June 2, 2013
In the 19 years that have passed since the bicycle accident that nearly took my life, many things have changed. I am older, and my children are grown and on their own. I don’t work at WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida as a consumer reporter anymore. I am now in healthcare marketing at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville. As I watched this next piece from my 1994 video series ‘Coming Back’ that chronicled my recovery from head injuries, I was reminded again that Channel 4 was not just a job for me.
The stories I did while at Eyewitness News meant so much to me, and I believed I got a chance to make a difference that might help others. After my accident, I understood that what made WJXT-TV so special was not just the work I did there. It was the people I got to work with. In the months that it took to recover from my injuries, these people were there for me every bit as much as my relatives were. It made me so happy to watch this video and to see some of them again — Tom Wills, Rob Sweeting, Natalia Dotto, Hal McClure, Jack Bookout, Jim Biggers, Judy and perhaps the sweetest of them all, my Joe. I haven’t seen any of them in so many years, but I carry them in my heart. They are still here with me nearly 20 years after my accident.
They always will be.