my story
By Brandon Klein
Editor’s Note: “My Story” is a first-person column OR a Q&A feature of a New Albany community member that centers on health. Have a story to share? Email bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com. Submissions should be no more than 1,000 words.
Miracle on Dublin-Granville Road OSU professor defies odds in recovery after traffic incident
M
ichael Lohre has been a lecturer at The Ohio State University, Marion campus for more than 25 years. In 2018, Lohre suffered a traumatic brain injury in a traffic incident. He shares his story and the challenges of recovery with Healthy New Albany magazine. This Q&A was edited for clarity and space. Healthy New Albany: How was life before the accident? Michael Lohre: I’ve taught at Ohio State for 25 years, English literature, poetry and creative writing composition. When I moved to New Albany, I moved out here to a farm south of Johnstown on Beech Road. I grew up on a cash crop and livestock farm, a very small farm, in southwest Minnesota. That’s the way I grew up. (My wife and I) moved to New Albany because we were called to get out of the city. We came out here to start small, farming, to return to my roots. My wife grew up in the Philippines on a mountain. Very country, very rural. She’s very acquainted with an agrarian lifestyle and we decided to rent this farm and its 16 acres. We were interested in that before I got hurt and we were called to raise heritage lard hogs. HNA: Tell us about the accident. ML: I had voted that day. I had my voting sticker on my jacket. I had to get home and do chores and I’m on DublinGranville Road going to Beech Road – it’s only about a mile.
Lohre raises hogs and poultry at his farm. 10
I rode my dirt bike and I had my helmet on, of course, and my jacket, but I’m in my farm boots. Thank God I had all that stuff on. I was just heading that regular mile to do chores and I was at highway speed and a young man ran the stop sign. It was one of those things that happened so fast because I had no time to react. I just can’t believe that he was going to run the stop sign. I remember the car was gold. I don’t even really remember anything else, but I knew I was going to be hit. I said one word. I said, “Lord.” I pretty much knew that my life was in his hands. HNA: What happened after the accident? ML: (After being released from the hospital), I went down to the police stawww.healthynewalbanymagazine.com
Photos courtesy of Mike Lohre
Michael and Irene Lohre
