By Edward Sieger
Eastern Express Times
EASTON, Pa. — Even at age 87 and the victim of an accident that cost her both her legs, Grace Steckel seems convinced that she’s destined to resume her daily walks.
Joined on Monday by family and the emergency personnel who saved her life, she sounded an optimistic tone.
“I’m waiting for my (prosthetic) legs to walk,” Steckel said inside Easton’s Central Fire Station.
Firefighters, paramedics and patient were given the rare opportunity to meet again after their lives intersected under potentially tragic circumstances.
In February, Steckel was struck by a garbage truck when it pulled out of a business in the 600 block of Northampton Street. As is customary, emergency and medical personnel met Monday at Easton Emergency Squad headquarters to review the incident.
Dave Fehr, a city firefighter and emergency medical technician, was one of the first firefighters to respond to a call of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. He arrived to find Steckel’s left leg severed and her right leg badly injured.
She was not pinned under the garbage truck but rather lying behind the front axle. Dr. Michael Grossman, director of critical care at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain Hill, said the extent of Steckel’s injuries actually played a role in her remarkable survival, as emergency personnel did not have to spend precious time extricating her from underneath the truck.
Emergency personnel left the accident about 1:32 p.m., arrived at the hospital about 1:59 p.m. and Steckel was in the operating room by 2:20 p.m., Grossman said.
“That’s military speed,” he said.
Steckel used to walk every day and now lives at Gracedale, Northampton County’s nursing home, according to her daughter, Laura Scott.
It was a few days after her second surgery that Steckel began to understand what had happened and the change has been an adjustment, Scott said, adding she’s not sure if her mother has a clear recollection of what occurred.
Scott said she was at work when a news report erroneously surfaced that her mother had been killed. The family spent the first days after the accident focusing on Steckel, not concerned about themselves and how they were dealing with the news, Scott said.
Since then, Scott said she believes her mother has dealt with the incident better than her family.
“I don’t give up on her because she’s a strong-hearted woman,” she said.
Joe Shiller said it’s been particularly hard because of the uncertainty still surrounding his mother’s recovery. Full prosthetics are not an option for Steckel considering her age, he said, but some type of partial prosthetic that would allow her to use a walker is possible.
The family must also address what may be the initial phases of dementia, Shiller said.
“It’s difficult watching someone who was so active,” he said.
Andre Harris, a four-year paramedic, was on the job in Easton less than seven months when he responded to the call. Despite the training, paramedics can get nervous, particularly when responding to such a traumatic injury, he said.
So as a paramedic you run through your mind what to expect and what needs to be done, he said.
“You try to prepare before you get to the scene so you’re calm, cool and collected,” Harris said.
After a paramedic responds to a call, it’s usually back to the station or off to the next patient, Harris said. It’s rare to even find out how someone fared aside from later asking an emergency room nurse, &How’s bed 20 doing?& he said.
Harris was touched by the opportunity to see Steckel again, offering her a bouquet of flowers.
“Thank you everybody,” the diminutive woman quietly told everyone in attendance.
Copyright 2010 Eastern Express Times