Sheila Riehl
Lancaster, PA

Below is the letter we received from nominating chick, Kelly, about her dear partner,
Sheila Riehl:

I don’t know what happens in your brain while you are trying to process bad news, but whatever happens, happens slowly. When the answering machine voice said, "This is Larry from the Lancaster General Hospital calling to tell you that Sheila was in a motorcycle accident," I know that it took an eternity for him to say "but she is alert and she is talking." Sheila rode for 10 years without a single incident. She always wore a helmet, an armored jacket, gloves, pants and ankle high boots. She obeyed all traffic laws and was doing so on the day that someone pulled out in front of her. With no time to react, she locked up her breaks and slammed head on into the side of the car, launching her body across the windshield and onto the road several yards away. Because of her equipment, there was not a single scratch on her body; but inside she had suffered two fractures in her pelvis, a fractured wrist and she tore all four ligaments in her right knee. That’s what happened to Sheila. Here is how Sheila handled it…

First of all, Sheila is the only person I know who could slam into a car, break the windshield with her body and proceed to make friends with the kindly people who stopped to help her. While chatting on the roadside, she found out the names, occupations and six degree connections between herself and the good Samaritans. She consoled the emotionally broken man who hit her. And, she joked with the ambulance personnel. I, having arrived at the ER with our 1 year old daughter, not knowing what to expect (and frankly, losing my mind) held my breath when they wheeled Sheila in on a gurney adorned with a neck brace and shredded clothing. She gave us the biggest smile and said, "How’s my girls?" And with that, she embraced us with something familiar and steadfast. Then trauma nurse after trauma nurse stopped by to tell her what a pleasure it had been to work on her. She spent a week in the hospital learning everyone's names and stories and becoming a quick favorite among the staff.

Now let me tell you about our house. It is a row home from circa 1870’s. A bathroom was put on the first floor of the house circa…never. Therefore, being all busted up and unable to go the stairs, Sheila came home to a potty chair. There are certain indignities an adult should not have to face, just one of which is having your partner have to empty your "potty bucket” after you have gone #2 in the living room. I know that she was horrified, but after the first "incident” we started to giggle and literally resorted to "potty” humor from then on. We moved a bed downstairs as well (which has actually been kind of awesome) and between the potty chair, the bed and the walker, our daughter stopped playing with her toys almost entirely. It helped that Sheila’s sister put an Elvis goodie bag and a bicycle bell on the walker.

Sheila has been through three knee surgeries by now. She has fought insurance battles. She has run out of physical therapy visits on her insurance policy even though she still cannot walk normally. She has been off work for seven months and probably will never be able to be an auto technician again (yes, she works on cars because chicks do that too!). She could not carry or care for our daughter on and off throughout these months. She couldn’t really help around the house, couldn’t go grocery shopping or carry loads in from the car…couldn’t drive, couldn’t contribute in the way that people sharing a household do. And while none of this bothered me (she’s still here on earth with us) I know that it wounded her deeply to feel helpless and waited on and useless. I know that if there is one thing that broke her down, it wasn’t any of the specifics of having a busted up body or getting used to different living arrangements, or losing her motorcycle (which she loved) or being forced to sit around the house all day, almost every day or losing any of the things that she did lose (and there are many)…it was the general loss of control. She had to let so many of her daily responsibilities pass into the hands of other people. And, oddly enough, losing her independence meant that she lost her half of our partnership. She could not do for our family that which she had always done. She couldn’t make our lives easier by shouldering some of the "work”. And that was the frustration that I watched her endure more than any other and it was the only hurt that she wasn’t always able to laugh through.

But today, she is saying things like, "I’ll get that” and "Why don’t you let me do that.” Over these several months there have been many friends to drive Sheila to and from physical therapy, there have been many great health care professionals to get Sheila back in one piece and walking again and there has been the love and support of our families to keep us going. Even though we have had generous and wonderful help, I am profoundly astonished by how brave Sheila has been and how patient…and how good she was to us even when she was suffering. She has had the most amazing attitude and outlook and even if she weren’t my partner and my heart’s love, I would want to commend her for the example that she has set on how to deal with life’s challenges and how to do it well, with a sense of humor and the brightest smile you’ve ever seen. She’s one brave chick and she’s got the scars to prove it!

UPDATE ON OUR FEATURED BRAVE CHICK one brave chick is proud to report that since this letter, Sheila has continued on her incredible path of recovery. She is back to work at the autobody shop, working diligently as a service writer. She is taking one brave step at a time (without the help of any assistive equipment not even her cane) as she successfully continues on her personal journey. The Founding Brave Chicks want Sheila and her family to know that we are behind her every step of the way!