Personal Injury: Broken left wrist, several broken ribs, punctured lung.

by Tom Leitch
(Clinton Township, Mi.)

I was in the hospital for 8 days beginning Christmas Eve. For the first month I needed help bathing, getting dressed, doing house chores, food needing to be cut, bread to be buttered or drive my car.

For 6 weeks I had an extremely searing, stabbing pain on the right of my sternum. I could not lay on either side to sleep. Sleep was hard to come by and I dozed off frequently during the day.

After 6 weeks I began to drive my car again even though it was painful making right turns - very cautiously.
I am 75 years old and retired.

My wife is 71 and works 30 hours a week. Her right ankle was broken in three places. She was also in the hospital for 8 days. She also needed an aid to help her shower each day and help with her personal needs. She was in a wheelchair for 8 weeks and then used a walker for 2 weeks and returned to work.

We had 2 aids who helped us from 8 a.m. until midnight the first week. The next 5 weeks we had 1 aid who helped us from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.