Photo: Ree Drummond
Ree Drummondsays her husband Ladd is “doing great” one year after he was involved in a scary accident that left him with a broken neck.
In a blog post shared Saturday, the 53-year-old Food Network star said it “is pretty remarkable” to see her husband, 53, in this position after he and their nephew Caleb wereseriously injured in a crashwhile battling a wildfire on the couple’s Oklahoma property in March 2021.
Now, Ladd is basically back to his old life, though some impacts of his injury still linger. “He’s lifting weights. He’s riding his horse. He’s feeding cattle and doing all the work on the ranch he always did,” Ree wrote.
“Sure, his neck is still a little stiff and probably always will be,” she continued. “He can no longer whip his head around when I call ‘Oh, Honey????? Can you do me a favor????’ from the other room. (And this is probably okay with him, haha).”
Ree and Ladd Drummond.Monica Schipper/Getty
Neither Ladd nor Caleb was wearing a seatbelt, per the report, which noted that Caleb “was ejected approximately 70 feet from point of rest.” Caleb was taken to the St. John Medical Center in Tulsa with critical injuries while Ladd took himself to a local hospital, where he eventually had surgery toaddress his broken neck.
Shortly after the accident, Ree revealed that Ladd had broken his neck in two places. “Evidently one of the two fractures was very close to being catastrophic,” Ree wrote at the time.
Ladd and Ree Drummond.Ree Drummond/Instagram
In her blog post on Saturday, Ree said Ladd approached the situation with a “healthy dose of gratitude” after learning how close he was to a more significant injury.
“The surgeon had told us that the fracture in his neck came dangerously close to damaging his spinal cord, and the fact that he was lucky to be able to get up and walk around after surgery was not lost on Ladd,” thePioneer Womanstar wrote.
She went on to say life was “pretty tough on Ladd in those first weeks” following his neck surgery, which required him to wear a neck brace afterward.
Ladd was a bit of a mixed bag as a patient, Ree said. At first, her husband “generally obeyed his surgeon’s orders when he first got home from the hospital” but quickly “started pushing the envelope about three days later.”
Tyler Essary/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Ree also mentioned Ladd’s appearance at their daughter Alex’s wedding in May 2021, during which Laddbriefly removed his neck braceto walk her down the aisle. Ladd rode his horse the day of the rehearsal dinner, too, she noted.
“Fortunately, I’ve been married to this dude for 25 years and I asked Jesus to take the wheel many years ago, so I was able to throw my hands up and surrender when these envelopes were pushed,” Ree wrote, adding, “Thank you,Carrie Underwood.”
“I’m not sure how a major accident, a major surgery, and a significant physical recovery could do anything but take a toll on someone who is pretty active and healthy,” the star added.
Ree Drummond.Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Ree and Ladd have beenmarried for 25 yearsand share five children together:Alex, 24,Paige, 22,Bryce, 19,Todd, 18, and foster sonJamar, 18.
Back in February, Ladd called Ree “the most capable person I know” while his wifecelebrated their relationshipon Valentine’s Day.
Later that month, Ree revealed thekeys to a successful marriageon Instagram: “1. Listen to each other 2. Touch feet in bed right before you go to sleep, even if you’re mad. 3. Never, ever ski together.”
source: people.com
