1969 Camaro

She witnessed the fall out of the accident from her house on June 19, 1980.

My mother in law and her neighbor stood in a field watching the flashing red lights and hearing the blaring sirens.  They knew something awful had  happened, she just never dreamed it involved her son.  He was only 16 years old.

His mom told me they watched the wrecker, (that was taking her son’s car -or what was left of it), drive by their house just as they were leaving for the hospital.  That is when the fear became real and tangible.  It was totaled. Later when they went to the junkyard, the steering wheel was all that was left whole of his ’69 Camaro.  His momma kept it.

The accident was a head on collision.  He was thrown from the car over 100 feet.  He was not wearing his seat belt.  The only thing he remembers is standing up and asking how the driver of the other car was and then he collapsed.  His spinal cord shattered.

Richard was in ICU for three days before he regained consciousness.  They couldn’t operate until he did.  His shoulder was broken, he had a concussion, and his vertebrae was crushed.

Paralyzed from the chest down, he was officially listed as a paraplegic in the hospital records.  The surgeon told him and his parents that he would never walk again, mentioning it was a 99.9% chance that he would never take another step.  Richard never believed him.

He had a painful and agonizing recovery in a Stryker bed.  Morphine caused hallucinations and once he punched a nurse in the face when on it.  He will not take that drug to this day and lists it under his allergies when asked.

In rehab, he went from lifting 10 pounds, when he first began, to lifting 140 pounds when he was released.  I remember when we first met and how I admired the size of his biceps. ☺

Slowly he regained some feeling in his left foot and then his right foot.   His dad once told me how he remembered receiving the call from Richard after he had moved his foot for the first time.  And how that had made his dad feel.  Just unbelievable.  Eventually, he took his first step.

I first saw him not even a year after the accident.  He was on crutches.  We didn’t officially meet until 3 years later.   Our eyes met across a crowded room. ☺  I was just 16.  We have been together ever since.

He doesn’t talk much about the accident.    There is a newspaper article that was written about him.  He was ‘Charlie Brown’ back then.

We used to go water skiing on his boat when we were dating.

Seriously!

21 years old

Richard is an amazing human being.  Determined and persistent are truly understatements.  He doesn’t have any strains of laziness in him.  His attitude about his circumstances far exceeds anyone I have ever known.  I want to be more like him in that respect.

He is a hard working man, father, and homeschool dad.  He solely runs Browns Floor Covering and is a wonderful provider and an inspiration to know.  God has truly blessed me with him.

“When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” John 11:4

…to be continued…The Story of Miss Grasshopper