By DEB WUETHRICH

It’s been 27 years since Michelle Fry, then 11 years old, nearly lost her leg on May 2, 1981, in an accident with a lawn tractor and a utility wire that became wrapped around the mower’s axle and her leg. When the Raisin Township resident remembers the tragedy and the arduous years of recovery that followed, along with 23 surgeries, she thinks of the miracles — and her mom, Bonnie Harvey.

“I don’t think my mom realizes all that she meant to me during those times, or how much she meant to many other children,” Michelle said. Michelle was first rushed to Bixby Medical Center with intentions to amputate what was left of her leg. She remembers a neighbor, who was a nurse, sending kids running down the street for ice to pack her leg. Though she remembers a burning sensation, Michelle said she felt no pain as her body seemed to shut down, but she did remember her father, Richard, helping to cut the wire. She also recalls how neighbors held her mom back so she wouldn’t have to see her daughter’s injuries.

At Bixby, after someone felt a pulse in Michelle’s foot, she was sent to St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo. It was there she first came to know the extent of her mother’s dedication. Bonnie worked at Faraday back then.

“They were good to her here in Tecumseh, allowing her the time off to come to Toledo and be with me when the higher ups wanted to fire her,” said Michelle. She said her mother would drive back and forth every day, often having purchased gas with money kind people from the community had sent to Michelle and the family, even coins taped to cards.

“Back then, St. Vincent was a welfare hospital, and there were parents of city kids who would drop them off for the day, saying they’d had an asthma attack or something, just so they could have a place for them to stay,” Michelle said. Other sick children might go days on end without a visitor. “My mother became mom to those children as well, especially those who were never visited. My father always grew a garden and mom would bring fresh vegetables, especially corn on the cob, and heat it in the microwave for all the kids.”

Michelle said once she was able to sit up in a wheelchair during her long initial stay, she wasn’t the only child who would watch the elevator doors, waiting for Bonnie to come through. “The kids all loved her,” Michelle said. “That taught me early on that love is to be shared, that we’re put here with other people to share that love.”

It was Bonnie who had to learn some nursing skills in order for Michelle to be released from the hospital as her wounds required regular dressing changes. “It was the only way I would be able to go home, but mom willingly took it on,” Michelle said. She said she also remembers how her parents were members of the Tecumseh Friends Church.
“People would come from the church and surround our house, praying for me before every surgery,” Michelle said. She said her dad also experienced some medical issues and her mother kept things going through it all. “During these times my mom has been the absolute stone of our family,” she said.

Michelle said it’s been a miracle that she kept her leg and even can walk today. She had her last surgery at age 18.

“I was told I wouldn’t be able to have children because the wound was near a major artery and they were afraid of clotting,” Michelle said. She and her husband, Greg, now have two little boys, Brandon, 6, and Evan, 4, but her first pregnancy brought on gestational diabetes.

“And who drove me from Hillsdale where I was living to U of M twice a week? Mom,” Michelle said.

It was toward the end of Michelle’s surgeries that Bonnie left Faraday to pursue a new interest in ceramics by opening Creative Outlet Ceramics on Russell Road, an interest kindled when Michelle joined a 4-H club and did ceramics projects. Someone also brought a care package to the hospital during one of her stays and her mom found that she enjoyed painting the items. “She used to sell Christmas ornaments in the bathroom at Faraday and even the men would give money to the women to purchase them,” Michelle said. “Some of the women who go to mom’s shop now say they are going to their therapy session.”

Michelle said her mom — and dad — are passing on the same love of children to their grandchildren which also includes son Walter’s three children who live in Clinton. There are sleepovers and Gram days, for the kids along with their own cheering section at soccer games.

“I’ve never seen anyone love kids as much as my parents do,” said Michelle, who now is a Montessori teacher at St. Joseph Academy. “They used to drive the church bus. When other kids were having problems, mom and dad took them in. We fed and clothed them until they were able to go back home. They just taught us that children are so important in our lives.”

Michelle said she is especially grateful for her mother’s strength and dedication. She now tries to model the example her mother showed her as she took care of other people’s children as well as her own.

“I just want to give back to my community, making sure that the kids I touch have the same wonderful feeling my mom gave to so many kids,” Michelle said.