POCATELLO — Andrea Hatch’s right leg was badly injured in an accident on July 2 when the motorcycle she was riding was hit by a car on Yellowstone Avenue in Chubbuck.

    Just last week, her doctor at the University of Utah Medical Center told the 32-year-old medical assistant that he is becoming optimistic that she may not lose the leg.

    “It’s always in the back of my mind,” Hatch said of the possibility she could still lose her leg. “If I even get an infection, I could still lose my leg.”

    An athlete as a youth, who played basketball and volleyball at North Gem High School, and an avid runner in recent years, Hatch is hoping her recovery will one day allow her to enjoy those activities again. But she says if all she gets back is enough strength and stability to walk on the leg again, she will be happy with that.

    “I can’t wait for the day I can walk again,” she said.

    Hatch was driving to work the morning of July 2, having stopped at the Common Cents gas station on Yellowstone Avenue near Wal-mart before getting back on her 2009 Honda Rebel 250 motorcycle. Always wanting to have one, Hatch bought the bike in 2011.

    She remembers nothing of that day, except getting ready in the morning and leaving her Chubbuck home. She’s been told that she left the Common Cents, headed back to Interstate 86 on her way to her job at Portneuf Medical Center, when she was hit by a car that pulled out from a business near the gas station.

    The car hit her square on the right side of her motorcycle, fracturing her right femur and her ankle, and completely shattering the top of her tibia at the knee. The tendons to the knee from the tibia were also cut and she had a gash from her calf to her thigh.

    She was immediately transported to PMC where they went to work on her leg, putting a rod in her femur and screws in her ankle.

    “But they didn’t know what to do with my knee because it was so badly damaged,” she said.

    On July 3, doctors came to Hatch to let her know she would be transported that day to the University of Utah Medical Center, hoping they would be able to fix her knee. But, initially, the prospects of her getting help there didn’t seem any better when they told her they too were unsure of just what to do for her and said they may send her to Seattle.

    But they did move forward, performing surgery on July 4 — Hatch’s second surgery on the leg — to put in some rods to help immobilize the leg. They also put in some antibiotic beads, a direct application of antibiotics to the wound, to help decrease the chances of infection.

    That appears to have paid early dividends.

    “The first culture they did showed infection, but they said it was an infection that wouldn’t have surfaced for about a year,” she said.

    She then had a third surgery on July 6 to further clean out the wound and pull out those antibiotic beads, replacing them with more.

    It was after that surgery that her doctor at the University of Utah came back to Hatch and said he knew how he was going to rebuild that shattered tibia.

    She went under the knife for a fourth time on July 10. During that procedure they installed two plates and so many screws that Hatch said she couldn’t count them all.

    Her leg has been immobile since then, in part to ensure the bone has time to heal around the plates and in part to ensure she does not tear the tendons that had been reattached.

    She also had to have muscle pulled from her calf to replace what was lost around the knee and a skin graft to replace that which was lost to the wounds she suffered. Some of the skin doctors thought would recover, has since died, leaving Hatch with a large open wound that she is also being treated for.

    But her healing process continues. Along with her doctors’ optimism that the leg may one day heal, Hatch also began physical therapy on the leg, furthering her hopes that she will one day be able to use it again.

    She’s got a long road ahead, knowing she’s probably many months away from walking on her leg again.

    The driver of the car that hit her was insured, and Hatch was also insured. She has medical insurance as well. But the bills are stacking and no combination of insurance coverage is going to take care of it all.

    She’s been told the final bill for the knee reconstruction alone could be $250,000. Hatch and her family are anticipating the medical bills will surpass half a million dollars. They are expecting to be responsible for at least $100,000 of that.

    To help with those costs, Hatch’s friends and family are beginning a fundraising effort. Much of the information about Hatch, her accident and the fundraising effort can be found on her blog at Hatchidaho.blogspot.com. They are also planning to put together a Facebook page soon.

    The fundraising effort will begin with T-shirts and rubber wrist bands that Hatch and her family will be selling at various crafts fairs throughout Southeast Idaho, including Montpelier, Soda Springs and Bancroft.

    They are also hoping to get permission to use O.K. Ward Park next spring for a 5K race, the proceeds from which will help pay Hatch’s medical expenses.

    They are looking for sponsors for that event and those interested can reach Hatch’s aunt, Jody Merritt, at 847-2031.

    As far as the future goes, should she regain the full use of her right leg again, Hatch hopes to one day get back on a motorcycle. It was something she always wanted to do, and something that became a passion once she did it.

    “I am already talking of getting a Harley (Davidson) next time, so it’s nice and loud and they can hear me coming,” she said. “My dad and brothers ride horses and when they get thrown off, they get right back on. Why can’t I?”