St. Luke's University Health Network recently honored two survivors of severe car crashes at the 12th annual Night of Heroes.

Lloyd Moyer of Parryville and Vera Barnes of Catasauqua, celebrated with more than 100 doctors, nurses, first responders and other medical personnel at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. Some they knew from their stay in the hospital, some they hadn't seen since the day of their crashes.Moyer said he hadn't seen the first responders since his crash on Dec. 6, 2015. He was glad to see them again, and glad to have met them, although he wished it could have been under better circumstances.At around 7 p.m. the day of the crash, Moyer was struck by another vehicle as he was driving through a green light at an intersection. He had just picked up a friend from her house 15 minutes before the crash."I wasn't worried about myself," he said. "I kept telling her we're going to be OK. I was more concerned about her."Moyer said he wasn't in any pain, so he didn't think was hurt that bad. In reality, his spleen had exploded and he was bleeding internally."I remember thinking, 'My family is going to hate me now,' " he said. "It was my aunt's car."Moyer was taken by PennSTAR to St. Luke's University Hospital in Bethlehem, where was rushed to surgery. In addition to his spleen, he had injuries to his liver, colon, lung and a pelvic fracture. He was the Intensive Care Unit for almost two months, some of it in a medically induced coma. In all, he underwent more than 10 surgeries. He said his large intestine is actually shorter than his small intestine, and mesh still holds his organs in place.Moyer said the first responders didn't think he would survive."They were losing me more than they were losing her," he said, and explained that he remembers bits and pieces of the aftermath."I remember them putting a towel over my face to protect me from breaking glass. I remember them smashing the window and pulling the roof off," he said.He told them he could feel his legs, but his foot was trapped.Moyer remembers the sound of the helicopter, how "nice and cool" it felt inside, and how "weird" takeoff felt to him."I tried to answer their questions, but I couldn't," he said. He was going into shock.Recovery hasn't been easy, and sometimes he has wanted to give up. But his doctor said this is normal, and although recovery will take about two years, he will have a normal life again. For the most part, Moyer said he has more good days than bad ones.Moyer said that in the hospital, he was "always giving them a thumbs-up, shaking their hands and saying thank you."One ICU nurse teared up and said to him, "We don't get that a lot.""I always say thank you, but I feel 'Thank you' isn't enough," he said.Today, Moyer is back home with his family, and his friend is healing from her injuries. Whenever he's in Bethlehem, he stops by the hospital and visits the nurses in ICU, and he keeps in touch with some of his doctors. At the heroes event, people involved with his rescue and care kept coming up to him and asking to get a picture taken with him."That was really special," he said.Vera Barnes said she's carried a positive attitude and refusal to pity herself throughout her recovery, but her emergency room doctor, Dr. James Cipolla, is her hero."Both of us didn't give up on ourselves," she said.Barnes was in a crash in March 2015. First responders stabilized her, freed her from her vehicle and transported her to the hospital in Bethlehem.There, doctors discovered that she had an unstable spine fracture and planned to fix it in surgery. Cipolla realized her blood pressure was dropping and she was bleeding internally, Barnes said.He took her into emergency surgery, where they found she had a collapsed lung with rib fractures and bleeding in the chest cavity, an injury to the liver with intra-abdominal bleeding. She also had bleeding from her nose and mouth due to severe facial fractures."It takes a special person to know this isn't working and shift gears," Barnes said. "If he hadn't been there and the group (of health care professionals and first responders) hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here right now."At the celebration, Cipolla told her she looked great and she gave him a hug."I let him know how much I appreciate his care," she said. "I am very proud of them for doing their very best. I can walk, I can drive, I can go grocery shopping."