I recently received this email, if you want to see the article from the Sullivan newspaper, I’m going to try to direct link it… click here!

Hello to all–

First, please accept my apology for the mass email. It really isn’t my style, but I truly needed to reach as many friends and family members as I could.
For those of you who don’t know, my daughter, Juli Patterson, and precious granddaughter, Zoey, were involved in a serious car accident on Tuesday evening, May 6. William Sites has done an amazing job covering their story, and you can see his articles (including pictures) at sullivanjournal. com.

The new Arby’s was opening that day in Sullivan, and we had plans for several family members to meet there for dinner. Juli (who was also nine-months pregnant with her second baby) arrived first, with Zoey strapped securely into a car seat in the back seat. As she was waiting to pull into the Arby’s lot, a very large pick-up truck plowed into the back of her car–the main impact being on Zoey’s side.

Juli was knocked unconscious for only a minute, and was able to get out of her car without aid. Zoey was not so lucky. She was trapped inside the car, and had to wait for the fire department to extract her. When they brought her out, still in her car seat, Zoey was gasping for air and totally unresponsive.

At this point, the paramedics from Missouri Baptist quickly assessed the situation. They whisked Juli away by ambulance to our local hospital. They called for the Arch helicopter for Zoey. Because her condition was so severe, they called for it to land directly on-site, rather than having it meet them at the local hospital.

Juli had only minor injuries, and she gave birth to a healthy baby girl on May 12, as scheduled.

Zoey suffered a skull fracture and spent eight days in St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She is home now, but her injury was serious and she has a long way to go before she is fully healed.

For the first several days, she could not speak, eat, walk or even sit up. At this point, she can speak well, though her speech is affected. She can feed herself, but is a bit clumsy about it. She cannot walk alone or sit without support. She can walk if we support her, and she is learning to use a walker.

Here is the request I have of all of you: Out of sheer generosity, the corporation who owns our local Arby’s has pledged to donate 10 percent of sales during their May 29 Grand Opening (11 am- 2 pm) to Zoey and her parents. We hope to get as many of our friends and family members to patronize Arby’s during these hours.

Thankfully, the woman who hit Zoey and her mom took complete responsibility and, again thankfully, she does seem to have good insurance. However, it will be quite a while before any of the insurance money reaches James and Juli.

Like any young couple, they are on a tight budget. They have both had to miss some work, and there have been many extra costs stemming from the accident. For instance, Zoey will be undergoing therapy here in Sullivan three times a week. Juli’s co-pay is $15.00 each trip, so they will be paying $45.00-per-week for this therapy. Zoey is back in diapers since the accident, which is another unplanned expense.

We all have to eat lunch, so please, if you can at all arrange it, let’s all be “Thinking Arby’s” on May 29.

My sincerest thanks–
Beth Wessler