Friday, June 6, 2003

HealthSouth Treasure Valley Hospital

Boise, Idaho

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Today was about visitation. We started at the Boise Fire Department Station 6. The Boise FD provided fire trucks to give us safe escort to Healthsouth. Our thanks to the following: Battalion Chief Marlin Tullis, to the crew of Engine 6 ( Capt. Jeff Higgins, Chuck Emerson, and Charlie Ruffing) and to the crew of Ladder 6 (Capt. Don Gifford, Neil Troxel, Rusty Schmidt, and Dan Hopkins).

We had two other riders from the fire station. Juanita Iwiakiri is a brave and determined below-knee amputee who found out about our ride and decided to join us for our ride today. She rides her own bicycle daily up to 5 miles and provides a lot of peer support to other amputees. Michael Long, Assistant Administrator from HealthSouth, helped ferry us around and provide directions this morning. He was very helpful and is the proud father of two beautiful girls. He also has a nice Trek mountain bike. Bruce really, really like his bike and wondered if his would grow into such a ride. Jim and Mark scoffed and dashed his hopes. Sorry, Bruce.

The Boise Police Department also gave us escorts to make sure we arrived at HealthSouth safely. Or maybe it was to keep us on the straight and narrow. So a special thanks from our spouses and dependents to Officers Dan Warren and Clyde Lockhart.

One of the other riders, and Jim's personal favorite today, was Chris Rhodes, who is a 10 year old below-knee amputee with a great attitude. We were honored to have him ride with us today.

Alex Shoemaker was the hit of our arrival at HealthSouth. He's the ADORABLE, 2year old son of Julia Shoemaker, who works in the Marketing office at HealthSouth.  Julia coordinated much of the day's events and we are deeply grateful for her help. As we arrived at HealthSouth, we were stunned to see over a hundred bystanders cheering and waving flags and hundreds of red, white, and blue balloons. Alex joined us as we pulled into the parking lot and brought many smiles to the riders and support crew. We gave him the Most Adorable award for the day.

The Honorable Mayor Carolyn Terteling-Payne opened the events with a lovely speech -- her son is an amputee -- and proclaimed June 6th Amputees Across America Day in Boise. Bruce pondered later in the day if we could use our copies of the proclamation for free drinks at a local watering hole. While Jim and Mark doubt this will work, we will explore the opportunity in downtown Boise later today.

Mayor Terteling-Payne presented each rider with an American flag after reading a brief biography. We were honored and humbled by all the attention and gifts. Mark, by the way, is 26. He kept saying it all day long (but we are certain he lies).

Joe wrapped up the speeches by provided a history of Amputees Across America. He was amazingly brief and gracious. Actually, he was just brief, which was a tremendous relief... He'd been threatening us with the history of AAA beginning with his seventh birthday. Joe recognized local amputees we've met in Boise, to whom he is dedicating his jump tomorrow.

Our support from the City of Boise was tremendous. The Boise Police Department, Fire Department, Mayor's Office, as well as the Idaho Department of Corrections all pitched in to make us feel welcome.

The Administrator at HealthSouth, Ed Castledine, gave us a tour of his facility, which is clearly staffed with excellent people full of the right attitude. Ed set a very high mark regarding HealthSouth visitations. We were very grateful and impressed by the level of support and professionalism demonstrated by everyone we interacted with at the HealthSouth Treasure Valley Hospital.

We visited several patients at HealthSouth and presented each with one of our posters. A great group of people, always smiling to brighten the days of others, and being an inspiration to others with their strength and courage. 

                                                                                                                                                                            Leona Maki

Lila Driver

                                                                                                                                                                            Patsy Weddle

Penny Sullivan

Tomorrow we will make a sky dive at 11:00 AM at the Caldwell Airport to commemorate the lives of those amputees in the Boise area who have overcome any physical disability and have achieved success in living an active life. 

These amputees are:

Chris Rhodes (shown on the right -- hang in there Chris!!!)
Captain Jim Tibbs, Boise Police Department
Ray Carolton
Juanita Iwakiri
John Bolin
Sarah Pedersen

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