"Former firefighter Gina Kothe's right foot was crushed in an aerial-ladder accident during a 2010 blaze in Kingston, New York. After months of false hope and a failed surgery, doctors decided her foot would have to be amputated. She fell into depression. I had a slight addiction to painkillers, she recalled. I would shower every three or four days, and wear the same barbecue-stained T-shirt for two or three days in a row."
"Her recovery began the day her husband walked in holding a box she assumed was filled with Dunkin' Munchkins. Instead, it chirped. He's like, I got you some baby chicks you're probably gonna want to get up.' Besides adopting baby birds, Kothe credits spending time outdoors for pulling her out of despair. The compact 53-year-old Army veteran in a gray T-shirt that reads: If you think I'm short, you should see my patience, lives on a farm where she hauls hay"
Gina Kothe lost her right foot after it was crushed in a 2010 aerial-ladder accident and later underwent amputation. She sank into depression and developed a painkiller habit, neglecting personal care. Recovery began when her husband brought home chirping baby chicks, and adopting birds prompted her to spend more time outdoors. She lives on a farm, cares for a mobility dog named Opal, and participates in adaptive sports such as rock climbing and bobsledding. She joined a motorized guided tour of the 8,000-acre Mohonk preserve using a Trackchair, an all-terrain, tank-like mobility vehicle provided by Soar Experiences for people with limited mobility.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]