M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

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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