NORMAN, Okla. — A Labor Day weekend outing for an Oklahoma man and his sons proved far from relaxing when a dangerous accident instantly put the boys in control — and in the driver’s seat — to keep their father alive.

Todd Gibson clung to consciousness as his 14-year-old, Caleb, drove him toward a hospital over 30 miles away in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Beside him, his other son, Cade, 11, helped hold pressure on a wound to slow the loss of blood. 

His life in the balance, Gibson’s weekend had not turned out as planned. 

Monday had started out as a fun, father-son bonding trip — the kind Gibson likes to spend with his two boys. The three were looking forward to hunting season and visiting rural property plentiful with fish and wildlife.

“We have a hunting lease south of Tecumseh, and we were preparing our hunting area for the coming deer season,” Gibson said. “I was in a tree stand cutting zip ties with a box knife.”

The knife slipped and sliced deeply into his left forearm, slashing across his wrist and into his palm. 

“When I first looked down, I saw blood spurt out of it and knew I was in trouble,” Gibson said. “I knew it was very serious with the amount of blood I was losing.”

As Gibson climbed down, he told his sons that they needed to leave immediately. The hope of directing an ambulance accurately to their remote location seemed doubtful.

First, he needed to slow the bleeding.

A former Norman police officer, Gibson routinely keeps first aid supplies and tourniquets on hand in case of emergencies, especially when the family is on outings. He sent Caleb running ahead to the pickup to get a tourniquet. When he couldn’t find one immediately, Caleb gave his dad a T-shirt to staunch the blood and kept looking.

“I was nervous about the amount of blood he was losing, but other than that, I was pretty calm,” Caleb said. “My dad has always said, in an emergency situation, it’s best to be calm and make decisions rather than freaking out.”

Eventually, he found a cloth belt, and they tightened it into a tourniquet as best they could.

“My dad has shown me a tourniquet and how to put it on, but I never had to use that knowledge before,” Caleb said.

Meanwhile, Cade was doing what they always do when it’s time to leave.

“I was trying to pack up all the stuff,” Cade said. “I just started throwing all of our stuff into the back of the truck.”

Gibson told him there wasn’t time and got the three of them into the truck. He knew he needed medical care and decided the hospital at Shawnee was the closest. 

“I knew there was no way I could drive,” he said. “I had lost a tremendous amount of blood.”

With Caleb in the driver’s seat, Cade helped his dad keep pressure on the wound.

Caleb had driven in a field before but had never driven on a road, much less a highway. He focused on remembering everything his dad had taught him about driving as they made their way toward Shawnee.

They had a plan and stayed focused during the 25-minute drive. Part 1 of the plan was applying pressure to the wound and driving to the hospital. Part 2 was pulling over and calling 911 if Gibson passed out. That plan kept them focused. 

Despite the fear, Cade had a calm center.

“I felt like God would just take care of it,” he said.

Gibson’s cell phone rang as his wife, Johanna, tried to call during the trip. Unaware of the danger her husband was facing, she just wanted to remind her boys it was time to pack up and head home.

Gibson declined the calls. He was too busy helping Caleb with directions and just hanging on to answer the phone.

When they reached the hospital, Caleb pulled up to the entrance and ran inside, only to find the ER empty. He ran into the hallway looking for help. 

“I was just thinking, maybe there’s a nurse in the hallway,” Caleb said. “Eventually, I found one. I said my dad was in the truck bleeding out.”

They grabbed a wheelchair and dashed to meet his dad, who was being helped out of the truck by Cade.

The deep wound required two layers of stitches, including 16 stitches on the outside.

With Gibson getting the medical attention he needed, Caleb called his mom. Johanna’s first reaction was disbelief. She thought her boys were playing a joke on her.

“When Caleb told me the hospital name and it was Shawnee St. Anthony’s,” she said she realized it was no joke and headed to the hospital.

Having survived 20 years on the Norman police force before retiring last year, this was probably the closest Gibson had ever come to death.

“As a police officer, there are always going to be times you feel like this is the day you might not make it home, but this event was clearly one of the first times I could feel the physiological reaction in my body as it started to shut down from losing that much blood,” he said.

Gibson knows his situation would have looked very different if he had been alone out on that property. He believes God was watching over them. Johanna is equally grateful.

“In all the years we’ve been married, he’s never gone to the hospital ER,” Johanna said of her husband. “I was overwhelmed, but I was also just so thankful that Todd was OK. I was very, very proud of [the boys] and how well they stepped up. They both stayed in control and did what they needed to do.”

He’s tried to teach his children how to deal with emergency situations and thinks kids are never too young for parents to talk about what to do if something bad happens.

“It is kind of interesting. After all those years in police work, I never would have expected my 14-year-old and my 11-year-old to be my heroes,” he said. 

Hampton writes for the Norman, Oklahoma Transcript.