2002 Wendy hit by truck - Oct. 8

Email (abridged) from Catherine to family three days after Wendy was hit by a delivery truck while in a crosswalk on campus at ASU-West.

Sent: Friday, Oct. 11, 2002
Subject: Wendy home from hospital

Good morning!  I feel slightly less pressed for time this am as Wendy is home from the hospital so we won't be spending the day in and out of the hospital doors.  The service levels at John C. Lincoln weren't quite up to the personal levels of the Chestatee Hospital in Dahlonega [where Jean had hip replacement during family reunion in July 2002] but that is a little far to go for trauma treatment!

Thanks to all of you for the calls and encouragement.  I know Wendy is appreciative of the attention and best wishes.  She has talked to Joe twice and he certainly has some experience with recuperating from an accident.  She has a follow up appointment with the trauma Dr. next week, and one with the orthopedic Dr. in two weeks.  The trauma Dr. said therapy is not necessary.  She just needs to put weight on her leg as the pain and discomfort allows and in only 3 or 4 months she'll be back to normal.

We did pick up a copy of the police report so we have the details and the witness reports.  Wendy was 16 feet into the intersection when the pipe delivery truck hit her so it wasn't like she stepped off the curb in front of him.  The driver admitted to being distracted as he wasn't sure where he was supposed to turn and he was looking left as she approached his vision from the right.  She was thrown 7 to 10 feet after being hit but her backpack (there is some advantage in wearing a heavy backpack) may have absorbed a lot of the force of her landing.  It didn't prevent the pelvic and sacrum fractures however!  Thanks goodness he wasn't going any faster and the injuries were not life threatening, only temporarily life-style changing!

Dee and Jessica are coming to visit this weekend so that will help cheer Wendy up as she always enjoys seeing them.  And Dee probably will be glad to have a couple days off from the rest of the kids.

Dad, did you read the article about bacon from the frying pan to a $23 entree in the WSJ?  The entree they were talking about sounded totally disgusting – of course anything with meat doesn't sound that good to me!

Love, C & G

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This accident was a temporary setback for Wendy at ASU-West as she had hoped to graduate that year.  The school did refund her tuition for the semester since the accident happened on school property.

I still remember when we got the phone call about the accident, rushed to the scene, and found the ambulance had already taken her to the hospital.  We did have a short conversation with the truck driver who was quite distraught.  I have wondered how that accident affected his life.

Another recollection is when we got to the emergency room, Wendy made me smile by complaining about how the hospital staff had ruined her jeans by cutting them off her.  The long term effects of her accident include aches, pains and early arthritis in the areas bruised.