Amy 2.0 will be better, stronger, faster… Sent from my iPhone
Messengers and Skype: BurningHawk1969 My home page: http://MarkBurningHawk.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markburninghawk.baxter > On Oct 27, 2013, at 12:14 AM, Joanne Chua <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Mark, > > Just want to say that thinking of you and Amy and the two dogs. > Hanging there mate, it will be a long recovery for Amy, but she'll make it. > > > > Joanne Chua > The flip side of Inclusion is Exclusion. > Leaders For Tomorrow 2013 Candidate > Send from my iPad > >> On 27 Oct 2013, at 17:21, Mark BurningHawk Baxter <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> If the "him, "in question is me, HOK, we are already friends, and I believe >> I am also friends with almost everyone here. If I am not online, I am away, >> and will get back to you as soon as I can. >> >> The good news, however small, is that Amy did move a very little of both her >> arms and legs today. >> >> Thanks again for everyone who showing their support. It is a long road ahead >> for Amy, she needs all the encouraging she can to get her back to walking >> and driving again. >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> Messengers and Skype: BurningHawk1969 >> My home page: http://MarkBurningHawk.net >> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markburninghawk.baxter >> >> >>> On Oct 26, 2013, at 6:46 PM, eric oyen <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> have him get on Skype. some of us are faster with speech than keyboard >>> skills. Also, its good to hear a voice on the far end of things offering >>> support. >>> >>> my Skype: technomage-hawke >>> >>> -eric >>> >>>> On Oct 26, 2013, at 5:26 PM, Cara Quinn wrote: >>>> >>>> Hello again All, >>>> >>>> I just wanted to give you an update on Mark and Amy's story. >>>> >>>> Firstly though, please let me offer my sincere and deepest thanks to you >>>> all who have shown your support and well-wishes. This not only means a >>>> tremendous amount to Mark and Amy, but also means the world to me that we >>>> can come together as a community to support each other when we are in need. >>>> >>>> Some of you have asked where the donations will go. Any donations will be >>>> used for expenses associated with this incident and the medical care from >>>> this. Mark has said that he will keep a record of everything associated >>>> with this. Already it cost hundreds of dollars for Mark to simply tow >>>> Amy's car back home. This cost has now been taken care of for them, >>>> fortunately. So thank you all! :) >>>> >>>> You all are making a real difference here so I'm truly grateful to you!… >>>> >>>> Now, I'd like to share Mark's email address here so that you may send your >>>> support to him. If you cannot offer financial support then please do >>>> consider offering Amy and him your most valuable emotional support. It is >>>> truly welcome… >>>> >>>> Below I'll first share Mark's email address and then a copy of the recent >>>> article in a local Oregon paper about this incident which also offers an >>>> update on Amy's condition. If you would like to know more, please do write >>>> directly to Mark if you would? >>>> >>>> Now that this is known here, please let me suggest that we now move this >>>> to a more personal level off the lists. Feel free to write me or Mark and >>>> do be assured that any developments, I will share. Otherwise, I'm happy >>>> (and will now encourage us) to continue this off the lists. >>>> >>>> Thanks so very, very much to you all for your support! I cannot express >>>> enough how much this means to them and to me. >>>> >>>> Y'all are AWESOME!!! >>>> >>>> Have a wonderful weekend! Info and article follow… >>>> >>>> Sincerely, >>>> >>>> Cara >>>> --- >>>> Email Mark Baxter [email protected] >>>> >>>> The Article >>>> >>>> The Curry Coastal Pilot - Couple survives hiking ordeal >>>> >>>> >>>> Mark Baxter and his girlfriend Amy Regan with their dogs, who were >>>> instrumental in efforts to rescue Amy after a hiking accident. Submitted >>>> photo >>>> Brookings resident Mark Baxter still isn’t sure what to make of what he >>>> calls his misadventure along Damnation Creek near Klamath last weekend — >>>> an afternoon jaunt that landed his girlfriend, Amy Regan, in ICU in >>>> Portland with a broken back and no feeling in her arms and legs. >>>> “There was a bunch of stupid decisions all down the line,” Baxter said >>>> Wednesday of what was supposed to have been an easy afternoon hike. “I got >>>> lucky. I got damn lucky.” >>>> The two didn’t bring a survival kit, and were wearing sweatpants and >>>> T-shirts. A friend has since reassured them that their clothing sounded >>>> appropriate for a two-hour hike along a popular trail. >>>> The 3.4-mile trek threads through a redwood forest down 1,000 vertical >>>> feet into a rocky, secluded beach. It’s rated “easy,” and the couple are >>>> experienced hikers. >>>> “At first, the trail was great, so we continued,” Baxter said. “By the >>>> time it got narrow and steep again, and Amy could see the ocean through >>>> the trees ahead, we needed to turn back; it was getting dark.” >>>> When they did, Regan and her dog, Luke, slipped and fell from the steep >>>> embankment. Baxter later learned she likely slipped on rotting timbers >>>> left from an old footbridge. >>>> “I heard her fall, cry out, then a crash, then nothing,” Baxter said. “I >>>> called out, ‘Amy! Can you answer me!’ And I heard nothing … for minutes.” >>>> When he did hear something, he didn’t think it was human. But it was, and >>>> it was Amy. >>>> “I do not think I have ever in my life witnessed that much suffering and >>>> agony,” he said. “It is a sound I hope never to hear again.” >>>> Baxter and his dog, Ezra, scrambled down the hill to rescue her. >>>> “She’d landed on her back, on the rocks at the bottom of an old creek >>>> bed,” Baxter said. “And she kept saying, ‘No! No! No!’ over and over ... >>>> and told me she couldn’t feel her legs.” >>>> Baxter struggled back up the incline and worked his way about a >>>> quarter-mile down the dark path until his iPhone finally got one bar. It >>>> took at least four 911 calls — and disconnects due to poor reception in >>>> the valley — before he was able to relay their situation to Del Norte’s >>>> Search and Rescue team. >>>> He gave them the name of the trail; he told them about the footbridge. >>>> But, no, he didn’t think he could get back to his vehicle. No, he couldn’t >>>> describe where he was. >>>> They ascertained his GPS coordinates, and Baxter’s phone died. >>>> A few hours later, he was getting cold. He had the dogs with him, but he’d >>>> left his sweatshirt with Regan. >>>> And he couldn’t tell if rescue crews were approaching through the thick >>>> trees and the dark night. >>>> Baxter is blind. >>>> Mark and Amy >>>> >>>> The 44-year-old Brookings man met his girlfriend on Facebook — he the >>>> disillusioned musician and she looking for a new life away from the >>>> strip-mine town of Butte, Mont. She joined him here six months ago. >>>> >>>> Amy has her own challenges, Baxter said, with psychiatric issues and a >>>> condition that leaves her in constant pain. Hence her service dog, a lanky >>>> German shepherd with steely copper eyes. >>>> >>>> “But we instinctively knew we were real (emotionally) close,” Baxter said. >>>> “She is the most loving, caring, intense person I know. She is the bravest >>>> person I’ve ever known.” >>>> >>>> Saturday, Baxter wasn’t feeling so brave, he said. He periodically shouted >>>> out for the rescue team. He huddled with the dogs. He listened. >>>> >>>> “I’d done all I could do,” he said. >>>> >>>> Four hours later, he heard someone calling his name. >>>> >>>> In many ways, it was just the beginning of their travails. It took hours >>>> to get Regan backboarded, up the cliff and back down to the trailhead, 3 >>>> miles away. It was 3:30 a.m., about 12 hours since they’d set out on the >>>> hike. >>>> >>>> As they walked, a search and rescue volunteer quickly learned Baxter and >>>> Ezra could navigate the dark path far better than he and his flashlight, >>>> and let the two take the lead. They talked about the dogs, the school that >>>> had trained Ezra, dogs in general. >>>> >>>> “I think he was mostly just trying to take my mind off what had just >>>> happened,” Baxter said. “And as beat-up and tired as I was, I cannot >>>> imagine what it was like for Amy to be stretcher-borne out of there.” >>>> >>>> Baxter said the dogs were the heroes that night. Luke led the rescue team >>>> to Regan; Ezra, limping from his flight down the hill, led Baxter and the >>>> search team carrying Amy out of the woods. >>>> >>>> He got a ride home from a park ranger; Amy remains in intensive care at >>>> Oregon Health Sciences in Portland with a broken thoracic spine, three >>>> broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Ezra is sore and tired; Luke is confused >>>> and sad. >>>> >>>> “It’s very possible Amy could recover from this,” Baxter said. “It’s too >>>> early to tell. They’re just caring for her day to day. I don’t know >>>> anything about her prognosis. And I have not yet stopped sending my >>>> gratitude to ‘Dog’ for walking with me, for saving our lives.” >>>> >>>> Deep in the dark >>>> >>>> Numerous elements resulted in their survival that night. >>>> >>>> “The reason we got through that was my martial arts skills, keeping a >>>> level head, and doing what you have to do,” Baxter said. “It’s been a >>>> theme of mine throughout my life.” >>>> >>>> “It is horrifying, and also amazing,” said Dawn Nelson, a friend of the >>>> couple who lives in Nevada. “It’s a testament to the power of love, the >>>> abilities of guide dogs, the service of others, and the ability to do what >>>> needs to be done, despite nearly insurmountable obstacles.” >>>> >>>> Baxter, born blind into a sighted world, has always refused to think that >>>> way. >>>> >>>> “When it came to anything at all — from high school and passing an exam, >>>> from riding a bike to going camping — I had to blaze the trail,” he said. >>>> “I had to tell everybody that, ‘Yes, I can do this; don’t put me in that >>>> box.’” >>>> >>>> He sought out experiences, began “collecting skills,” overcompensating to >>>> prove to the sighted people that he had no weaknesses, no disabilities, >>>> that he was no different than them. >>>> >>>> “If I had been sighted, I would have been immobilized,” he said of the >>>> couple’s ordeal last weekend. “How a species can evolve with a dominant >>>> sense that is useless 12 hours a day ... I just don’t get it. My skills >>>> don’t involve sight at all. >>>> >>>> “Hearing,” he said, “is a more beautiful and useful sense.” >>>> >>>> That comment, from a man who is also profoundly deaf. >>>> >>>> He is a tactile human, feeling the world around him through his feet as he >>>> walks, through pressure changes in the air as surroundings change. >>>> >>>> “Ask the land where to go,” he said. “It’s getting in nature, sitting with >>>> Earth. Am I getting too New-Agey here?” >>>> >>>> He attributes that to Sensei Toda Yoshi, Baxter’s martial arts instructor. >>>> With the attitude of ‘just do it,” the then-26-year-old learned the >>>> ancient Japanese tradition of Shaolin Kempo Karate. >>>> >>>> There are a lot of fist, foot and body moves in karate, but there are also >>>> the soft skills of the warrior: focusing the heart, power and energy >>>> through the mind and into the body, Baxter explained. >>>> >>>> “I credit him with helping me save Amy because without his teaching, I >>>> would not have been able to channel the panic in my heart, through my >>>> mind, into my body, into actions, that got us out,” Baxter said. “Without >>>> what I know about balance, and the strength that I have through keeping up >>>> my exercises, I would not have had the physical ability to get out.” >>>> >>>> Other skills he learned through Tom Brown Jr.’s “tracker school,” a nature >>>> and wilderness survival school based in New Jersey, where participants >>>> gain a “closer attachment to the Earth and the skills and philosophy to >>>> live in harmony and balance with creation.” >>>> >>>> “That’s what helped me stay on the trail, stay safe, and be calm enough in >>>> the dark, in the night, in the woods, to use the skills I had to get us >>>> out,” Baxter said. >>>> >>>> Amy >>>> >>>> Even though Regan’s out of the California woods, she isn’t out of the >>>> medical woods. >>>> >>>> The most recent report Baxter has on Amy is that she has a shattered >>>> thoracic vertebrae near her neck — surgeons put a permanent metal rod in >>>> her spine for stability — and while she cannot move her arms or legs, she >>>> can wiggle her hands and toes. She has five broken ribs and a ruptured >>>> lung. >>>> >>>> “With rehab, we hope this will get a lot better,” he said. “I constantly >>>> send my gratitude to the great spirit for the intervention I know I >>>> received, information from the land and my dogs and the night itself, >>>> which allowed me to stay oriented, sane, and on the path to rescuing her. >>>> This will all get better; it’s the waiting for Amy to come back that’s the >>>> hardest part for me. >>>> >>>> “It’s far from over,” he added. “I frankly have no idea what comes next. I >>>> will not consider her rescued until she is back with me.” >>>> --- >>>> View my Online Portfolio at: >>>> >>>> http://www.onemodelplace.com/CaraQuinn >>>> >>>> Follow me on Twitter! >>>> >>>> https://twitter.com/ModelCara >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to [email protected]. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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