
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 12, 1993                   TAG: 9312120012
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ACCIDENT BROUGHT FAMILY TO BRINK OF DESPERATION

By all rights, Bill should not be alive. One day in September, he was riding to work. The next thing he knew, he was lying in the street, listening to the siren of an approaching ambulance. His skull was fractured in several places, his facial bones were shattered, his jaw was broken and one side of his brain was crushed. When he arrived at the hospital, said his wife, Carol, "he was dead."

Bill (not his real name) was put on life support and wasn't expected to live. But after a week in a coma, he sat up in bed and tried to kiss Carol (also not her real name), who was holding him in her arms. Two months later, he was up and walking around. Once a very muscular man, Bill has lost 30 pounds and suffers from severe headaches. Coughing, sneezing, smiling - even eating - are incredibly painful.

Today, Bill is glad to be alive, but as with most families, the couple depended on two incomes to support themselves and their children. Bill requires 24-hour supervision, so Carol took two months off from her part-time job to be with him. She is back at work on the night shift; the children watch Bill after school. But the family is way behind on its debts.

Bill can't draw unemployment insurance, because his company is holding his job open for him. His work requires strenuous physical activity, which he cannot do now.

He is expected to improve, but his doctors won't say when he will be able to return to work. Before he can file for disability insurance, he needs written certification from the doctors that he is incapable of working for a year. Fortunately for the family, they all are eligible for Medicaid, and they will receive food stamps, although the amount hasn't been settled.

Bill's family and friends have been generous, but when Carol's checking account dwindled to $5 and her savings account to $6, she decided it was time to ask for help.

"Desperation" brought her to the Presbyterian Community Center, she said. The first time she came, she was too embarrassed to mention her bills, but she did ask for food. She was given almost more than she could carry from the center's pantry, and she also took home clothes from the shelves for the children. When she finally asked for help with the water bill after receiving a cut-off notice, the center, using money raised through the Good Neighbors Fund, paid it.

But "it was hard to accept it," Carol said. There is no money for Christmas presents for the children, but the center's caseworkers "said not to worry. They would take care of it," Carol said.

Bill is trying to deal with his situation. He has worked since he was 16 years old, and having little to do other than going to therapy sessions is causing depression and anxiety for him.

"I want to support my family," he said.

by CNB