April 2020 | Vol. 7 Iss. 04
FREE PARALYZED: WHAT ONE COUPLE IS DOING TO REACH THE FINISH LINE By Kathryn Elizabeth Jones | k.jones@mycityjournals.com
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wo months after their marriage (last June 15), Jill Patten’s husband, Austin, was hit by a car while riding his bike. The date was August 17. Weeks before the accident, Jill remembers sharing her biggest fear with him. And now she was living it. “I was actually getting ready to go meet my students when the call came,” Jill said. A second grade teacher at Westbrook Elementary, she was getting things ready for a doughnut breakfast day. “It was Saturday morning, probably around 7:45 a.m., 8-ish, and I was just about to leave. I get a phone call from Austin. And I think, that’s weird. He doesn’t ever call me when he’s riding — ever. I immediately knew something was wrong.” “Your husband was in an accident,” she heard. She asked where she lived and if she needed a ride, she was relieved when told that her husband was breathing and talking. “‘OK, he’s alive,” she remembers thinking. “Thank goodness. Because I was immediately like, ‘he’s gone.’” A fire truck, ambulance and a few police cars were at the accident scene when she arrived. “I was shaking, crying,” she said. “They had to calm me down for a second.” “I went to say hi to him and just let him know that I was there,” she said. “And I just said, ‘Honey, are you OK?’ And he’s like screaming, ‘I’m in pain, I’m in pain,’ and I’m thinking, ‘He’s got a broken arm and leg’ – nowhere did I think, ‘He’s paralyzed.’” Jill and Austin pose in their kitchen. (Kathryn Austin takes a spin at therapy. “This is similar to what my new bike will look like. It feels good to get a good workout in and know its therapy. I can’t wait until I can really train.” (Photo courtesy Austin But her husband knew immediately what had happened Jones/City Journals) Patten)
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