Lynn schools employee on the road to recovery

LYNN – When Carol McPherson was leaving work Oct. 8, she never imagined what would happen next.Her ordeal began as she was coming home from Lincoln-Thomson Elementary School, where she has worked as a food distributor for 31 years. She stopped at a variety store on Boston Street near Spud?s Restaurant, and was getting back into her car when an 89-year-old man who was taking a left-hand turn struck her and the next thing she knew she was on top of his windshield.Landing face down on the sidewalk, McPherson was unconscious until she came to five minutes away from Massachusetts General Hospital. She had suffered several bodily injuries and was barely recognizable.?I had bleeding outside the brain, but I?m lucky it wasn?t inside the brain,” she said, holding back tears. “It either would take longer to heal, or wouldn?t heal at all. I have a reconstructed lip, which feels thick, compared to how it used to be. I still have a fractured nose. I fractured both legs – with bruises all over – broke my rib and needed stitches in both hands and my forehead.”As she was being rushed into the emergency room, CBS was filming the “Golden Hour,” a medical reality show. The episode will likely air this summer and McPherson?s ordeal will be featured.Since she has a severe head injury, her biggest problem has been memory, but she?s confident she will get it back over time.After being rushed to Mass General by ambulance from the scene, she spent time at New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Danvers and Spaulding Rehab outpatient center in Lynn for therapy and to learn how to walk with her walker, which she still uses today.McPherson declined to identify the driver, but she said she knows him from Trinity Methodist Church on Boston Street. She said she has no hard feelings.?When I?m really well, I?d like to go over and see him,” she said. “He?s the sweetest guy.”Still in recovery, she isn?t able to drive or work yet, but she goes out with her portable wheelchair with her husband, Tom.?I clean the house and do laundry, because that?s what husbands are supposed to do,” he said. “She?s doing better but still has a long way to go.”In a letter to the editor, published last month in The Item, McPherson wrote, “while I still have a long road ahead to recovery, my spirits remain high, thanks to so many thoughtful and caring people in this wonderful community.”She and her husband are thankful for the notes, hand-written cards, flowers, meals, baked goods, fruit, coffee, packages and other acts of generosity from Lincoln-Thomson staff and students, as well their neighbors, friends and family.Everyone went above and beyond in their concern, said Tom McPherson, who received a nice surprise while working at Evan?s Industries in Topsfield.?We want to thank everyone who cheered her up. I even had a truck driver come in here, who I didn?t know, say that he?d pray for her. He did, and that was pretty good, I thought,” he said.Another instance lifted Carol?s spirits.?I miss those kids,” she said. “They?re so good to me. There was one little boy who wrote, ?The food?s the same, but it doesn?t taste the same, because you made it with love.? But there have been so many nice things that I hate to single one case out.”Working there for more than three decades, McPherson accrued 351 sick days, hardly ever calling out.Since she has to load heavy racks of food and put them in the oven, she isn?t sure when she?ll return to school, but she hopes it?s soon.