The LAST last post

Amy wrote a letter to the editor of The Challis Messenger and it was published this week:

Guest Commentary - The miracle is in the people


BY AMY HANSEN

I am writing to share the story of a miracle with everyone in your town. On May 1, I received a phone call telling me that my mother and father had been in a rollover car accident near Challis, just south of the Cottonwood Creek campground.
The list of my mother's injuries was terrifying: broken neck, back, arm and leg, plus a shattered thumb.

The Challis paramedics, including Trever, Luanne, Vicki, Biddie and Aletia (to the best of our knowledge), raced out to the accident site, and my mom was put on a backboard and airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. EMT Vicki called several times to check on my mother's condition after Mom got to the hospital.

My mom's accident left her in very poor spirits, but not because of her own serious injuries. One of her two beloved cats, Rita, had gone missing. Deputy Levi Maydole saw Rita run off into the dense underbrush at the accident site.

During my mom's four-week hospital stay, we drove out to Challis several times to look for Rita and put up posters, but with no luck.

Challis Animal Control officer John Runer said he would look for Rita, and neighbors near the crash site put out food. Two of the EMTs (Trever and Luanne or Vicki, we think) promised to keep going back to the site to look for Rita. KSRA radio announced her plight in "Lost and Found." Eddie and his daughter went out and looked for Rita, and they put us in contact with the Cottonwood Creek campground host, Duane Wilson. Deputy Maydole said he'd drive by the site, and Mary, the dispatcher at the Sheriff's Office, pledged to help spread the word.

Four weeks passed, during which my mother survived four surgeries and started to breathe on her own again. She returned to Roseville, California, via air ambulance.

Then a journalist friend of my mother's heard about the missing cat and contacted The Challis Messenger, which published a story about Rita. A few days later, my father received a call from a trucker who reported seeing a gray cat. My dad bought a live cat trap at my mom's insistence, and family friends on a road trip dropped it off with Duane.

Duane put the trap out for a couple of nights, and one morning, Rita was inside. Duane took her to Lone Pine, where she got lots of love and care until a ride home could be arranged. You can imagine the hysterical crying, screaming, phone calling and general craziness that ensued when Duane called with the news, almost six weeks after the accident. Family and friends were ecstatic about the "miracle cat."

The miracle was not the survival of the cat. Nor was it the survival of my mother, as I believe that was in the hands of a higher power.

The miracle in this story is you, the people of Challis. My parents were complete strangers, and every person we encountered through our ordeal treated us like next-door neighbors, or in some cases, like family, taking time to do something for us out of real generosity, not for personal gain.

A perfect example is when my father called Duane and asked for his address so he could send the reward for finding Rita. Duane said, "Now Brian, I can't tell you that." We ended up sending the reward money to Lone Pine.

In this busy, often self-centered world, Good Samaritans have become rare. To have found a whole town of them is a miracle. I hope you each realize what a wonderful gift you've given to our family, and to my personal faith in human character.

You have my eternal gratitude. Amy Hansen lives in Syracuse, New York

Final Blog Post

Janet with a good-bye wave to all her faithful blog friends!

Oh, happy day

Yesterday I went to see my neurosurgeon and the scans allowed her to tell me that I could have the halo AND the back shell off ASAP! I called the orthotics office and they were booked up for a week and a half. I called Larry, who worked on me, and he said that he and his partner would stay late at the office to take it off.

So, I'm halo and brace free. I have a soft collar on my neck and I still can't do much--no bending--but I am free! Just wanted to let you all know right away. I'll get a picture of the new me and get it on the blog.

Love you all. Janet

Pictures of Lone Pine Vet Clinic from Dr. Imamura (Challis vet)

Pictures and captions from Don and Sylvia (the Sylvia who can type and hold a camera)

This is a photo of highway 93 in the area of the crash site, taken toward the north. The Salmon River is to the left, the Cottonwood Campground would be to the north, beyond the view of the photo. The area where Rita was found in the live trap was in the area beyond the trees to the right in the photo. As we discussed, Rita may have been seen by the truck driver traveling along the road to the campground to the north, where Duane was also putting out food, or to the south in in the photo to the house where a family was putting food out for Rita, even though they had a number of cats themselves. As you know from your visit there, the area behind the trees was a somewhat open, fairly level half circle rimmed by fairly steep cliffs. The area had fresh water coming under the road in a culvert.


We had some photos that showed the setting of the campground better (grass, trees and river in the background), but the foreground came out blurry. This flash photo is the only one that came out of Duane, so the background is not great. Duane was already putting food out for Rita at the campground and at the 'pumphouse site' behind the crash site. These were the sites where he set up the live traps. I believe Duane told us that this was his tenth year hosting at the Cottonwood Campground. He lives in Arizona in the winter.


This is not a great shot, but it shows Rita in her carrier lying curled up on her back, her position for most of the trip after about her first hour of travel. That position indicated to us that she was pretty relaxed.


Tetsu traveled way in the back of the Tahoe, so he and Rita were well-separated. We think they may not have seen each other the entire trip.


Rita in the motel room in Lovelock, NV. Rita had her own room in the motel--the bathroom--where all her 'stuff' was set up. We also had some sections from a dog exercise pen across the doorway as a back-up barrier. Tetsu never went near the door to the bathroom. Rita showed a lot of interest in exploring further, so we were very careful.

Janet's Blog Letter

Wonderful friends and family

I have just read the fabulous blog that Jill and Am set up when I had the accident. Although I was read most entries, I really don’t have much memory of May and no memory of the accident week at all.

I can’t tell you how much your support, cards, gifts, calls, blog entries and thoughts helped get us through some trying and scary times. Whenever we needed outside help there were always multiple offers. And the help keeps coming in! The blog is winding down as I start the process that will eventually lead to the halo coming off. I plan on the last blog page being a picture of me without the halo. The back brace may take much longer.

Many of you know about my Monday fam-spam where I tell you more than you ever wanted to know about us. If you want to be included just email me at bandjhansen@comcast.net and I’ll add you. I won’t be offended if it is more than your inbox can handle.

Thank you again for your continued support. There are new photos of Rita on the blog.

Love, Janet

Rita, baby