MY SITE
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT DONNA
  • CONTACT

​​FUN

WITH
​
HEIRLOOMS





COUNTING HIS BLESSINGS

2/3/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Miracle credited with saving Bob Pierce's life
Picture
From today's New Castle Courier-Times. This is one of those stories where I float home from the interview. This is why it's my honor to be a community journalist.

Story and photos by Donna Cronk for The Courier-Times.

STRAUGHN — A week ago Saturday, Bob Pierce of rural Straughn decided to work on his lawn mower in the family's detached garage.


He wouldn't recall the events that happened next until a few days later when he woke up in St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis and at first, wondered why he was there.

When he went to the garage on Saturday, Kathy, his wife of more than 38 years, and their granddaughter, Ruby Pierce, 5, stayed inside the house. Ruby asked her grandmother, "Can I just go see my Papaw?" Ruby got ready and walked the few steps outside to the garage.

She came right back and reported to her grandmother, "He's sleeping and he's snoring."

Kathy knew something was wrong. She went to the garage and saw that Bob was breathing and called 911 and family members. "I figured he had a heart attack or a stroke," says Kathy, a New Castle school bus driver.

Seven minutes later the Lewisville and Straughn fire departments arrived. New Castle medics also showed up. "They thought they smelled something," Kathy says, adding that they suspected carbon monoxide.

Bob recalls that he had been getting his mower ready for spring by greasing it, then preparing to change the oil. So he started it and let it run in a closed garage for around 20 minutes. 

"I had signs," he says. "I see them now. I didn't see them then."

He recalls thinking, "I just feel so bad," as he prepared to add the oil. His legs buckled, then he locked them and they buckled again. "The next thing I remember was being at St. Vincent Monday at 11 o'clock." But he had no idea why he was there.

First responders tried inserting a tube down his throat when they reached the garage, but his throat had swollen so much they were unsuccessful. Oxygen was not getting to his body as it should. He was taken to Henry Community Health where they forced oxygen into him. It was determined to transfer him to St. Vincent by ambulance at 1 a.m. Sunday.

He was on 100-percent oxygen, then slowly decreased it. They were able to insert a child's ventilator because his throat was swollen so much.

Bob was given some chilling news. "If I'd been in there (the closed garage) two more minutes, I wouldn't have made it," he recalls being told. "The doctor said it's a miracle how well I responded."
He was dismissed on Tuesday, and it is believed he will have a full recovery. "I got well as quickly as I got ill," Bob says.

Described by Kathy as very organized, disciplined and well trained, Bob expresses disappointment in himself because he knows better than to put himself in such a situation as what happened in his garage. 

"Something good will come from it," Bob says. "I'm disappointed that I put my family through this."
When asked about his granddaughter saving his life by going out to see him at the exact right time before he was gone, Papaw is emotional searching for the words. Kathy fills in. "He's proud of her," she says. "He knows if she hadn't wanted to see him it would have been over."

Adds Bob, "I hated it that she had to find me like that but I'm glad she did."

Kathy asks Ruby why she wanted to go see Papaw in the garage. She answers, "Cause I love him."
The daughter of Bob and Kathy's son, Brandon and wife Brooke Pierce of New Castle, Ruby attends Kidding Around Daycare in New Castle. She likes spending time with her grandparents. She enjoys drawing pictures and letters, and shows a groundhog she made at daycare. She also enjoys her hoverboard, Barbie Dreamhouse, LOLs and watching SpongeBob with her Papaw.

She wants to someday be a ballerina—and a teacher.

When asked why she loves Papaw she is quick with an answer. "He's the best thing ever." The two of them agree that she's Papaw's girl.

The Pierces have another son, Aaron, and another granddaughter, Addyson, 9. Bob says he's blessed to be from a big, extended, close family, A 1974 graduate of Tri High School, he says he's "a Lewisville Bear by heart."

Bob says he's been blessed with a career working in the family business, a salvage yard in New Paris, Ohio, with extended family and his sons.

When asked how the incident affected his faith, Bob says, "We've always been Christian family. We are very faithful Christians." He points to Romans 8:28: 

Romans 8:28 New International Version (NIV): "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose."

Adds Bob, "I always believe no matter how bad things get even in a bad situation good will come from it." The family attends Southside Church of Christ in New Castle.

Says Bob, "I've just been blessed so much and I knew it before."

As for Ruby, people are telling her she's a hero. She giggles at the idea.

And gives her Papaw frequent hugs.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    DONNA CRONK

    FUN WITH HEIRLOOMS
    is my most popular program for 2023, inspired by my memoir There's a Clydesdale in the Attic: Reflections on Keeping and Letting Go. Contact me to hear about my programs for your event.

    CONTACT: Let's talk about it. Call me at 317-224-7028. Email:
    newsgirl.1958@gmail.
    com.  



    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    Age Thing
    Aging
    Author Journey
    Christmas
    Clydesdale In The Attic
    Cooking
    Cooties
    Crafts
    Creepy!
    Decor
    Faith
    Family
    Farm
    Fashion
    Friendships
    Gardening
    God Bless America
    Gratitude
    Guest Posts
    Hair!
    Halloween
    Holidays
    Home
    Indiana
    Indiana Bicentennial
    Keeping The Peace
    Life Connections
    Mail Call
    Newspapers
    Next Chapter
    Pen Women
    Photography
    Poison Ivy!
    Quilting Club
    Reggie
    Retirement
    Sadness
    Seasons
    Seller's Cabinet
    Shopping
    Sleep
    Snow Day
    Tourism
    Travel
    Union County
    Weird Food
    What We Keep
    Writer Chicks Society
    Writing

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from Lise1011, Simone Ramella, StarsApart, Biblioteca General Antonio Machado, kennethkonica, roseannadana: Thank you for 3 million views, GotCredit, chuck4x5, besnette, nielskliim, James E. Petts, jeffdjevdet, rumolay, kkmarais, tgrauros, susivinh, Larry1732
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT DONNA
  • CONTACT