Leo
05-22-2003, 12:08 PM
Outdoorsman resolved to walk again
By JULIE SHAW
Advocate Reporter
Photo
Kevin Graff
C. R. Riebesell, 39, sits in his wheelchair at home after falling from a tree stand last year. Riebesell is still positive about advancing his recovery despite his paralysis. Riebesell's friends are creating a number of fund-raisers to help him purchase a wheelchair-accessible van so he can return to work.
Wheels for C.R.
# Benefit breakfast
When: Saturday, 6-11 a.m.
Where: Utica Fire Department, 22 Spring Street, Utica
# Spaghetti dinner
When: May 31, start at 5 p.m. until last person leaves
Where: Newton Township Fire Department, off of Ohio 13 at the south end of St. Louisville
Donation: $5 per plate
Contact: Todd Allen, 745-2567
# Golf outing
When: July 12, 8 a.m. shotgun start
Where: Trout & Golf Club, 2250 Horns Hill Road, Newark
Cost: $55 per person (four-man teams), includes skins and dinner
Hole sponsorship: $100 including advertising
Deadline: June 30 (for reservations and hole sponsorship)
Contact: Pat Yoakam, 892-4985
UTICA -- C.R. Riebesell is a man determined to walk again.
To help him along the way, a bunch of friends are holding benefits to raise money for the 39-year-old man who was injured in a fall and is now in a wheelchair.
Proceeds will go toward the purchase of a wheelchair-accessible van so that Riebesell can return to work and regain independence.
An upbeat man, Riebesell doesn't feel sorry for himself.
"You live life with what you're dealt," he said Wednesday in his rural Utica home.
His life changed Oct. 20.
That afternoon, he went into the woods on his property to go deer hunting with a bow and arrow. He had just built a wooden tree stand that day. He walked up the stand and was standing on the platform, when he spotted some deer.
He says he took a step with his left leg and slipped with his right. He believes the wood was slick or his tennis shoes were slippery.
He fell 20 feet.
After about three hours of going in and out of consciousness, Riebesell spotted his older son, Colton, then 18, who was searching for him in a tractor.
His family called 911. Area paramedics and firefighters arrived. Riebesell was flown by emergency helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he stayed until Dec. 11.
The injuries were extensive and doctors wouldn't say whether or not he would walk again. Riebesell injured his spinal cord, broke 15 ribs, punctured both lungs and fractured his right shoulder.
He can't feel anything from the chest down, but he has started getting some sensation in his back, and his feet at times feel as if they're burning.
After Grant Medical Center, he went to Ohio State University Medical Center's Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Center for a month.
At home now, Riebesell receives assistance with everyday daily activities from his wife, Kim. She has been able to do her secretarial work for Assured Protection Inc., of Newark, at home instead of going into the office.
Riebesell goes for therapy twice a week at the Newark Healthcare Centre. Kim helps him get into the passenger seat of her parents' car. They had to borrow that car since their Jeep and truck are too high off the ground for Riebesell to get into.
Riebesell would like to be able to return to work at the GE Newark Quartz Plant in Hebron. He's grateful for his friends' fund-raisers. A wheelchair-accessible van would help him have some freedom, he said.
With the change in his life, Riebesell has tried to find support groups or activities in Licking County for paraplegics but has not had much luck.
"Maybe that's something I need to do," he said.
Reporter Julie Shaw can be reached at 328-8544 or jshaw@nncogannett.com
Originally published Thursday, May 22, 2003
By JULIE SHAW
Advocate Reporter
Photo
Kevin Graff
C. R. Riebesell, 39, sits in his wheelchair at home after falling from a tree stand last year. Riebesell is still positive about advancing his recovery despite his paralysis. Riebesell's friends are creating a number of fund-raisers to help him purchase a wheelchair-accessible van so he can return to work.
Wheels for C.R.
# Benefit breakfast
When: Saturday, 6-11 a.m.
Where: Utica Fire Department, 22 Spring Street, Utica
# Spaghetti dinner
When: May 31, start at 5 p.m. until last person leaves
Where: Newton Township Fire Department, off of Ohio 13 at the south end of St. Louisville
Donation: $5 per plate
Contact: Todd Allen, 745-2567
# Golf outing
When: July 12, 8 a.m. shotgun start
Where: Trout & Golf Club, 2250 Horns Hill Road, Newark
Cost: $55 per person (four-man teams), includes skins and dinner
Hole sponsorship: $100 including advertising
Deadline: June 30 (for reservations and hole sponsorship)
Contact: Pat Yoakam, 892-4985
UTICA -- C.R. Riebesell is a man determined to walk again.
To help him along the way, a bunch of friends are holding benefits to raise money for the 39-year-old man who was injured in a fall and is now in a wheelchair.
Proceeds will go toward the purchase of a wheelchair-accessible van so that Riebesell can return to work and regain independence.
An upbeat man, Riebesell doesn't feel sorry for himself.
"You live life with what you're dealt," he said Wednesday in his rural Utica home.
His life changed Oct. 20.
That afternoon, he went into the woods on his property to go deer hunting with a bow and arrow. He had just built a wooden tree stand that day. He walked up the stand and was standing on the platform, when he spotted some deer.
He says he took a step with his left leg and slipped with his right. He believes the wood was slick or his tennis shoes were slippery.
He fell 20 feet.
After about three hours of going in and out of consciousness, Riebesell spotted his older son, Colton, then 18, who was searching for him in a tractor.
His family called 911. Area paramedics and firefighters arrived. Riebesell was flown by emergency helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he stayed until Dec. 11.
The injuries were extensive and doctors wouldn't say whether or not he would walk again. Riebesell injured his spinal cord, broke 15 ribs, punctured both lungs and fractured his right shoulder.
He can't feel anything from the chest down, but he has started getting some sensation in his back, and his feet at times feel as if they're burning.
After Grant Medical Center, he went to Ohio State University Medical Center's Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Center for a month.
At home now, Riebesell receives assistance with everyday daily activities from his wife, Kim. She has been able to do her secretarial work for Assured Protection Inc., of Newark, at home instead of going into the office.
Riebesell goes for therapy twice a week at the Newark Healthcare Centre. Kim helps him get into the passenger seat of her parents' car. They had to borrow that car since their Jeep and truck are too high off the ground for Riebesell to get into.
Riebesell would like to be able to return to work at the GE Newark Quartz Plant in Hebron. He's grateful for his friends' fund-raisers. A wheelchair-accessible van would help him have some freedom, he said.
With the change in his life, Riebesell has tried to find support groups or activities in Licking County for paraplegics but has not had much luck.
"Maybe that's something I need to do," he said.
Reporter Julie Shaw can be reached at 328-8544 or jshaw@nncogannett.com
Originally published Thursday, May 22, 2003