Jim Lindsay continues to improve as he pushes to overcome injuries sustained in 2022.
By Deby Jo Ferguson
Staff writer
Jim Lindsay, 70, a resident of Hayesville is counting his blessings along with his wife, Joyce and two children, Jimmy and Kelli as he still recovers from a near fatal accident that he should not have survived.
Born in Tampa, Fla. Jim made his way to Clay County as a child after his parents bought 100 acres of land at Rainbow Springs in 1952. He spent the summer months there with his family until 1963 when they moved here permanently.
After graduating from Franklin High School Jim broke his shoulder and went to stay with his sister who lived in Florida. This is where he and his wife Joyce met and married. While in Florida Jim went to work at Flagler Beach Police Department as an officer, but when his dad got hurt he and Joyce moved back to Hayesville to help his dad and his mother.
Jim said that the police department was the only job he held where he wasn’t working for himself. He bought the property from his parents at Rainbow Springs for $10,000 and ran a campground, did various small jobs like plumbing and painting, started a company building houses for three years, opened a restaurant with his brother then bought and ran a restaurant for five years where Chevelles’ in Hayesville is now. He also opened a used car lot, Firestone Tires and a surplus business with Tim Cox.
“I like to stay busy and worked doing several different jobs in my life. The doctor told me that the stress of the Firestone and used car lot was a little too much for me and I needed to let some of it go. I sold Firestone and kept the car lot for a while, then sold it,” Jim said.
While on a hunting trip in South Carolina Jim was riding a tractor and it flipped turning over on him and broke his back.
“That should have killed me right there. I laid in that bed for months and finally with God’s help he showed me a way to get better with natural cures. The doctors wanted to cure me with pain pills because I wouldn’t have surgery. I didn’t have insurance so the 15 different kinds of drugs were financially breaking me. The natural cures saved my life,” Jim said.
After Jim recovered from the broken back in 2008, he was ready to go back to work doing something, he said.
“I had my CDL license and I kept seeing these ads about driving a truck. I figured I would give it a try, so I rented a truck at first and later bought the trailer just to make sure this was something I wanted to do,” he said. “I really enjoyed driving out West. I didn’t have to worry with employees like the other businesses. I would just look at the load board and pick the places I wanted to go.”
Things were going good with Jim’s new adventure, so he bought a cab and paid off his trailer. This job experience lasted around three years and Joyce was able to travel with him since she had retired from working with the county.
“The last load I took in 2022, Joyce wasn’t with me because our dog was having pups. I picked up a load from Andrews to Texas. Then in Texas I got a load to Seattle, Washington and was working my way back home with short loads. I picked up another load in Colorado, dropped my trailer and picked up theirs. They didn’t get the straps tied down on the trailer good because when I got on the highway, the straps started coming loose,” he said.
“I was on a four-lane and there wasn’t any pull-offs. I found a turning lane which gave me about 5 feet from the edge of the truck to the traffic lane on each side. I got the straps fixed and went around to get in the truck. I saw a burst of traffic coming and they were too close to try and open the cab door and jump in. I backed up against the cab and that’s all I remember,” Jim said.
On June 18, 2022, during the burst of traffic as Jim waited beside his rig to get in, a 3500 Dodge Dually veered off the road and struck him, sending Jim 12-14 feet in the air and 50-feet to the back of his trailer where he landed on the pavement.
“The police officer said the guy who hit me said he saw my flashers, but once he got beside the truck, he lost his concentration and ran out of the road which hit me. That doesn’t make a lot of sense but that’s what I was told. I don’t know why he just didn’t slow down if no one would let him over. He was traveling between 70 and 80 mph. Only thing that he hit on my truck was his mirror hit mine. That’s all the damage done to the trucks,” said Jim.
“It could have been a lot worse because I could have got thrown into traffic instead of to the back of the trailer and gotten run over. It’s a real miracle because it should have killed me. I don’t remember this but there was an EMT on the scene who stopped, and I was told he brought me back to life using CPR .
Jim said he was taken to a local hospital then airlifted to Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Bridge, Colo. His injuries included two gashes in his head, broken arm, shattered ankle, leg, knee and foot.
“Strange thing there was only one small bruise on my back. They said I talked to Joyce at the hospital that night which I don’t remember, but I do remember talking to her the next morning. I was all bandaged up and had those pain patches on my body so when this team of doctors came in and told me all the surgery they were doing I told them no. I felt fine I thought and they seemed pushy.”
A young doctor came in and talked to him, explaining what happened and what needed to be done.
“ I felt good with that. I trusted him and told him to do what he had to do. With all the pain medication I was on I thought I felt fine and couldn’t feel how bad I was hurt. A nurse later told me how lucky I was because that young doctor that was doing my surgery was one of the best in Colorado,” Jim said.
Surgeries began the next day and continued for what Jim described as another surgery every day or so. Jim remained in the hospital for over a month and then transferred to a rehab center. He ended up going to four different rehabilitation centers, staying at least 21 days in each one because of billing with Medicare.
“At the last rehabilitation center they told me I would be getting treatments at least two more months but I had already bought me a plane ticket and was coming home. They weren’t happy about it and told me how determined I was to get out of there, and I was,” Jim said.
His daughter Kelli came to Colorado thinking she would bring him right home, not realizing the extent of his injuries.Her job as manager with Long Horn Steak House allowed her to work at different locations while she was there.
“They even changed her title to traveling manager so she could afford to stay in a motel while she was out there with me,” he said.
Once Jim could walk with his walker in the hospital, he was on the plane using that ticket he had bought to fly home. He came home in a wheelchair but never gave up getting himself to be able to walk again.
“I’m determined to walk and sometimes I still over-do it,” Jim said.
The insurance from the person hitting Jim only paid the minimum of $25,000 dollars, his insurance through Medicaid paid $125,000 which was all seized by Medicare for amount paid on his care. Jim said his hospital bill was $2.5 million. A friend, Mike Arrendale, flew out to Colorado and brought back Jim’s cab and trailer. A Go-Fund me account was set up for them by a friend, Ed Taylor.
“I was home but also on the verge of losing everything we had. The Go-Fund account saved us when I first came home, giving us a chance to figure out what we were going to do. Our lawyer tried three times to get Medicare to reimburse the money they seized and on the third try, they did. I sold the cab for the payoff and with the money from the sale of the trailer we were able to stop our house from going into foreclosure. I couldn’t believe all the people who gave to help us on the Go-fund account and am truly appreciative of it,” he said.
“I will keep fighting to walk better and I can already drive. I do believe in God and I know that the only reason I am here is because he saved my life,” said Jim.
“The doctor told me I was one in a million. Most people only leave an accident scene like that in a body bag. All the things I’ve been through and I’m still here to tell the story, if that ain’t God, then what is?”