Keith Jones knows that, in football, the difference between winning and losing is often a matter of inches.

It sounds trivial, though, when Milford High School's coach talks about Jan. 18, 2009, the emotion his family has experienced since that date, and what Father's Day 2012 means to him.

“Every day is Father's Day. He was 5 inches from being taken from me. Every day is important because he is here,” Keith said of 6-year-old Harris, a toddler when a freak snowmobile accident threatened to take his right leg.

Harris said “it bothers me” to tell the story. His reason:

“It's annoying. It was just an accident,” said the soon-to-be first-grader.

Keith said Jan. 18 is a “life-long sentence.” He sees the images daily in his mind's eye.

“It was pretty traumatic. The details are pretty gruesome,” said Keith, 38. “Having his leg saved was pretty amazing since I had to pick most of it up to have it put back on.”

Returning from an excursion shortened by a blizzard, Keith reversed the snowmobile into a barn connected to the family's Canaan, Vt., property. Harris watched from the top of a 3-foot-high staircase adjacent to the barn doors.

As Keith reversed into the barn, the snowmobile's track hit a spike in the floor. The snowmobile stopped cold. Keith fell forward, pinning the throttle.

The snowmobile raced. Keith was thrown from the seat. His wife, Kelly, was struck in the hip and knocked across the barn.

After destroying the barn floor, the snowmobile landed on the boy's right kneecap.

“It cracked him like a meat grinder. Thank God it didn't eat him apart,” Keith said. “We were in disarray. I don't know how Kelly got up. But she kicked in the door and called 911.”

Emergency medical technicians arrived in minutes, stabilized Harris, and rushed to Colebrook's Upper Valley Connecticut Hospital. Flesh and muscle were severed from the lower right leg.

Harris endured a 3 1/2-hour ride from Colebrook to Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD) in Lebanon. The storm prevented use of the helicopter.

Keith and Kelly faced a frightening prospect: Their son may lose his limb.

The emergency room staff, however, saved the boy's patella and reconstructed the knee. Pediatric orthopedic surgeons Chris Cook and Joseph Signorelli, then with CHaD, strove to avoid amputating.

Harris underwent 28 operations in a 55-day span, Keith said. Preventing infection was priority.

“Everyday, it was like, 'Clean it out, stitch it 2 inches, wait a day,'” Keith said.

At the time a self-employed painter, Keith didn't work for the next seven months. He said his first trip home from the hospital was March 11, 2009 — nearly two months after the accident.

“The greatest thing about CHaD, going through this horrific time, it was like being in a hotel, being pampered,” Keith said. “What the nurses do for you there, it can't be duplicated. There are so many things they do for you that takes the load off.”

The Joneses were insured through the Milford School District, where Kelly continues to work and Keith since joined. Fundraisers in Hanover and Milford, and countless donations also helped ease the enormous financial burden.

Hanover football coach Mike Ivanoski, instrumental in those fundraising efforts, recalled a visit the Joneses paid a year after the accident.

“Harris was running ... which was amazing to me,” Ivanoski said. “Keith has always been proud of his son. Any father would be proud of his son for fighting through such adversity. Harris has his father's relentlessness.”

Harris continues the long road to recovery. His most recent surgery, an osteotomy last December, was No. 37. The cast from the bone-straightening procedure was removed last month. Physical therapy is on the horizon.

Keith, in turn, will coach in the state's inaugural East-West high school football all-star game June 23 at the University of New Hampshire (1 p.m.). The game benefits CHaD, and the Kristen's Gift fund for pediatric oncology.

Many all-stars visited CHaD in March. Keith, the West coach, shared his family's story.

“It was very touching. I felt really bad for the little guy,” Salem running back and East all-star Jerickson Fedrick said. “The hospital took care of them. We're doing this for a good organization.”

The bond between father and son is stronger. Harris jokes about the reason he walks with a limp.

“An alligator bit my leg,” he said.

Harris made a paper monkey for his father today.

Keith knows the real gift is Harris himself.

“Life is fragile. It can be taken from you at any moment,” said Keith, whose second son, Jamieson, was born in January. “You've got to value every day you have with those you love.”

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Marc Thaler may be reached at mthaler@unionleader.com.
mthaler@unionleader.com