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Mary's Story
April 23, 2008 |
Mary Schaffer has a passion for flowers. The garden club member spent much of
her time making Punta Gorda a little prettier. But on a sunny day in November
tragedy struck Mary and her fellow gardeners. She says, “I have no idea what
happened. I don’t know where the van came from it just knocked us down.” A
speeding van barreled into the group of gardeners killing one of them instantly
Mary was hit next. The impact shattered her knee and broke her ribs with such
force they ripped a hole in her heart. Mary was flown to Lee Memorial Trauma
Center where cardio-thoracic surgeon was able to repair the hole in her heart.
Dr. Nelayda Fonte is the Director of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care with Lee
Memorial Health System. She says, “The fact that we’re able to identify it as
quickly as we did and got it taken care of you know speaks wonders for I think
the ability of trauma center to identify those injuries and make a difference so
she should do well.” It took nearly three weeks for Mary to realize that she had
lost a dear friend and almost her own life that day and she is still in the
recovery process. But this survivor hopes to be back in the garden someday soon.
Mary says, “I wouldn’t be afraid to go back up there and work again. But I’d
probably take my car and park it along the side and have the blinkers on and
have some kind of a warning out for cars that are going by. Whatever caused it,
it was an accident and it could happen to anyone.” A knee replacement is the
last step on Mary’s road to recovery. The Lee Memorial Trauma Center is the only
trauma center licensed by the state along Florida’s west coast. |
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