The pain was excruciating.
“I was crying so bad when they were helping me get into it,” said Gillaspie, of Lewis County. “It wasn’t easy, but my dad got a picture of me smiling.”
It’s the first step in a long recovery, and her mother plans a benefit Saturday to help defray the costs. The bones in Gillaspie’s pelvis, legs and feet were shattered after a head-on collision near Rochester the night of Dec. 2.
She was driving home from her brother’s 14th birthday party with her husband, Trevor Duncan-Hosstick, and cousin, Vincent Thorp.
The three were driving along state Route 12 in Thurston County near Rochester when they saw the oncoming minivan.
The van swerved into their lane. The two vehicles hit head on, driving at speeds of around 55 mph. The impact pushed Gillaspie’s Oldsmobile Alero backward and killed the driver of the minivan, identified by the Washington State Patrol as 43-year-old Mark D. Stone.
The last thing Gillaspie remembers is slamming the brakes before everything went white.
“I heard this big snapping sound,” she said. “The next thing I knew, I was sitting there, screaming for help.”
Gillaspie was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center, where she spent four weeks recovering, undergoing six surgeries.
Her husband suffered a concussion and short-term memory loss. Thorp broke his hand and foot. Both were treated and released at Providence Centralia Hospital.
After two weeks in the intensive-care unit and another two weeks in the surgical unit, Carmon Gillaspie was released from Harborview to the Providence Mother Joseph Care Center in Olympia. It could take up to two years for her to fully recover, and the medical bills are piling up.
Gillaspie said the driver did not have insurance. The helicopter flight alone cost more than $20,000.
SMALL STEPS
Gillaspie is working on being able to bend her knees. The goal is to put weight on her legs within two months. Once back on her feet, Gillaspie is looking forward to dancing with her husband again.
Their first and only time dancing was during their August wedding.
“We have made a deal that as soon as I can walk again, we are going to dance one more time,” Gillaspie said.
Staff writer Lisa Pemberton contributed to this report.
