Did you ever have an accident, illness, or an operation?

Pick one and tell about it.

(You can always choose to tell several, the more the merrier.)


Dedicated Too Life History Project

To submit your response

From: Lucy Welden (Bentley cousin)

I had triple bypass surgery in 1996, I didn't realize that I had a heart problem I felt tired all the time and was very irritable after having heart cath. I was not allowed to go home until surgery was done. Following surgery they said I was wrapped in a blanket with just my face showing and I was like a mummy, I went home 4 days after surgery. In 1999, I had surgery for Carotid artery and had a stroke following surgery, I list my sight, speech I was unable to walk and no use of my right side, now 4 years later I have most of my sight back, I can walk about 1 mile or more, I drive my speech is back, I don't have all of the use of right hand back but I manage to do most things. I have so much to be thankful for, my husband, sister and in-laws have been a great help, and I couldn't have made progress without them. I keep reminding myself to have a positive attitude and that I can do anything when I make up my mind to. My mom and my grandmother never gave up.

From: Don Harris (uncle Tunk)

I served 17 months in Korea with the Army Security Agency. 1961 to 1962. The cease fire was in 1955 but an armistice was never signed until 1995. After 27 days coming back on a ship and sailing under the golden gate bridge I decided the bridge was really gold. I came home then went to Fort Brag, NC and then the Cuban missile crises started and got shipped to Florida. After things cooled down I was given leave and Millie and I got married and then back to Florida to finish my hitch. Millie and I lived in Homestead Florida near the Air Force base where I was attached.

I had a miner accident with my jeep while stationed in Korea. I avoided an ox cart that pulled out from in front of me; I missed the ox and ran over a chicken. It cost our government about $5 for the chicken. I forgot what it cost if you killed a pig, big bucks as I remember


From: Philip Harris (father)

When I was 17, I was in a terrible accident with two of my best friends, Bob Jenkins and Eugene Bushy. Gene had his girl friend with him in the back seat. We were headed to a square dance at Greens pavilion on Hadlock Pond. Bob and I were to meet our dates at the dance. Going up Ridge Road just north of where Quaker and Ridge now are, we were hit head on by a drunk driver. My two buddies were killed. I was thrown out of the car. I was found in a field. Dick Kubricky had come upon the accident. When they found me he took me to the hospital before the ambulance came. I had a broken jaw and my teeth we smashed out. The excruciating pain I was receiving was from the flesh that had been torn loose from inside my ribs and back. I was in the hospital for several weeks. The girl was in a coma for months, but did survive the accident.



From: Linda Smith (Osberg cousin)

“Several incidents come to mind. One was when I was first learning to ride my bike, a big, 26 inch standard bike, before the "English" bikes came to be popular. I was riding it home from school (Jackson Heights Elementary) one day and fell into some gravel. Of course, I had the bloody knee, the consequent black and blue, and the short, line scar from the "boo-boo". But the best thing about this little, non-significant accident was the little purple remnant under the skin that stayed with me as a "souvenir", well into my adulthood. Of course I can't find it now. The scar is gone, and the little piece of gravel has probably disintegrated, but I wouldn't know. I can't see it under the many layers of fat!!! (ha, ha, ha!)"


From: Connie Farrington (Harris)

In September 1989 I went into Yale New Haven Hospital one morning for lumpectomies on both breasts. I left at the end of the day knowing that the golf ball size tumor was benign, but the sparkly area identified on the other breast by a mammogram was determined to be malignant. I went back to work the next day knowing that I would be making trips back to the hospital for 6 weeks of daily radiation. Each day I made up the 3 hours I missed for the radiation trip by coming in to work early and working late. When I retired from Dupont Medical Instruments after 16 years I had taken only two sick days, one for a tonsillectomy and one for the breast cancer surgery. They didn't even say Thank You for your dedication. (There's a lesson there.)

After the surgery, my quilts became more original, more exciting, and more uniquely me. The first of these, completed in 3 and 1/2 years of my spare time, was a large Monet water color with at least 5500 pieces in it. Its title was Beneath the Blackness There Was Color, suggesting my learning’s from the bout with cancer. The quilt has won over $5000 in prize money and has been in magazines and an international quilt calendar. As my 96 year old mother would say, "There's no great loss but what there's some small gain".

From: Connie Olson (Hubbard relative)

Where do I start? With my foolish teen years will due. And the auto accident I was in at age 17. I was in a car with 4 others, one being my sister. The driver was a show off; he lost control of the car while speeding down a very hilly road. We rolled over 7 times after shearing off an electric/telephone pole. Yes, the days before seat belts. I was sitting in front and was hurt the worst. Had a broken pelvis and collar bone, a cut on my hand that required 52 stitches. The others had bumps and bruises. I was the only one thrown out of the car. We all walked a half mile to the nearest house which was dark. When we hit the pole the nearby homes lost their electricity and telephone service. Luckily the lady's insurance man was there and he brought us all into town to the local hospital. 


I was in the hospital for 2 weeks. It was a Seven day Adventist hospital in a neat old Victorian home. The place was very homey and beautiful. The operating room was in the old dining room. The cooks were fantastic. Great food!! When I was feeling better I would get out of bed and butt scoot down the stairs to the kitchen for snacks. I couldn't use crutches because of the broken collar bone.


The worst part about being in the accident was waiting until my parents came to give the doctors permission to work on my hand. I was scared of being bawled out for riding with that fast driver. The reason we were driving with him was my good friend Anita wanted to go to the Glen Lake Sanitarium to visit one of her other friends, and have us meet her. Which we did the accident happened while taking one of the others home.


The Doctors wanted to know how I managed walking that far with a broken pelvis. When I was released I was scared to drive in any car. Told my dad to keep going the speed he was driving it was fast enough for me.  It was 10 miles an hour. It sure opened my eyes up to whom I rode with after that.  No more reckless teenage boys driving me around. I had learned my lesson.



From: Lois Rotella (Bentley cousin)

I did have an illness when I was about 10 years old. I had Scarlet Tina which is a milder case of Scarlet fever. I was out of school for three weeks which I liked but it was also to close to finals. I had to do homework every night and my mother would take it to school everyday. I went back to school just when final test were given. I did well and past to the sixth grade.



From: Amy Freeman (Glick/Harris)

In 1999 I had pre-cancerous cells that had to be removed. Before the surgery, I had to have one last biopsy done at Roswell Park Cancer Inst. I was terrified because the last doctor that did a biopsy didn't know what she was doing and took 8 instead of 4. (This was at a local hospital, not at Roswell.) She made it so painful for me that I couldn't work for a week. So, when I had to have another one done, I was very upset. This all happened about 3 months after Grandma Harris passed away. I said a prayer the night before, and then asked Grandma to watch over me. I walked into Roswell and sitting there in the same waiting room were 4 missionaries from the church.  (I had been in there so many times before and never saw one until this day.) Heavenly father answered my prayer. As if that weren't enough, they gave me a blessing. During the blessing my body went from shaking, to complete relaxation. I was crying when they were done and so was my mom. We both said after the blessing that we felt Heavenly Father's presence and Grandma Harris's. (I felt her finger on my cheek.) During the procedure, I felt nothing, no pain at all. I was able to go back to work the next day. I will never forget that experience!



From: Steven Harris (brother)

A few years ago I had slipped of a step of a dump truck and tore up my shoulder and had to have surgery. When I was home recouping I watched a lot of TV and was watching a show about bear's on the Discovery channel. I took my pain medicine and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked in the living room and saw a very big grizzly bear, wondering how the heck the bear got in the house and thought how the heck am I going to get out of the house. I pulled the covers over me and did some serious thinking (my heart is now pounding and wondering if the bear can hear it). I thought about using the phone but it was in the living room with the bear. I looked at the closest window and was preparing myself to throw off the covers and dive through the window. I tried to see where the bear was and when I looked in the living room and looked at the bear I watched it disappear. I realized at that moment that between the Discovery channel and the Vicatain I had imagined the whole thing. I got out of bed and threw away the pain medicine so that could never happen again. That seemed so real, could you imagine the look on my father's face (Phil Harris) as I would have ran to his house after diving threw my window. I still would have the straight jacket on today!

From: Renee (Harris) Zamora

I have had several surgeries but these two are the most memorable. In July of 2001 I had gastric bypass surgery and lost 130 lbs. This has been life changing for me. The other incident followed a several months later. It happened on Thanksgiving Day 2001. I was with my family for Thanksgiving at my Brother Randy’s home. I was feeling fine that morning, but before we left I all of a sudden came down with a pain in my stomach, near my belly button. I decided that it was just a pain, I have many and I wouldn’t let this stop me from going to Thanksgiving with the family.

The pain kept getting worse. I could hardly eat anything. I sat at the little kids table so I didn’t have to talk to anyone and make a fuss. I know everyone thought it was just another pain I was always having. Maybe I was constipated. I finally had to cut the day short and go home. As I got into the car I dropped down onto the seat. With the jar of falling into the car seat the pain was horrific. As we drove towards home I told my husband we should drop the kids off and then take me to the hospital. The plans quickly changed to take me to the hospital quick.

We arrived at the American Fork Hospital to find out it was a possibly appendicitis. But, to determine if it was I would have to go to UVRMC, in Provo, to get a test to see if it was. The MRI machine was under water in American Fork. I made the trip with another lady in the ambulance. I had to lay on the jump seat. I kept falling off, the pain was terrible. Then I had to jump down from the ambulance. By the time I came back to American Fork for the surgery I was wiped out and in awful pain. I had the surgery around midnight. What a memorable holiday.



From: Jim Harris (brother)

(The below is not a true story even though Jim claims it is, this is just his sense of humor. Next time Jim send me a real story!)

This happened to me a few years ago when I worked as a bricklayer:
On the day of the accident, I was working along on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some brick left over which, when weighed later were found to be slightly in excess of 500lbs.

Rather than make several trips and carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow decent of the bricks.

You should note that I weigh 165Lbs. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel which was now proceeding downward at an equal, impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collar bone.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of beginning to experience a great deal of pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you again to my weight.

As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent, down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several lacerations of my legs and lower body.

Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked.

However as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain, unable to move, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin its journey back down onto me. This explains the two broken legs.

From Mark Harris

Our son, Billy (William Mark Harris) had a rough start. My wife, Kathy, went into labor at 26 weeks when the baby was expected to be born on Labor Day (??). She was given some "medicine" (magnesium something) to stop the labor, along with a steroid shot to help develop the lungs of the infant - just in case there was early delivery. The doctor said that if the infant had 24 hrs more to develop inside, he's got a chance. Another doctor didn't give as positive of news when he measured the weight of the baby in the stomach (630 grams or so). The prematurity as well as the size combination wasn't good.

Well, Kathy was ordered to bed rest (try to tell a woman something she doesn't want to hear), and 23 1/2 hrs after the steroid shot we were on our way back to the hospital and rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. At 9:19AM on (_______), Billy was delivered Cesarean (they were afraid he would be crushed through normal delivery). He did gain some weight during that extra time in the stomach - born at 648 grams (1 lb 7 oz). Imagine literally a Barbie doll sized baby... or as I tell everyone about the size and weight of a full Molson bottle or a barely legal bass.

Every day we were in the hospital for his three month stay where he had many of the obsticals that premature babies have. Hole in the heart, required oxygen for his underdeveloped lungs, forced feeding, slow weight gain, many more common issues that are sometimes life threatening. It was difficult seeing other babies, most who weren't as lucky with their health. Many babies came and went, and some passed away while we were in the shared room (with and without their parents). We taped ourselves reading books so he could hear our voices when we weren't there - which we believe made the difference (went through lots of AA batteries!). He came home on Labor Day weekend at 4 lbs 11 oz. His only health issue has been asthma, which he seems to have out grown. Now, 8 years later, he's still a small guy (as most Harris men are), but doing wonderfully well. I'll attach a couple pictures for archives. One is with some of his basketball buddies, and another is with his fishing buddy.

He is a little to young to remember, so I figured I'd write it for him.......

From: Brenda (Harris) Olszewski

I have had a few illnesses and operations, but I think I'll tell of the time when we were out west in Idaho visiting the elderly couple that went to the Temple with us. We were staying at their house. They had a farm with pigs and chickens etc. the one animal I remembered most was the horses. There was one that I was allowed to ride. He was big and beautiful. I loved horses. (My cousin Johnny Stark would bring his to our fields and let them run and I would ride them bareback.) After I was given instruction I was set to ride as Dad and our friend set out for a ride in his pickup.

This was great! I thought nothing but me and this beautiful horse on a great day for riding. As we started out I had envisioned going all over the fields and dirt roads having a great time. Little did I know the horse had other plans. I think we got as far as the end of the drive way fine until the road split. I wanted to go one way and we ended up going another. I kept saying whoa-whoa to get him to slow down. He just went faster and faster. Well I started to slide along with the saddle right under the horse and fell off getting banged and bruised up. The only thing I was worried about was I thought the horse was lost. I started to cry walking down that dirt road to the farmhouse.

Then coming down the road was Dad, our friend and the horse trotting along side the truck they were in. I couldn't believe it! I thought the horse was gone. They asked me how I was and if I was ok. I asked how they found the horse and our friend said "Oh he always follows me and knows where I am." I guess that would have been useful information to me. Well anyway, I got right back on him this time and had a great ride!

From: Heidi McDuff

I can remember when I was 3 years old and I had to have my tonsil / adenoids out. I can remember my mom taking me to the hospital and the nurse wouldn't let her stay with me. The mean old nurse put me on a huge stretcher and pinched my fingers between the it and the wall. It hurt so bad and the nurse wouldn't listen to me.

In 1997 I was on my way into work, I slipped on black ice in the parking lot...broke my right ankle and tore the ligament. What I remember most is how alone I was in the parking lot and I couldn't walk. There was no one in sight to help me. So I had to scooch myself (my butt) across the parking lot to get to the door that lead inside. I yelled and yelled and yelled for someone to help me....finally someone did and I was whisked away to the hospital in an ambulance. Ended up having surgery after 3 days of pain. I am unable to take most pain killers, so it felt like forever. I still have the plate, screws and pins (hardware) inside. It was the longest and most depressing recovery for me.



From: Joyce Eggleston

I guess my scoliosis has always been my illness from 10 years old on. Now I have to be on oxygen and a special machine called a Bi Pac at nighttime because of my blood gas levels. I will be on these for the rest of my life, but I do okay. I am thankful for these things because they have given me the good quality of health that I have now.



From: Marie Zamora

I was in 2 car accidents. The funniest one was with my friends Sarah and Danielle. Danielle had just gotten her driver's license and we were sitting at the intersection. It was our chance to go and this pizza delivery girl come whizzing down the road and smashes right into the left side. We were smashed in so far that the left side passenger back door was crumpled in to where I was sitting on the other side. I remember watching Danielle fall over onto Sarah's lap where she'd been sitting and Sarah lunging forward. After, Danielle was so worried that her parents would be mad that we were in the car that she demanded Sarah and I walk to my house. So Sarah and I left while Danielle (with cuts all over her face) took care of things. It was really dumb because Sarah and I were walking up the street away from the accident and I was hobbling home because my leg hurt and Sarah's neck was bugging her. we walked 2 and a half miles home and my mom took us to the hospital to have x-rays and stuff. The police officer was so angry and kept trying to tell us that we weren't in the car accident and that he had already talked to us as witnesses to the accident. We kept trying to tell him that there were two girls across the street who saw it happened who called 911....



From: Jenny McMurray

I haven't had any thing serious happen.