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An Edition of
Healing a step at a time By STEVE POWELL spowell@marysvilleglobe.com
Hawks: Russell
Wilson poster. Inside.
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OPINION
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SPORTS WORSHIP
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Vol. 125, No. 23
LAKEWOOD – Taking it one step at a time is easier said than done for Todd Duitsman. He wasn’t able to take his first step until Jan. 5. He hadn’t been able to do that since he was paralyzed from the neck down after a body surfing accident in Maui July 3. Recovery is going too slow for Duitsman, who admits he isn’t a patient man. The 46-year-old father of three used to be always on the go. When he wasn’t selling properties as a Realtor for Keller Williams in Marysville, he was coaching at least one of his kids in soccer or basketball or playing sports himself. “I went from being able to do everything to being able to do nothing,” he said. “It was humbling.” Despite the drastic change in his life, Duitsman remains amazingly optimistic. He said he has always been able to control the way his mind thinks so he can be upbeat. He said he never has been down about his condition or asked, “Why me?” “I have a choice, and I choose to be happy and positive,” he said, adding as a Realtor and former Amway salesman he has heard a lot of negative, and he has a special ability to tune it out. A competitive man by nature, he is determined to beat this. “I’m getting better all the time,” he said Jan. 6. Duitsman works two to four hours
Steve Powell/Staff Photo
Todd, in his wheelchair, and Tammi Duitsman, right, live with friends in a house he built years ago. Above, Duitsman can swipe at his phone to get to apps, including one that takes notes for him about a book he wants to write. daily trying to stretch the limits of movement with the help of a physical therapist, occupational therapist and trainer. “And I’m constantly moving on my own,” he said as he bent forward at the waist while in his super-duper wheelchair. His wife, Tammi, said she was ecstatic when he took his first step. “Day to day it’s hard to see,” she said. “But when I look back and remember how far he’s come it’s amazing to see.” Now that Duitsman has taken his first step, his goal is to take “more steps; to
Arlington hospital gives $100K to helicopter responders BY KIRK BOXLEITNER kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com
ARLINGTON — “We weren’t necessarily training for disasters like Oso,” Snohomish County Helicopter Response Team flight physician Dr. Ron Brown said. “But when we went out
into the mud and sank up to our armpits, having that equipment and training was a huge asset.” Brown was just one of the members of HRT who recently thanked the Cascade Valley Hospital Foundation for its donation of $100,000 in the wake of
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the March 22 Oso slide, of which $91,500 was used to overhaul a hoist for the team’s helicopter, with the rest going toward other mission critical rescue gear. HRT coordinator Oyvind Henningson explained that the team had a secondary hoist, but not the funds
to overhaul it and make it operational. “I hate to say it, but the money came in and went out right away,” Henningson said, drawing laughter from foundation members. Brown added: “We recognize that this is no small chunk of change you gave
us, so we’re hugely appreciative of it. It’s not funding anything sexy, but it does help support medical care.” The HRT members presented Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert with a photo of SnoHawk 10 conSEE COPTER, PAGE 2
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