If You Can Look Up You Can Get Up
The story of survivor Lindsay Thomas
On April 25, 2001, Des Moines Iowa teenager Lindsay Thomas' life would be changed forever. Driving down the interstate late that evening, Lindsay missed her exit. She drove until she was able to turn around and head back to her exit. Beginning to feel drowsy, she rolled down her window but shortly thereafter she fell asleep and her car ran off the road.
The car landed in a drainage ditch and crashed into a metal support. It was dark and Lindsay couldn't see how bad the damage was. Water began to rush in and filled up to the seat. She wasn't in pain but she knew she was missing some teeth and her right arm felt sprained. She tried starting the car, turning on the headlights and the radio but nothing worked. Finally, she laid her head on the steering wheel and went to sleep.
When she awoke the next morning she could see just how bad the damage was. The front of the car was crushed and the windows were shattered. She realized that her legs were pinned under the dashboard. "I tried everything to get somebody's attention. I yelled, waved clothing, but know one could hear or see me. I was only a few yards from the interstate but since I was down in the ditch I was out of sight to any passing car. I could hear the cars whoosh by but there was nothing more I could do but wait."
By the end of the day, Lindsay began to realize that she could be there for a while. She had no food or water. She found her cell phone but it wasn't working. Nobody knew that she was going to be driving that evening so her friends and family would not have any idea where she had gone.
With each passing day, Lindsay continued to try to free herself from the wreckage. She kept trying to think positively and not focus on the seriousness of her predicament.
On Monday it began to rain. It had been five days, and she was weak and tired. "I was starting to give up. For the first time, I thought, What if I die here? I pulled the blanket over my head; I just wanted to sleep. But I didn't know if I'd wake up," she recalled.
Miraculously, Lindsay was found minutes later when two Iowa Department of Transportation workers saw tire marks on the road and decided on a whim to look over the edge. To their surprise, they saw a mangled car with what appeared to be a person inside. That person was Lindsay Thomas, now missing from her family and her job for five full days.
She was airlifted immediately to medical treatment where it was determined that both of Lindsay's lower legs would need to be amputated in order to save her life. Her parents were devastated to have to break the news to their aspiring athletic daughter of eighteen years, that both legs would have to come off.
Then and now, Lindsay Thomas has never wavered in her gratefulness just to be alive. Her positive attitude and optimistic spirit towards life and the gift it has given to her, made her recovery one that has beaten all odds.
"I forced the physical therapists to work me harder so that I'd recover faster. In June, two months after I had arrived, I had an excuse to get out of the hospital for my high school graduation. I read the quote: Tough times don't last; tough people do."
One month later, Lindsay was fitted with prosthetic legs and began the long road to recovery. "I had joked with my doctors that I'd run out of the room as soon as I got them. It didn't happen quite that fast, but by mid-July I was able to walk comfortably."
Because the doctors tried to save as much of Lindsay's legs as possible, there is considerable skin grafting on her limbs. "We had to use silicone liners to protect the delicate skin on her limbs. The sockets hold on with suction to give her the best amount of control and comfort," said Kevin Carroll, MS, CP, FAAOP, Hanger V.P. of Prosthetics.
"Now when I wear my legs, I feel like nothing ever happened. If you can look up, you can get up, has always been my motto. It's really helped me face these challenges and kept me from giving up even when things seem completely hopeless."
Lindsay Thomas story has been featured on media nationwide including; Oprah, Dateline NBC, Inside Edition, People Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazine. She is currently working on a book about her amazing story of survival.