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Holly
Newton Talks about Her Accident
By Holly E. Newton
Editor’s Note: Meridian readers
have been concerned to learn more about the bike accident and closed-head
injuries of our children’s book reviewer, Holly Newton, as
we have been hoping and praying for her speedy recovery. We asked
her to update us.
Life takes many interesting turns,
and you never know what awaits you every day. One thing that is
certain is that you’d better not forget to pray and be faithful
and always, always stay close to the Lord because of the uncertainty
of life.
My terrible accident on May 4th was the perfect example of not knowing
what that day would bring to me and my family. I had been cycling
for about 4 and ½ hours in a new city. We’d just arrived
in town two nights before and I was very unfamiliar with the layout
of St. Paul, Minnesota.
It had been raining for the last two
hours of my cycling, and I was cold and wet and was trying to locate
a store to go into and get out of the rain and get dry and wait
for my husband to pick me up. I remember cycling towards an intersection
but didn’t feel right about it. There was just too much traffic,
too much construction and too many muddy puddles. I feel sure that
it was the Spirit whispering to me not to go in that direction.
So I didn’t.
I headed in the opposite direction
and rode over the interstate to the other side. But I could see
that this was another subdivision full of houses and no stores.
I could see that the other side of the interstate where I'd just
come from did have stores. I just needed to locate the streets that
would take me to them.
So, after riding on this side of the
interstate for about 15 minutes, I found an overpass and rode back
over. The problem with this was that I came right back to that same
muddy and busy intersection that I was trying to avoid. So, I decided
I just needed to get through that area and get on the sidewalk to
get away from the many cars and trucks that were splashing muddy
water on me. What I didn’t know was that the road was being
repaved, and the road surface was about two to three inches lower
than the bottom of the curb. However, I didn’t know this because
there was too much mud and water on the road making it difficult
to see where the road ended and the curb and sidewalk began. So,
when I approached the sidewalk at an angle, the cement of the curb
was much higher than the road and my wheels came to a sudden stop
which threw me over the handlebars and onto the cement hitting my
forehead first.
That is all I remember. But the many
tender mercies of the Lord came into play from that point forward.
Two eyewitnesses to my crash immediately called 911. There was a
fire station that was only two minutes away, and thankfully they
responded and were there very quickly. The EMT's decided to take
me to the trauma center at Region's Hospital and that was another
blessing, as they didn’t know I was bleeding in my brain.
The doctors and nurses at the hospital quickly determined from a
CT scan that I had a very large clot in my brain and immediately
prepared me for surgery.
All of these events needed to happen
quickly in order to save my life and the Lord blessed me all the
way. The ER nurse, who met the ambulance and helped prep me for
the surgery, knew right away that I was LDS because I had my CTR
ring on my finger. I was semi-conscious and was somewhat incoherent.
Some of the attendants wondered if I was drunk. The ER nurse corrected
them on that observation and told them that I was a member of her
church and was definitely NOT drunk. The operation went extremely
well, but the neurosurgeon was still amazed at how quickly I was
recovering.
This entire emergency and medical process-and recovery-has been
nothing short of a miracle. There is no doubt in my heart and mind
that I was blessed through the many heartfelt prayers, temple prayers
and fasting of the many family members and friends throughout the
midwest and western states.
Four of my five children drove from
Missouri and Utah, and my youngest flew from Salt Lake City in order
to be with me while I was recuperating in the hospital. It was wonderful
to see them, and I felt their strength, faith and prayers during
my stay in the hospital.
Dale, my husband, never let on during
this calamity that he was very worried about me and my outcome.
He was able to get to the hospital just as they were wheeling me
into surgery when he saw my life-threatening condition. He testifies
to each of our children that the Spirit intervened through those
important prayers and the faith of so many, and I was allowed to
stay here on the earth.
I thank my Heavenly Father daily for
the chance to live a while longer. I just got out of the hospital
from my second surgery to put back the part of my skull they took
out to alleviate the swelling and bleeding. It's turned out very
well and now I won’t have to wear a hockey helmet for protection
anymore and feel ridiculous as I walk down the street.
I’m grateful for my job of reading
many books every week and writing about them. I’m grateful
that I wore a bicycle helmet which helped protect me and prevent
even more serious damage! I feel very blessed that I'm able to think
coherently and able to write down my reviews about these many books
to entice others to read them as well. And I’m very thankful
to the many readers of Meridian Magazine for your concerns and prayers
on my behalf!
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Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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