OMG! Ole Green...had just turned 30, been divorced for approx. 6mos....Jacob was 5, Kelsey was 3. Had been working @ Archies Food Market owned by Mike Archibald, managed by Ross Boyd...as a meat department assistant & front cashier...for 5 years...UNTIL, that Labor Day Weekend of 1997. Doug Westercamp, Jeff Phelps, & myself...set out on what I was told (have no memory of it to this day, docs say its my best buddy Mr. Defense mechanism @ work protecting my brain as its too traumatic for me to recall) was a partly cloudy day...Doug on his ATV 4-wheeler & Jeff & I on his ATV 3-wheeler Honda Big Red...my understanding was this...Jeff (whom I had been dating for approx. 6 mos. @ this point) had extended the foot pegs for me on his ATV so as a place for me to put my feet when riding with him as he worried I would get my feet caught. Going down a very narrow gravel road in Stockport, Jeff decides to pass Doug & the exact item he added to try to protect my safety...ended up injuring us both. Ad he passed Doug, the extended foot peg caught Dougs back tire which then on turn flipped Jeff off 3-wheeler, then me, then the 3- wheeler. Jeff was knocked out briefly & in a state of shock. Doug was fine. ME?...WELL...I went sliding down road tearing up the right side of my face, landing half in, half out (lower half in ditch, upper half on edge of roadway, pinned by ATV next to a fence. Cant even begin to imagine or want to...what Doug went thru that day...his best buddy wanting to pick up & hold his gf, his wifes @ the time (Angie Poole Westercamp Kopera) best friend, lying there unresponsive...& he has a football field length to go to closest house to use phone & call for help. Without u Doug, & your common sense that day..where the heck would I be? Dont really want to know. BUT, Doug.. loved u then, love u now, always have, always will...forever will u hold a very special place in my heart!...bear with me all...this TURN BACK TUESDAY story, DOES have ahappy ending result, Im just not there yet...Doug got there 2 that house 2 plea 4 help, but b4 he turned 2 run, he told Jeff Dont move her man, we dont know how her spine & back are...I mean it Jeff, leave her ALONE! Ppl @ house called 911 & Doug ran back 2 find Jeff had listened 2 his advice but had my head resting in his lap & he was crying, telling me 2 please hang on that help was on the way. DOUG &JEFF both said later I sounded like a deer dying...something about the breathing, & gurgling/choking on my own blood. Ambulance came...nobody even knew it was me lying there they said. Was aircared to Iowa city, spent 24 days there...remained unconscious for 3 days & when I awoke they said all I wanted was Jeff, would only speak to him, begged for him to take me home. In awakening...they began to probe me with questions...I had no idea I was the proud Mother of two awesome kids! (GULP)... Jake celebrated his 6th Birthday right beside his Moms hospital bed as she looked on not fully aware who this boy even was. OK Im choking up here so...time for the happy ending...back surgery & in back brace for 12 weeks, 5 facial surgeries. Neck brace, IVs, feeding tube, 2 drainage tubes on my left side, catheter, & Ted hose 24/7. Then after my release...physical therapy3 times/weekly. To ALL my family & friends...THANKS for never giving up on me! To JAKE & KELSEY.. it WAS u 2, no doubt, who rescued my heart, body, mind, & soul...from that unknown place I got lost in! Its been a long & hard road but here I AM.. 16 years later...loving life & thinking my life is grand. THANK YOU GOD!!! :-)
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:24:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015