Max
06-03-2003, 07:16 PM
Paralyzed officer still adjusting to new life
By Deanna Boyd
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- With a host of fish, hermit crabs and a brand-new hamster, 4-year-old Kelsey Ramsey has a long list of loved ones to pray for before she's tucked into bed each night.
But one prayer is always reserved for her mama.
"I pray for her to get healed," Kelsey said.
It's been five months since her mother, Fort Worth police officer Lisa Ramsey, went to work to catch what Kelsey calls "crime guys" and didn't come home.
Ramsey, an undercover narcotics officer, was shot Jan. 2 while entering an east side convenience store to arrest a suspected drug dealer. The man who shot her, the store's clerk, told police that he mistook the masked and armed officer for a robber.
The shooting left Ramsey, 40, paralyzed below the midabdomen.
Now, five months later, the single mother and her daughter are trying to adapt to their new life.
The 1-story brick home in which they once wrestled and played has become an obstacle course for Ramsey as she tries to regain an independent life in rooms and hallways that weren't built for wheelchairs.
Ramsey must depend on the 24-hour assistance of aides to help her shower, to get in and out of bed, and to do the motherly tasks of bathing Kelsey and fixing her long, dirty-blond hair.
"I can't get on the floor and wrestle around with her anymore," Ramsey said. "If I want to hold her in bed, I have to call an aide to roll me over to her. When she falls asleep in the truck, the aides have to carry her in. That breaks my heart.
"It's not the same, but we still love each other the same as we always have."
Ramsey, who is on occupational leave, wants to return to the Police Department one day.
But for now, the recovery continues.
Released from the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas on March 1, she still undergoes physical therapy at home twice a week. This month, she will begin a physical therapy program at Tarleton State University in Stephenville.
On a recent afternoon, therapist Christine Robinson spoke words of encouragement as Ramsey lay on her stomach in her room, lifting cans of Campbell's soup behind her to strengthen her arms.
Other therapists have taught Ramsey to dress herself and to do the tasks made difficult by her paralysis.
"It was teaching me how to live with my disability," Ramsey said.
But Ramsey is as determined as ever to walk again. So Robinson focuses on building up the officer's abdominal strength in the hope that Ramsey will one day be able to stand upright in metal braces.
It's a good start, Ramsey said.
"Before you can walk, you have to learn to stand," she said.
Until that time, Ramsey must lean on others as she struggles to regain her independence. Red tape involving her insurance and construction companies has delayed needed renovations to her home, further hindering her ability to care for herself and her daughter.
Because of an incline in her bathroom, an aide has to wheel her into her shower and hold her there. She can't turn her wheelchair to face the sink and brush her teeth. She can't roll next to the bathtub to bathe her daughter.
Despite being widened once, the doors of her home are still relatively narrow, leaving little room for her wheelchair.
"I can't wait to have my life back again, but I don't think I can do it until the bathrooms are redone and the kitchen is functional," Ramsey said.
Friends, many of them fellow officers, help in any way they can.
Officers Ken Jacobs and Larry Carnes cleaned out Ramsey's garage last week so she would have room to work out on her new exercise machines. Dorcia Meador, firing-range master for the Police Department, paid to equip Ramsey's windows with solar screens.
Officer Marcus Rath has joined others in trying to find someone to donate a specially equipped van for Ramsey to drive. Her 1999 Dodge pickup has been equipped to allow her to drive using only her hands, but she still needs help getting in and out and packing up her wheelchair.
When Ramsey arrived home from the hospital, Kelsey had a hard time sharing her mother with the numerous friends and aides who filled the home.
"Finally, Kelsey said, 'Mama, I really want it to be like it used to be,'" Ramsey said. "She wanted me to get rid of the chair and walk, and she wanted everyone to go away."
Today, the home is a lot quieter. The number of aides has dwindled. Four women, who have become like family to the Ramseys, take turns helping the officer and her daughter.
Some have admitted to Ramsey that they were initially intimidated to work with her. "Freshly" paralyzed people tend to be the angriest and the most hateful, they told her.
They've been pleasantly surprised.
"Lisa is hardly ever down," said Beverley Franklin, a nurse technician who cares for Ramsey about five days a week. "She has a good spirit and good personality, and her daughter, I totally love."
But Kelsey, who turns 5 next week, is still Ramsey's favorite helper.
She helps her mother up the steep metal ramp into the front door. She serves as an anchor when her mom needs help in and out of bed.
She was her mother's inspiration to live and is now her reason to continue on.
The little girl used to want to be a "haircut lady," a "tooth doctor" or a "ribbon dancer." But now Kelsey says she wants to sell ice cream and to be a doctor at a hospital.
"She wants to take me to work to heal me and check my heart every day," Ramsey said.
Deanna Boyd, (817) 390-7655
dboyd@star-telegram.com
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http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/5992611.htm
By Deanna Boyd
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- With a host of fish, hermit crabs and a brand-new hamster, 4-year-old Kelsey Ramsey has a long list of loved ones to pray for before she's tucked into bed each night.
But one prayer is always reserved for her mama.
"I pray for her to get healed," Kelsey said.
It's been five months since her mother, Fort Worth police officer Lisa Ramsey, went to work to catch what Kelsey calls "crime guys" and didn't come home.
Ramsey, an undercover narcotics officer, was shot Jan. 2 while entering an east side convenience store to arrest a suspected drug dealer. The man who shot her, the store's clerk, told police that he mistook the masked and armed officer for a robber.
The shooting left Ramsey, 40, paralyzed below the midabdomen.
Now, five months later, the single mother and her daughter are trying to adapt to their new life.
The 1-story brick home in which they once wrestled and played has become an obstacle course for Ramsey as she tries to regain an independent life in rooms and hallways that weren't built for wheelchairs.
Ramsey must depend on the 24-hour assistance of aides to help her shower, to get in and out of bed, and to do the motherly tasks of bathing Kelsey and fixing her long, dirty-blond hair.
"I can't get on the floor and wrestle around with her anymore," Ramsey said. "If I want to hold her in bed, I have to call an aide to roll me over to her. When she falls asleep in the truck, the aides have to carry her in. That breaks my heart.
"It's not the same, but we still love each other the same as we always have."
Ramsey, who is on occupational leave, wants to return to the Police Department one day.
But for now, the recovery continues.
Released from the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas on March 1, she still undergoes physical therapy at home twice a week. This month, she will begin a physical therapy program at Tarleton State University in Stephenville.
On a recent afternoon, therapist Christine Robinson spoke words of encouragement as Ramsey lay on her stomach in her room, lifting cans of Campbell's soup behind her to strengthen her arms.
Other therapists have taught Ramsey to dress herself and to do the tasks made difficult by her paralysis.
"It was teaching me how to live with my disability," Ramsey said.
But Ramsey is as determined as ever to walk again. So Robinson focuses on building up the officer's abdominal strength in the hope that Ramsey will one day be able to stand upright in metal braces.
It's a good start, Ramsey said.
"Before you can walk, you have to learn to stand," she said.
Until that time, Ramsey must lean on others as she struggles to regain her independence. Red tape involving her insurance and construction companies has delayed needed renovations to her home, further hindering her ability to care for herself and her daughter.
Because of an incline in her bathroom, an aide has to wheel her into her shower and hold her there. She can't turn her wheelchair to face the sink and brush her teeth. She can't roll next to the bathtub to bathe her daughter.
Despite being widened once, the doors of her home are still relatively narrow, leaving little room for her wheelchair.
"I can't wait to have my life back again, but I don't think I can do it until the bathrooms are redone and the kitchen is functional," Ramsey said.
Friends, many of them fellow officers, help in any way they can.
Officers Ken Jacobs and Larry Carnes cleaned out Ramsey's garage last week so she would have room to work out on her new exercise machines. Dorcia Meador, firing-range master for the Police Department, paid to equip Ramsey's windows with solar screens.
Officer Marcus Rath has joined others in trying to find someone to donate a specially equipped van for Ramsey to drive. Her 1999 Dodge pickup has been equipped to allow her to drive using only her hands, but she still needs help getting in and out and packing up her wheelchair.
When Ramsey arrived home from the hospital, Kelsey had a hard time sharing her mother with the numerous friends and aides who filled the home.
"Finally, Kelsey said, 'Mama, I really want it to be like it used to be,'" Ramsey said. "She wanted me to get rid of the chair and walk, and she wanted everyone to go away."
Today, the home is a lot quieter. The number of aides has dwindled. Four women, who have become like family to the Ramseys, take turns helping the officer and her daughter.
Some have admitted to Ramsey that they were initially intimidated to work with her. "Freshly" paralyzed people tend to be the angriest and the most hateful, they told her.
They've been pleasantly surprised.
"Lisa is hardly ever down," said Beverley Franklin, a nurse technician who cares for Ramsey about five days a week. "She has a good spirit and good personality, and her daughter, I totally love."
But Kelsey, who turns 5 next week, is still Ramsey's favorite helper.
She helps her mother up the steep metal ramp into the front door. She serves as an anchor when her mom needs help in and out of bed.
She was her mother's inspiration to live and is now her reason to continue on.
The little girl used to want to be a "haircut lady," a "tooth doctor" or a "ribbon dancer." But now Kelsey says she wants to sell ice cream and to be a doctor at a hospital.
"She wants to take me to work to heal me and check my heart every day," Ramsey said.
Deanna Boyd, (817) 390-7655
dboyd@star-telegram.com
email this | print this
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/5992611.htm