived leukemia twice, suffered through seizures and now a life-threatening car crash.
On April 29, Valentin and Rayce were getting off of Interstate 15 at the South 5th exit in Pocatello when Valentin suddenly suffered a seizure. It caused him to crash his vehicle into a rock wall at 80 mph.
This recent tragedy has forced Retford to take on responsibilities that had previously belonged to Valentin, like supporting the family financially. She’s waitressing at a cafe in Blackfoot, but that’s not bringing in enough income.
“I need to get another job,” Retford said. “(But with) everything going on, I just can’t get a job yet that will pay for everything.”
The family started a fundraiser to help them with needed expenses until Retford can find a second job that will help support them. The goal of the fundraiser is to reach $6,000.
Valentin suffered from a severe traumatic brain injury and Rayce experienced a moderate traumatic brain injury after the accident.
“I just was (in) disbelief,” Retford said.
Rayce was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, and recovered quickly. He was able to return home after four days.
Valentin was in a coma at Portneuf Medical Center for two weeks until a wound on his head became infected and he had to be transported to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. Retford said they didn’t know if he would survive.
“I was finding everything out and watching my baby be hauled off in that helicopter going to Salt Lake and my husband being stuck in Pocatello in surgery,” Retford said. “It was horrible. I don’t even know how to explain. It was horrible.”
Rayce had to have surgery after the accident and his skull was reconstructed with metal pieces. While he’s recovered well, the doctor found that his body was rejecting some of the implants, and they had to be removed. Rayce is now scheduled for another surgery on Nov. 27.
The doctor told Retford that Valentin may have to be in a nursing home for the rest of his life.
At the moment, Valentin can only move his head from side to side, and his right arm a little. He’s tried to smile and he has cried.
The family still doesn’t know if he will ever recover.
“That man is a fighter. He has always said throughout the cancer, you and these kids, I have to be here for you and these kids,” Valentin has told Retford in the past.
Our attorneys tell us we need to put this disclaimer in stories involving fundraisers: EastIdahoNews.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries.