PULSE walker or shower chair because of a lack of insurance. A Terri knows all about this need. She lost her right leg in a September 2003 motorcycle wreck on the old curvy portion of North Friendship Road in Paducah. And since that time she has found herself to be a bit of an “accidental advocate” for amputees and those in need of durable medical equipment, especially wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs and potty chairs. “My right leg was almost destroyed in the accident,” Terri says. “I had a non-union femur fracture, which they told me it meant that part of my femur just behind my knee.” Tis led to the amputation of her right leg below the knee, which she lives with but had no memory of it. “I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember anything at all,” she says. “I say God created shock for a reason. You don’t know anything. You don’t remember anything. And that’s just great.” Afterward, people have told her what happened after the wreck. “Tey said I was conscious and talking and could tell them who my insurance company was and that we needed to make sure that the girls (her daughters) were taking care of. “And they said I was very cooperative. But I don’t remember a thing, and I am very grateful.” While attending a Salvation Army banquet some time later, Terri learned even more about the wreck and the literal surprise of others that she lived when she ran into one of the emergency medics who cared for her at the scene and took her to the hospital. “He said we knew that your injuries were just horrific when we packaged you,” Terri recalls the medic saying. “He said we never know if people like you live or die. He said, ‘So It’s really good to see you.’” On another day, when Terri was taking someone to the hospital, she saw an x-ray technician who believed he remembered her from the motorcycle accident. His comments were almost identical to those from the emergency medic. “We never know if they are still alive. So it is so good to see you.’” bout a decade ago, Terri Ross was taken aback by the lack of equipment provided to people in need. A person with an amputated leg might be sent home after medical care without a Part of her long-term recovery was adjusting to her new life working. “I was determined to go back to work, which I did, but I was only able to go back on a part-time basis.” Terri worked at Auto Zone in her early 20s and went to work at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant for 17 years after that. Te limb loss made it impossible for her to work full-time. By 2007, “I continued to have surgeries, and when I was ready to return to work I was told I could not work on a part-time basis anymore” she said. Terri said she decided it was time to leave on her own terms. Despite how much she enjoyed her work at the plant, she could not work full- time. “Leaving was devastating to me because I really loved to work, and I really loved my career.” But for some, when a window closes a door opens, and so it was for Terri. “I was down in downtown Paducah one day to actually look at a dog crate,” she says. “I was going to purchase a dog crate from a little ad in the Lone Oak News. Te guy (with the crate) said he would go into FDR Honda Kawasaki for a cup of coffee and he could meet me there, which I thought was a good place to go since I was answering an anonymous ad.” Te dog crate wasn’t what she needed, Terri says. But a friend of hers from AutoZone was working at FDR and serendipity struck; he offered her a job. “Tat’s where I work today,” she says. “I still work part time; I’ve never been able to work a full-time job because of my injuries. I enjoy working and being in a social environment that working gives you, and I have never been a stay at home person. And so it was that another door opened for Terri and for the hundreds – if not thousands – of people she would help as she became that “accidental advocate.” Her advocacy started not much longer after the wreck and her recovery. At the request of a doctor, Terri started visiting people who lost limbs. Her caring and desire to help brought her and others to start “Paducah Area Amputees in Action,” a monthly support group for those experiencing limb loss. Te group meets at Lourdes. INTHEVUE.COM PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE JULY 2014 67
