Crash leaves pregnant Gresham woman hospitalized, while other driver faces charges

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on April 27, 2010 at 6:52 PM, updated January 11, 2012 at 12:08 PM
billanddenisewilson.jpgBill Wilson wipes away tears as he and his wife, Denise, describe how they learned their 19-year-old daughter, Cayla, was critically injured in a car wreck. After spending 10 nights at her bedside, they went home the last two nights. "We can't even sit in our living room," said Denise Wilson. "It's just not home anymore without her."
Cayla Wilson, a 19-year-old Gresham woman who is 5  1/2 months pregnant, lies in OHSU Hospital with extensive brain injuries, struggling to survive 12 days after a felon driving without a license smashed into her car.

Her parents have kept vigil by her side, hoping for a squeeze of a hand, a raised eyebrow – any sign of recognition.

Jack Dean Whiteaker, 52, the man police say was speeding, lost control on a curve and practically drove over Wilson's car on Southeast Jenne Road, was wheeled into Multnomah County Circuit Court Tuesday to face assault, reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicants charges.

caylawilson.jpgCayla Wilson on her 19th birthday last July.
His license had been suspended, and police say his speech was slurred, his eyes bloodshot. They suspect he was high on heroin, having found a needle and bent spoon in the wreck's debris.

About 4 p.m. on April 15, Denise Wilson was headed with daughter Natausha, 20, to her 11-year-old son Todd's baseball game in Clackamas when she tried to turn onto Southeast Jenne Road and found it closed.

She didn't know the family's 1990 white Buick was up the road, the roof practically sheared off.

Wilson made it to her son's baseball game. As time passed, though, she grew worried when she didn't hear from her daughter Cayla, who was expected home from a job interview. The family had been struggling to stave off foreclosure; Denise's husband, Bill Wilson, had been out of work for 18 months. Cayla wanted to help and hoped to get housekeeping work.

Denise Wilson called the neighbors to see if they saw Cayla's car at home.

"My neighbor answered and said police are at your house," Denise Wilson recalled. The neighbor handed the phone to an officer who said Cayla was in the Jenne Road accident. "He just said her injuries were bad."

wreck2.jpgView full sizeWreckage of Cayla Wilson's car on Southeast Jenne Road.
Frantic and screaming, "It's my daughter!" she grabbed her son off the field and rushed to OHSU. Her husband met her.

They were led to the ICU, where doctors told them Cayla had suffered extensive brain injuries, five skull fractures and fractures in the left and right sides of her jaws. When they saw her, "it just didn't look like my baby," Denise Wilson said, breaking down in tears. "There's a lot of denial. You just don't want it to be her."

Cayla Wilson was heavily-sedated and comatose.

"Everyday, it's just a nightmare. It's just not what it's supposed to be," said Bill Wilson, who paces the hospital halls.

A day later, a victim's advocate from the prosecutor's office told the couple about Whiteaker, who was injured in the crash and has a criminal history spanning seven states over 35 years, with convictions for reckless driving, drug and weapon possession and theft.

whiteaker.jpgJack Dean Whiteaker
His driving privileges had been suspended in Arizona. He never got an Oregon license. Eight days before the accident, a Clackamas County judge signed a warrant for his re-arrest for violating his probation after a June 2009 conviction for possession of heroin.

He had spent five days in jail, and was on probation for 18 months. He was ordered not to possess alcohol or drugs, undergo a substance abuse evaluation, attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and not drive without license or insurance.

On April 2, his probation officer Dawn Penberthy informed the court Whiteaker had failed to report for office visits since late January, failed to attend counseling since January, was dishonest about his employment and residence. In March, a Multnomah County probation officer went to his address, and found it was an office supply store.

How to help 
What: Car wash 
When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Les Schwab, 390 N.E. Burnside, Gresham

Contributions: Cayla Wilson Fund at any U.S. Bank

“We’re trying to raise money for the family to help pay their bills, so they can stay by their daughter’s bedside,’’ Jerry Wilbur, family friend.

"If he hadn't been on the road, this wouldn't have happened," Denise Wilson says. "The guy should have been behind bars. I feel no forgiveness right now at all. It's just not fair."

Her husband added, "It's one of the hardest things to accept."

They say there are signs of hope.

At first, doctors gave Cayla Wilson a 1 percent chance of living, and basically had her on life-support to save her baby, her parents said. About five days after the accident, Wilson was taken off a ventilator, and was able to breathe on her own. "That was an absolute miracle," Denise Wilson said.

Cayla Wilson has had three surgeries to reduce swelling in her brain, remove a blood clot near her hip, and reconstruct her jaw. Doctors found a small blood spot by the baby's brain, and are monitoring it.

"Everything now is day by day. We don't know if she's going to talk again, walk again," Denise Wilson said. "My daughter is Number 1, no matter what, but we want to save our first grandbaby too."

Cayla's parents describe Cayla as a dynamic independent spirit who was excited about becoming a mom. The baby's father is her boyfriend. She grew up in Portland, attended Franklin High School until her junior year and then attended Portland Youth Builders. She's had a passion for hip-hop music and wrote poetry.

Bill Wilson says he just keeps talking to his daughter. "I'm here. Daddy loves you. You're going to be OK. Keep sleeping. You'll be home soon."

--Maxine Bernstein