Story Created:
Nov 3, 2009
Story Updated:
Nov 4, 2009
MILWAUKEE - Tom Held knows a good story. He's been a reporter for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for over 20 years. Monday he covered a decidedly good story.
Tom was on hand at the Mount Carmel Health and Rehabilitation Center when the staff at the cutting-edge facility was saying good bye to Jenny Crain. Crain, once a world class runner, has been recovering from a devastating brain injury at Mount Carmel for nearly two years. In August of 2007 she was struck by a car while training for the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials.
"They told her that they we're going to have cake for her," Tom recalled of a moment from Monday's celebration. "And she said, 'I'm going to have my cake and eat it too!'"
Jenny is a woman struggling to reengage with the world. A passage from the top of Tom's article in Tuesday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows that struggle.
"When she tires, Jenny Crain's eyes take on a look of fear and confusion, as if she's searching for something far removed from her immediate surroundings. Perhaps a part of her recovering brain is reflecting back on a day when she ran with the best in the country, when she engaged physically and mentally for miles. Perhaps she's looking for a finish line somewhere in the future, a place where her mind once again engages fully and energetically."
Tom was clearly affected by Crain and her family. He was struck by the way Crain led all of those assembled in a rendition of "You Are My Sunshine."
"There's a lot of Jenny that's still beautiful and shining," he said.
Jenny is now living in an apartment with another woman. A caregiver is there much of the time, but it is dramatically different from the constant care she got at Mount Carmel.
"She has some fears about how people in the public will perceive her because she's in a wheelchair," Tom said.
But both Tom and Jenny's family see that self awareness as a positive sign.
"It shows a little bit of greater recognition of place and situation and circumstance than one might have expected," Tom said.
Jenny's mother spoke with TODAY'S TMJ4 anchor Courtny Gerrish Tuesday.
"Jenny has just been very reflective in terms of feeling. She's moving forward with this transition. She's much more hopeful and confident that life is going to be so much brighter for her with this new facility and this new independence," Donna Crain told Courtny.
